Page 13 of Sipping Seduction
“Isn’t that him over there?” Charice pointed to a corner of the fenced-in dog park where a couple of dogs appeared to be sizing each other up.
“Yes, that’s him. Come on, we can’t let him get caught up in a dogfight.” I hated running, but I forced my legs into a jog and reached the dogs just as the bulky pittie mix got into position to start humping Pete the Dog.
“Whoa! Hey, Beastmode, cut it out.” Silas Stewart, one of Andrew’s cousins who worked at the distillery, grabbed hold of the other dog’s collar and pulled him away. “Sorry about that. He tries to hump everything, but we’re working on it.”
“So you’re saying your dog is a horndog,” Charice said. Sarcasm laced her sugary-sweet tone.
“He’s a handful, that’s for sure. He’s a rescue, and I’ve only had him for a few weeks.” Silas shifted his blue-eyed gaze to me. “Hey, Frannie. I hear you’ve been seeing my cousin, Andrew.”
Shock stole my voice. Andrew had been telling people we were dating? I tried to say something, but I couldn’t force words past my lips.
Charice’s brows knit together in concern. “Are you okay?”
Nodding, I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Sorry, you caught me off guard a little, Silas. Where did you hear that?”
His grin faded like he’d just realized maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. “Uh, Andrew just said the two of you hung out earlier this week.”
“That’s right. We did.” I pulled Pete the Dog’s leash out of my pocket and clipped it on his collar. “We need to get going, but it was nice seeing you.”
Charice tilted her head and tried to get a read on me. “Yeah, it was great meeting your little humping hound. See you around.”
“Y’all have a good night, and sorry again about—”
“Not a problem. Good luck.” With a final awkward wave, I turned to head toward the exit.
Charice caught up to me within seconds, thanks to her long stride. “What the hell was that? Don’t you want to pump him for info on what Andrew might have said about you? We could have double-teamed him. He wouldn’t even know he’d been played until it was over.”
“Andrew’s telling people we’re seeing each other.” I looked over at her, but kept moving toward the parking lot. “Don’t you get it? I need to be the one to tell Evan. What if he hears it from someone else?”
Charice wrapped her fingers around my arm and pulled me to a stop. “Are you sure there’s not some other reason you’re hesitant to tell Evan you’re seeing someone?”
“What do you mean? Andrew’s a Stewart. That’s reason enough to worry. I don’t think you understand the feud that’s been going on between the two families. It’s lasted through generations.” Charice grew up outside of Asheville, so she hadn’t lived under the shadow of the feud. The generations-long fight between the Bishops and the Stewarts affected everyone in town, and it had been that way for as long as everyone could remember.
“But it seems like the two families are trying to work on things. The anniversary celebration went well and with Cole and Danica’s wedding coming up, maybe having both families there will be the start to a new kind of relationship between them. From what I’ve heard, no one can even remember what started the dumb feud in the first place.” Charice reached down to scratch Pete the Dog behind the ears. “I wonder if Silas will be at the wedding.”
“No, no, no. Don’t you go making heart eyes at Silas Stewart. He’s bad news.” He’d been a year behind me in high school and there were rumors about him hooking up with the drama teacher. He might have gorgeous blue eyes and be built like Henry Cavill, but I wouldn’t let my work bestie get mixed up in his kind of trouble.
“He’s cute though.”
“The ones who cause the most trouble usually are. Can you hold Pete the Dog’s leash for a sec? I want to get him some water before we leave.” Charice held out her hand, and I gave her the end of the leash. Then I picked up one of the water bowls they kept on hand at the dog park and took it over to the water fountain to fill it. I’d had enough fresh air for one night. It was time to get home and figure out what I was going to say to Evan tomorrow.
As I walked back to Charice, my phone buzzed in my back pocket. I wasn’t up for handling a call from Evan or Andrew at the moment, but I had to check the caller ID to make sure my dad didn’t need anything. The name of my landlord flashed across the screen.
I set the water down and held up a finger, signaling Charice that I’d just be a second. “Hello?”
“Hey, Frannie. I’ve got an update on the plumbing situation if now’s a good time to talk?” he said.
I was more than a little eager to find out when the plumber would be able to get out and fix my weak water pressure. “Yes, now’s a good time. I thought I wouldn’t hear more until tomorrow. When do they think they’ll be able to make the repair?”
“I was able to meet the owner of the company out there today. It’s not good news. Turns out the pipe under the foundation is leaking. They’re going to have to do a total replumb.”
Total replumb. I didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded like I wouldn’t be taking any high-pressured showers in the near future. “Um, okay. So how do they fix that?”
“I don’t really know how to tell you this, so I’ll just say it. You’re going to need to move out for a little while—”
“Move out? For how long?” My heart pounded. Where was I supposed to go?
“Shouldn’t take more than a month.” He kept talking, but I didn’t hear him. I was too busy fighting off a panic attack.
