Page 12 of To Hold and Protect

Skylar shook her head. “No, that you think he doesn’t like you. What makes you say that?”

“I’ve only met him once, and it was obvious. He was rude.”

Two pairs of eyebrows shot up and the women looked at each other. “Parker’s never rude,” Harper said. “He’s actually very sweet.”

“Coulda fooled me.”

“So interesting,” Harper said.

“Yep.” Skylar grinned. “We’re cooking out tomorrow night. You have to come have dinner with us.”

A conspiratorial grin crossed Harper’s face. “Oh, yeah.”

Willow didn’t trust either one of those grins. They hadtroublewritten all over them. “I don’t know. I’m on deadline, and—”

Everly ran to her. “Please come eat with us, Miss Willow.”

How was she supposed to say no to that hopeful face? “I’d love to have dinner with you, Everly.”

“Yay! I found where to hang your picture. Wanna see?”

“Sure.”

“What kind of deadline are you on?” Harper asked as they followed Everly to the living room.

“I’m a children’s book author. Middle grade.”

“What does that mean?” Skylar said.

“Middle grade is ages eight to twelve.”

“That’s cool,” Harper said.

Everly stopped in front of the painting she’d propped against the wall. “Here, Miss Willow.”

She’d chosen the space between two living room windows. “That’s perfect, Everly. Tomorrow I’ll go buy a hook so I can hang it up.”

“My daddy can do it. I’ll tell him to when he comes home.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I’ll do it first thing in the morning.” She glanced at the two women, not sure which one had chuckled, but they both appeared highly amused.

“So, what was all the banging we heard?” Skylar asked.

Grateful for the change of subject, Willow said, “It’s demo day. I’m starting with the kitchen. I figure I can save money by doing that myself. I’ve asked two contractors for estimates to do an entire remodel.”

“Who’s giving you estimates?”

“Buddy Napier is coming by this afternoon to take a look, and Franklin Hodges is stopping by tomorrow.”

Skylar wrinkled her nose at the last name. “Go with Buddy. He’s good and reliable. Franklin does good work when he’s sober, which unfortunately isn’t often.”

“Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll call and cancel his coming by.”

“We’re headed to the Kitchen for lunch. Want to come?”

“Your kitchen?”

Skylar chuckled. “That’s what it sounded like, but no. Katie’s Corner Kitchen. Everyone just calls it the Kitchen.”

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