Page 19 of Lovewell Lane

“Good. Any advice for me?”

She tapped her pointer finger to her lip in thought. “I think the best thing I did was stay on the town’s good side. There have been a few other Dreamers that moved to Honeyfield since I started, and they kind of wrecking-balled their way in. That method clearly doesn’t work.”

My eyes widened. “Theyallfailed?” I’d heard Derek’s brother say the same thing, but I assumed he was exaggerating. “How long did they last?”

“None lasted even a year,” Lila said casually as if my hair wasn’t currently standing straight up out of my head in fear. “I guess they didn’t have savings. Or they didn’t want to waste time continuing to try.”

“Well, that’s reassuring,” I said.

The Dreamer Initiative offered fifteen thousand dollars upon moving to Honeyfield to help get a business up and running. While I never held down a job, I always had one, so on top of the Initiative bonus I had about five thousand dollars in savings. Which didn’t seem like a lot if I wasn’t going to make a profit right away.

Lila laughed and set down her drink. “You seem to be doing well. The Weston’s helped me out a ton, honestly. We order a lot of our produce from them. Eggs, too. And everyone takes their word like the gospel around here, so anytime someone comes to town, or near it, they recommend me.”

“Oh.” That didn’t sound like the Derek Weston I knew. She must have been talking about Sam.

“It helps to be a necessary business too. There are only chain hotels or motels in Shellville, and some people don’t like that experience. I’m sure tourists would drive a little further to come to your diner. Not to mention locals.”

I needed to make sure my BLT was the best sandwich in a three-town radius, was what I was hearing. Instead of voicing my concerns, I choked them down with a big gulp of my vodka soda.

“I have time to figure it out. Tell me more about your daughter.”

That was how we spent the next hour. Going back and forth with a ping-pong-esque game of twenty questions. It ended up being one-sided since I had a never-ending amount of questions for Lila. I found out Lila identified as a Pisces, divorcee, and avid crocheter. Who knew? I was just about to convince her to make me one of those cute strawberry hats when we were rudely interrupted.

“Hey, Lila.” Sam Weston’s charming smile was enough to brighten up the dimly lit bar. He rested a hand on the back of Lila’s chair before sliding into the one next to her. He spoke while still looking at her and only her, “Mind if I crash?”

I looked at Lila to see her reaction. A small smile tugged at her lips before she quickly hid her facial expression. “I don’t mind,” I answered for her.

“Nice to see you again, neighbor,” Sam greeted me.

“Where is it that you live again?” I asked. I knew he didn’t live in the main house with Derek. Or, Iassumed. No grown man would willingly still live with his domineering older brother.

“If you follow the driveway but take a right instead of a left, that’s me. The trees cover it, but I live right on the property.”

“Ah, close but not too close.”

“Exactly,” he agreed while still glancing at Lila. There was some serious underlying tension there, at least on his end. He looked at her like she was on the verge of discovering the secret to the universe. Holding onto her every facial expression. I couldn’t tell if the feeling was reciprocated. From what I learned about Lila so far, though, was that she kept her cards pretty close to her chest. “Has anyone invited you both to the Seedling Party yet?”

Lila and I both stared at each other with blank expressions.

Sam chuckled, “Of course not, you’ll have to excuse my brother. While he’s technically the leader of Weston Farms now, he’s not the most cordial. We host a party at the end of every January to plant the first seeds of the season. It’s mostly for fun rather than hard manual labor.”

Lila fluttered her eyelashes. “I might be busy with the Inn,” she wondered out loud.

“It’s usually an all-day affair, so you can stop by whenever. And you can bring Sienna with you, I’m sure Tessa would love that,” Sam said.

At the mention of her daughter, Lila perked up. Then she looked at me.

“I’m guessing it will be held on the farm?” I asked. Sam nodded. “Then I’m in, Lila you should come, too.”

“We’ll see.” She looked down at her phone which lit up her face. “One second, I should take this.”

She wandered off to stand outside in front of the bar. I turned to Sam. “What’s going on between you two?”

He raised an eyebrow. “You’re not the most subtle person, are you?”

“Nope,” I blurted.

Sam glanced over to where Lila was standing through the window and didn’t take his eyes away from her. “When she came to town, it was just her and Sienna. I just like to look out for her, is all.”

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