Page 46 of Max Bannon

Or new sunglasses.

Or maybe to grab some eggs from the guy who wore overalls and talked to his chickens like they were coworkers.

But the second I stepped onto the gravel lot and saw her booth—bright yellow awning, wooden crates full of soaps, candles, salves, and an extremely smug-looking goat chewing on a sign that saidBUY 2, GET 1 FREE—I knew exactly why I was there.

“Look who showed up,” Willa Mae called, shading her eyes with one hand. “Mr. Too-Cool-for-Conditioner.”

“Thought I’d see if I could smell like moonlight and goat dreams.”

“You’d be lucky,” she said, tossing me a bar of soap wrapped in twine. “That’sVanilla Woods. Made it last night. Smells like the woods after rain. Also, men who chop firewood shirtless and cry during sad movies.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And doyoucry during sad movies?”

“Absolutely.”

I picked up a candle labeledLust in the Lavender Patchand turned it over. “Do you just make these names up?”

“Every damn day.”

I pulled out my wallet. “I’ll take four.”

She blinked. “Four? That’s like… boyfriend-level commitment to bath products.”

I leaned across the counter just a little. “I’m a committed man, Willa Mae Jensen.”

Her eyes widened slightly.

And I walked away—soap in one hand, candle in the other—before she could say a word.

“Behind me, I heard her mutter, “Lord help me, I think I’m gonna marry that man.”

20

Nate

I’d just poured my coffee when I heard the knock.

Not the “I need something” kind. Thetap-tap-tap, I brought you food and probably chaoskind.

Sure enough, when I opened the door, Willa Mae stood there with a wide grin and a basket full of pancakes wrapped in a gingham towel. And a thermos. And a goat.

The goat.

“Please tell me that’s not Pancake.”

“It’s Pancake,” she said, like I’d just won a prize. “He gets separation anxiety.”

I rubbed a hand over my face. “Youbroughthim to my porch.”

“I also brought cinnamon pecan pancakes and homemade blackberry syrup, so stop judging.”

Fair enough.

She breezed past me, stopped, and glanced at the table on my porch. Pancake trotted behind her, head high, as if to sayThis is my porch now.

I was about to comment on territory marking when Willa suddenly stopped..

She went still.

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