Page 136 of Mr. Flirt

Truth be told, I wasn’t certain the people Izzy had started hanging out with were actually her friends… more like she was their target so they could get what they’d wanted, whether it was fast food or a place to crash overnight.

I spotted Grandma Millie’s white, turn-of-the-century house with daisies in the garden beds bowing from the breeze and orange lilies dotting the drive. Her big vegetable garden in the front yard had tall deer fencing, but she also had a little area just for the deer to graze in the far corner. Her original hope was that if she fed them what she’d wanted to feed them, they’d leave everything else alone. Judging by the deer fence, it still wasn’t working how she’d planned.

“The shutters aren’t yellow anymore,” Izzy said, taking in her home for the next three months.

I smiled. “Nope. The green looks nice, though.”

I glanced at my fifteen-year-old, going-on-thirty, daughter and wondered what could bring us back together. I prayed it was Buttercup Lake and being away from outside influences, but I just didn’t know.

And the worst part was that I felt like I was disappointing Tim. Granted, he’d seen Izzy turn from the happy-go-lucky little girl to the woman with a mission before he died, but it had gotten so much worse since.

“Oh, there’s Grandma Millie.” I waved as I pulled into the gravel driveway.

She waved back and sat on the porch swing, which was now painted green to match her shutters.

Before I’d even turned off the ignition, Izzy had bolted from the car and run toward Grandma Millie, who stood up and opened her arms.

Seeing Izzy with her great-grandma warmed my heart. My grandma was the kindest, most loyal grandmother in existence. She never spoke an ill word about anyone, even when my parents forgot they had children—three of us girls, to be exact. She just stood quietly next to us and helped to raise us each summer.

I turned off the car and took a deep breath as the realization hit me. We were at Buttercup Lake. I’d given notice at my job as an administrative assistant for a frozen food company and moved us here for three months.

The thought suddenly terrified me. What had I been thinking? I crawled out of the car and saw Izzy chatting animatedly with Grandma Millie and remembered it all.

Healing.

Answers.

We both needed to mend our broken hearts, and there was something about this woman and this lake that made that possible.

But the other part of me worried that Tim had something hidden that I never wanted to find out, and it started with a woman named Tracy and a key to who knows what.

I let out a sigh and made my way to the porch, where Grandma Millie opened her arms for me next and motioned for her famous hug.

The moment her arms wrapped around me, it felt like I was seventeen again, and she was assuring me that going back home to my parents’ would be okay.

I closed my eyes and hugged her back, smelling the lavender and rose that were so very familiar.

“It’s good to see you, my little Grace.” She hugged me again before stepping back. “You look good. Tired but good.”

“I think you’re being extra kind because I feel like a mess.”

“Ah, nonsense.” She winked at me and turned to my daughter. “Anyone who has this angel for a daughter isn’t anywhere near a mess.”

Izzy beamed, and I saw the little girl I’d grown to miss.

“Now, let’s get you to your rooms.” Grandma Millie clapped her hands before reaching the storm door and holding it open for us to go inside.

“I just assumed Izzy and I would share the guest room.”

Grandma Millie chuckled and shook her head. “When you’re fifteen, it’s okay to want space. So, Izzy has the guest room, and you have my bedroom.” She wandered down the hall to the kitchen.

The thought that I’d be displacing a woman nearing ninety for the next three months didn’t sit well with me. While Izzy looked relieved, I followed Grandma Millie.

“That’s really sweet of you, but I can’t chase you out of your own room.”

Izzy came into the sun-filled kitchen behind me. The bright white cabinets and pale yellow walls were exactly as I’d always remembered.

“Oh, sweetie. I’m rarely here any longer. I found a man.”

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