Page 67 of Pick Me
“Oh. Well.” I shrugged, a little embarrassed and a lot relieved. I’d wanted to help, to feel like I was contributing to the family in a meaningful way. “It’s not revolutionary or anything. There are lots of phones for kids you can buy that come set up like this. But I thought it would be cool that it integrated to the app. One-stop shopping, kinda. Here, I have it on my phone so you can see how it works.”
I opened my phone and sent a quick message to Aiden’s phone through the app. The notification popped up on his screen.
“Aiden is going to be the happiest kid in the Hollow when he sees this,” Drew said with a laugh.
Webb nodded. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Oh, no, seriously, it’s—”
“It’s a big deal to me. That you went out of your way to do this for me, for Aiden, when it’s not what I hired you to do? It’s pretty huge.”
“That’s why we’re keeping you,” Drew said matter-of-factly. “Oh, I mean, you can go off to Boston and all, but you’re coming back for regular visits. And I’m sending you care packages like Knox’s dad used to do for him. Prepare for it.”
I grinned. I loved these guys so much. “Will these packages contain… pumpkin bread? Or, say, those apple muffins you make with the orange juice?”
“In bulk,” Drew assured me with a wink. Then he took a piece of pumpkin bread—my third piece of the morning—and put it on the napkin in front of me.
It was nice to be understood.
Knox came whistling through the back door and headed directly to the coffeepot. “Webb, were you aware that there’s a terrifying horde of zombie scarecrows congregating on the front lawn with their arms outstretched toward the house? Because if you decided to invite your friends over, you should have really let the rest of us—” He broke off when he saw all three of us staring at him. “What?”
“You’re… you’re whistling,” Drew accused.
“So? There a law against that now?” Knox scowled. “Jeez. It’s a pleasant day. The tourists are gone during the week now, and I don’t have to smile at all the flatlanders buying vats of maple syrup. Perkins Limited just remitted payment on a huge invoice. I feelwhistly,okay?”
I stuffed my mouth with pumpkin bread so I wouldn’t be tempted to give him a besotted smile. We’d been hiding our relationship from the other Sundays for weeks, and you’d think it would have gotten easier. Become second nature.
But no.
Every time the man looked at me, my stomach tripped over itself, my heart danced in a funny syncopated rhythm, and I felt the desperate urge to find a new adjective to describe the particular green shade of his eyes.
“What’s this?” Knox stood between Webb and Drew and glanced down at my tablet. His gorgeous eyes lifted to mine curiously.
“This is an early version of the Pond App,” Webb answered proudly. “Gage’s app for the orchard. It has a GPS thing we can use to keep tabs on Aiden.”
Knox’s beard split with a quicksilver smile that was a tinier but equally thrilling version of the happy-go-lucky smile I would never get tired of. “Awesome. Is this what you’ve been spending all your free time on, Goodman?”
I blushed. The man knew as well as I did that I definitely hadn’t been putting in very long hours on the app since I now had adifferenthobby that consumed most of my evenings. And mornings. And lunchtimes, too, when Webb and the others went to Jack’s restaurant.
“I’m dedicated,” I agreed.
“I told him we’re keeping him permanently,” Drew said lightly. “Whether he likes it or not.”
“Really?” Knox sipped his coffee. “I feel like there are laws against keeping prisoners, but okay.”
“I meant metaphorically,” Drew said loftily. “I wouldn’t condemn the man to sharing the barn apartment with your grumpy self for the rest of his life.”
“Oh, I dunno,” I piped up. “Knox isn’tsobad as a roommate. You might say I’m used to having him around.” And in my bed. “And I don’t even mind his lectures.” Since they always ended in sex. “His bark is worse than his bite.” Not that I minded the bites.
Knox shot me a look no one else could see that said he’d be pleased to show me just how bad his bite could be, and I had to stop myself from shivering at the idea.
“It so happens that I have news, too,” Knox said smugly. “I just got off the phone with Jason. You remember Jason?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Of course.”
Jason had said he’d call me to set up an interview last week, but he hadn’t. And I knew I was supposed to be proactive about calling him and following up, but…
Well, I’d been really busy working on the communication app for Aiden.
