Page 16 of Lovewell Lane

“She’s fine.” He rolled back out from the side of the car just to raise his eyebrows at me. “I’m doing work for her diner today. She needs a few repairs.”

“She’s taking over Wilkins’ old place right?”

“Mhm.”

“And she seems okay? It’d be nice to have a restaurant in town again. I’m sick of eating cereal in solo cups every morning.”

“The lack of a restaurant in no way means you have to eat out of plastic cups, Andy.”

“Not all of us have the kitchen skills you do,” he said. I was reminded of how he grew up, practically abandoned by his parents who would rather open and close the local bar— back when we had one— than take the kid to school. My parents both did their best to take Andy in when we were growing up, him being my best friend and all.

“I’ll teach you sometime. You’re a grown man, you should know how to cook a meal.”

He stood up from his creeper and gave me a smart-ass smile. “Maybe I won’t have to learn. She makes damn good cookies.”

“She’s a Dreamer, so I doubt the restaurant will last. You’ll have to learn eventually.”

“Have a little faith, Sunny.” I hated that nickname.

“We’ll see,” I grumbled.

He slapped me on the back before moving to the bench behind me to rummage around for a tool. “You seem to be wound extra tight this morning. Something wrong?”

“No,” I said. I justreallyhoped that Margo had the good sense to let me work in peace and quiet. She was distracting, and it felt like she was entirely unavoidable. “I should go, I told her I’d start this morning.”

Andy checked out my expression with a smile. “Have fun. Tell Margo I say hello.”

“I definitely won’t.”

-

Peace and quiet was wishful thinking. Margo waited for me withACDCon at the highest possible volume coming from her little portable speaker. I heard it through the glass windows before I even walked in.

“It’s six thirty in the morning,” I deadpanned.

She hopped off the countertop that she was sitting on and looked up at me with a bright smile. “Thought it’d get you hyped up.”

“I was just stopping in to let you know I was here. I’m going to go get a ladder and a few things from my store.”

“I’ll join you,” Margo said. She matched my steps with hers, despite her having to take an extra step every now and then due to her shorter legs.

Inside, I walked past Sam straight to the back. Why the hell was everyone smiling this morning? From the storage room, I could overhear the two chatterboxes going at it.

“I had no idea you got a repair job,” Sam called to me. His voice lowered shortly after, so I assumed he resumed talking toMargo. “Everyone in town is real’ excited about having a diner. I’ve mentioned it to everyone I’ve seen.”

“Thank you. Now I just have to make sure it’s a place worth eating at,” Margo joked.

A few more minutes passed of Sam flirting with her before I returned with all the things I needed.

“Let’s go,” I grunted as I walked past the two. I felt Sam’s eyes on my back as I left the store to finish the job as fast as possible.

“I’ll hold the ladder for you,” Margo said.

“It’s self-supported, no need to hold it.”

“I’ll hold it anyway, just in case. Can’t have anyone thinking this place is cursed. If you die, I take the fall. Well— technically,youwould fall— but I would be the one dealing with the repercussions.”

“Sorry to be a burden,” I snarked.

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