Page 14 of Pinch of Love

And they had set up poor Maya as their next victim. The moment I got the call from Becky about a lost tenant, I had a sneaking suspicion that the limb blocking the number on Becky’s address sign was meticulously placed. After all, it wasn’t my first run-in with the Sunshine Breakfast Club—our sneaky little book club that paraded around as a bunch of book lovers when, in reality, they are wicked and ruthless matchmaking fiends.

Their last attempt to force me into love resulted in an unsuspecting newcomer in town named Daisy being mysteriously placed wherever I happened to go. I couldn’t believe they’d try to push me on a date with a girl who hadn’t even reached thirty. Needless to say, she and I shared a good laugh about the situation because she had no interest in marrying a man who was one step away from drinking Geritol.

Okay, maybe I might be exaggerating a little bit at the age of forty, but that age difference can sneak up on a person. Some days, I felt a lot older than forty.

I shook my head and kicked my heels up onto the stool in front of me and watched a paddleboarder navigate the lake behind my house.

Maya.

Definitely a woman out of my league.

But there was something about her that kept creeping back into my thoughts. And the truth was that when Jackson persuaded me to join him at Maya’s for dinner, it didn’t take much in the way of arm twisting. I tried to play the invite off as if I didn’t really want to go, but I couldn’t wait to see her, and it had only been a few hours since I’d left the rental.

I let out a deep breath and leaned my head against the chair as I thought about how endearing her little snort was whenever she laughed too hard or discovered something. What worried me was that I wanted to know more about her. I wanted to know every single detail that had led her to Buttercup Lake. Why she left her house. What she did for a living. Her favorite color.

Everything.

I also understood that if I asked about every detail of her life that I was dying to know about, she’d probably flee Buttercup Lake and never look back, and this trip was about her. I was merely the property owner who needed to make her stay as comfortable and uneventful as possible.

But for the first time in a minute, I didn’t hate that the Sunshine Breakfast Club was up to their usual tricks.

Lifting my head, I looked at the lake where the paddleboarder was no longer in view and took a sip of coffee.

Today was going to be a great day.

I had a property to look at that I was interested in purchasing before it hit the market, and I had a few fixes to do in my own place, like stopping a leaky faucet in the ensuite upstairs.

So, if I knew what I needed to do today, why in God’s name was I thinking about a complete stranger who had more energy than my old Australian cattle dog, Maggie? I smiled, thinking back to how quickly Maya caught on to the pet situation. I’d never paid much attention, but she was right. The house had become a shrine to my life of deceased pets.

And what did she call it? Fascinating?

She also said I was sexy and smart and... a bit of a grump.

I frowned harder and stood.

Why did I care?

With that last question, I made my way into my house to grab my wallet before I took off to the hardware store when my phone dinged.

I glanced at the text and couldn’t help but smile.

I’m so sorry to bother you, and I’m completely mortified that I have to write this to you, but the tub seems plugged. It won’t drain. Is there a trick?

My frown deepened. Why would there be a trick to draining a tub?

I wrote back.

No trick. Did you put something in there besides water?

She quickly wrote back.

Like what?

I smiled and typed.

I don’t know what your self-care looks like.

She wrote back with a laughing emoji.

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