Page 36 of The Moment He Saw Her

“So just let her rent one of your rooms. You have three.”

Ryder didn’t like the look in his brother-in-law’s eyes as he spoke.

“I don’t know the woman,” he lied, because after last night, he was fairly sure he knew her well. “I don’t want a stranger living in my house. I like my privacy now that I finally have some.”

“You miss having Dan in your face constantly?” JD smirked.

“Do you remember that ingrown hair I had under my knee?” JD nodded. “I miss him as much as I miss that.”

The door burst open, and in marched four of the walking group. The seniors then went to study the contents of his cabinets, while marching on the spot.

“You four all good?” Ryder asked.

“Can’t stop,” Bart said. He was carrying a bag over one shoulder. “Just popped in to deliver something to Libby.”

“Libby!” Ryder bellowed. Seconds later, she appeared. “These people want to talk to you.”

She looked confused, and who could blame her. She hadn’t been in town long, and suddenly people were calling in to the cafe to visit her.

“Hello, Libby, dear. After you visited Lyntacky Leftovers yesterday, I pondered your footwear,” June Matilda said while beside her LouJean went through a series of lunges.

“My footwear?” Libby said, looking at her feet.

“They’re not warm enough for you, dear,” Esther from CTC said. “I saw that right off last night.”

Bart was now pulling his knee up to his chest in a stretch that made him look like a stork. His sister took the bag from his shoulder, and Ryder had to admire the man’s balance; he didn’t wobble even slightly.

“So LouJean found these that her granddaughter had left behind the last time she visited,” June said, opening the bag and pulling out a pair of bright red boots with fur trim around the top.

Ryder moved out from behind the counter to get a better look. They laced up the front and had a thick rubber sole.

“Oh, thank you, but I couldn’t take them,” Libby said after shooting Ryder a panicked look.

“Of course you can,” Esther said. “Plus I brought you a pair of knitted socks because I noticed you weren’t wearing any yesterday.”

The socks came out of the bag next.

“I made them out of an older sweater,” Esther added.

They were the color of a science lab he’d used in school. Not exactly a green, but not a brown either—a sad, faded mix of in between. Shooting Libby a look, he noted tears were welling up again, but she was trying to hold it together.

“I remember that sweater, Esther. It always looked good on you.”

“Nice interruption,” JD said out the side of his mouth. “Your girl looks ready to lose it.”

He didn’t dignify the “your girl” part of that statement with a response.

“Thank you,” Libby said when she could. “I will treasure those socks, but you didn’t need to.”

“Nonsense,” Bart said. He was now doing side lunges while LouJean jumped from one foot to the other, like he’d seen skiers do in training sessions.

“Now you go on and take those shoes off, and we’ll see if they fit,” June said.

“Oh, no, I really shouldn’t.”

“Protest is useless,” JD drawled. “I’m JD Hopper by the way. This idiot’s brother-in-law.”

“Not yet, you ain’t, but Mom’s fixing to change that,” Ryder said loudly.

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