Page 69 of Lemon Crush

I grimaced. “Unlike you, I don’t need those kinds of details. Unless you’re taking him up on it. Are you moving to Hawaii?”

“Don’t be stupid.” She poked me again. “Your turn. Spill your guts.”

“About what?” I asked warily, glancing over at the house to make sure no one was listening.

She must have had the same thought, because she lowered her voice. “First you fix her car. Then you move into her apartment, save her from a falling tree and give her a job. Now you’re in the icehouse whenever she’s in the office or behind the bar, mooning like a lovesick old dog and making her blush. I know you’ve got a thing, Wade. Phoebe knows you’ve got a thing. Tell me I’m lying.”

I couldn’t do that, so I hedged. “I asked her to do paperwork for the same reason you offered her those shifts. Because you didn’t want to do them.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course, that’s whyIoffered. I have my own business to run and no patience for drunken idiotswith wandering hands. But I didn’t think she’dtakeit. Why would she accept a menial job that pays shit for tips? What?” She huffed in amusement when I didn’t answer. “Did the royalties stop pouring in from those books of hers or something?”

She studied my face. I was aiming for stone, but she knew me too well. Or maybe I didn’t have the poker face I thought I did.

“That’s it, isn’t it? It’s not a thing—she’s having money troubles and doesn’t want Morgan to know.” She nodded as if answering her own question, sounding disappointed. “That makes so much more sense.”

What the fuck was that supposed to mean? “Why would you say that?”

There was no small amount of pity in her expression. “Because you’re you. You see a problem and youWadein to fix it. You’re big-brothering her, just like you do to the rest of us. And here I was hoping it was something juicier.”

“I’m not big-brothering her.”

She made a dismissive clicking sound with her tongue. “Please.”

I wished she didn’t know exactly how to push my buttons. “You want the truth? Fine. I’m not sure where it’s going, but thereisa thing. It’s a mutual thing that we don’t want to share with the rest of the class yet. Happy now?”

She hadn’t blinked since I started talking. “Bernie?”

“This is so much information,” she whispered, almost maniacally. “Why would you give me this power over you?”

“I’m already regretting it,” I said ruefully. “Try to keep it to yourself, because I can’t convince her to take a chance on sticking around if everybody’s getting in her face or gossiping about us.”

She jumped on that slip. “Sticking around? Phoebe said her friend offered her a place to stay back in San Diego.” Oh great, Phoebe knew about that now? “She says August is thinking about it. She wouldn’t tell me any more than that.”

She was doing more than thinking about it. I’d spent a few sleepless nights wondering if that was why her friend was coming here. Not for the race or a visit, but to convince her to leave with him ahead of schedule.

“How can she think about moving when she’s about to be a grandmother?” Bernie asked. When I gave her a look, she waved her hand. “Grand-godmother. Whatever. If I have to do it, she does too. She promised the shaman.”

“So, you’ve forgiven her for whatever you’ve been mad about for the last few years?”

Her shoulders slumped. “I know I’ve been a bitch. I wanted to apologize, but it never seemed like the right time. I didn’t think she’dleave.”

That sounded familiar.

“It hasn’t happened yet,” I told her gruffly, not liking the guilt on her face or the way it mirrored my own feelings. “Maybe we could both spend a little more time with her. Remind her that she’s got people here that care about her.”

She was staring as if I’d sprouted a second head. “Let me get this straight. You’re not sure she’s staying, but you’re still having a thing? You’re still interested?”

I’d always been interested, and after these last few weeks, I didn’t see that changing anytime soon. No matter where she decided to go. “Can you keep it to yourself?”

“I know my job.” Her fingers made a zipping motion over her lips. “No telling Morgan.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or strangle her. “No tellinganybodywas what I was going for.”

She gave me a pitying look. “That’s not realistic and I’m ashamed of you for thinking it is. I have to tell Phoebe. Though she’s the one who put two and two together, so she already knows. But if she didn’t, I carried her in my body for nine months and that bond supersedes all other oaths.” She chewed thoughtfully on herlip. “And I have to call Yvonne so she can send some good juju your way via her spirit guides. But that’s it. The three of us won’t break the circle of trust. Not until your wedding night or your tenth anniversary, whichever comes first.”

She sounded more like our stepmom every day.

“I have to get her to spend more time with me before you start ringing those bells, Bernadette.”

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