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She gives me a meaningful look, but doesn’t say anything, probably because Jessie’s there.

As her eyes track the men’s departure, she says, “They sure clean up nice.”

“Looks like their moms finally did their laundry,” Jessie says.

I give her an odd look, but she returns to the coloring page the restaurant gave her and doesn’t say anything else.

Their moms do their laundry? Somehow, that figures. I wonder if the men mentioned this to Jessie when they were over for dinner. I’m about to question her, but the waiter arrives with our food, and I decide to let it pass.

How could men in their thirties have their mothers doing their laundry?

CHAPTER15

WYATT

Ifind Cam in the kitchen, collecting ingredients on the counter.

“What’re you making?”

“My famous bacon mac and cheese.”

Cam rarely cooks, and though his mac and cheese is good, I’m not sure where he’s getting the famous designation from. “What’s the occasion?”

“I’m going to have Stella and her crew over for dinner.”

That takes me by surprise.Stella turned down my invitation, but said yes to Cam?“When are they coming?”

He bends down to dig for a pot in the cupboard. “Not sure. I haven't invited them yet.”

I watch him for a while, as I wonder whether to say anything else. Finally I say, “I invited Stella out. She turned me down.”

Cam makes a face that pretends to be sympathetic. “Sucks to be you.”

“What makes you think she’ll say yes to you? She wouldn’t even give you her number when you first met her.”

He looks over his shoulder from the sink, where he fills the pot with water. “But she eventually gave me her number, didn’t she?”

“Because she’s our neighbor.”

“All I’m doing is being neighborly, inviting her over for a meal.” Before he turns the stove on, he says, “Maybe I’d better make sure they can come over tonight.”

“Are you going to text her?”

“An in-person invitation will be more effective. Want to come?”

I follow him out the door, not sure if I’m hoping he’ll get shot down or be successful. Then something occurs to me. “You’re counting on Stella’s daughter wanting to come over, aren’t you?”

Cam shrugs. “Like I said, I’m just being neighborly.”

“Sure, dude.”

“So you asked her out and got shot down, huh? What’d she say?”

“She said she’s not dating right now.”

He looks smug when he says, “She’ll start dating soon.”

“That confidence might be setting you up for a fall. She’s not one of our followers.”