Page 88 of Here & There

My heart thunders in my chest. “I guess I don’t know much about plumbing.”

“That’s the thing,” she says.

I rub my chest like I can keep my heart from galloping out of it if I just hold on.

“He said you fixed it for him.”

I feel her shift beside me, but I lean forward again, elbows on knees. I can’t face her. It’s too fucking hard.

“Yeah, well, I told him he should get a plumber to look everything over, just in case.”

“He said you’ve been paying my fee for me. Said you didn’t want them to lose out on income because I was staying with you…”

A knock on the door has me jumping to my feet. “Boss?” Lana says. “Sorry. It sounded like you guys were maybe on a break, so I wondered if you could help me with?—”

“Yes,” I say. “No problem.”

I glance over my shoulder at Shelby. “Sorry, I have to?—”

She shakes her head, standing up. “It’s fine.”

I don’t even know what Lana needs, but as soon as I step out, I want to run right back inside. “What is it?” I ask her.

“Everything okay?” Lana asks.

I was wrong about Shelby being the only one who asks me that. Lana does too. That mom instinct. “No,” I say honestly.

Lana’s expression is neutral. Which means she knows. Of course she knows.

So it’s not a surprise when she says, “Have you told her how you feel, Mac?”

We’re outside the kitchen door now, and I throw her a look like she’s insane. “Why the hell would I do that?”

“Because that’s what you do when you feel a certain way.”

Shelby comes out of my office, her eyes immediately on mine.

I look away. I can’t. “What did you want, Lana?” I bark.

Lana doesn’t flinch at my tone. She doesn’t roll her eyes like Chris would, either. She just examines me for a moment. If she was upset, she’d let me know. She has no problem snapping at me when necessary. Mercifully, she lets it go. “It’s about the order for the festival. Jed wants you to look at the list he drew up to make sure he’s done it right.”

“Fine. Yes.” Oysterfest. Even though that’s what Shelby’s working toward and it should be front of mind, I’d forgotten all about it. Jed puts our order in around a month to six weeks ahead of the festival. So that’s how long I’ve got with Shelby.

But right as I’m pushing through the door to the kitchen, someone comes in the entrance.

“Afternoon,” Lana calls. “I’ll be right with you. Go ahead and seat yourself.”

I don’t know why I pause instead of going right through to the kitchen. Maybe it’s the way Lana frowns. Or maybe it’s the way, when I look back toward Shelby, she’s still standing in my office door. Only she’s not staring at me.

She’s staring at the person in the door.

I turn around, something prickly going over my neck.

The guy has a haircut that looks like it costs more than the Dinghy’s annual property taxes. Pants that are meant for boating that have probably never seen anything but the seat of a Maserati. An entitled fucking look on his handsome fucking face.

He scans the place, not like he’s looking for the best place to sit, but like he’s looking for someone.

He sees her at the same time as I look back at Shelby.

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