Page 12 of Love Deep

“I’m going to get vegetables,” I call out to Riley.

“Okay, Mom.”

Eva shuffles behind me like an elderly dog, still looking on her phone. I’m not quite sure what she wanted to catch up about. Maybe her cell battery.

“The guy is rich,” Eva says out of nowhere.

“What guy?” I ask.

“Your guy,” she says.

I frown. “I don’t have a guy,” I say. “What are you looking at on your phone?”

“I saw the chemistry between you and Fisher the other night. There’s no way things can end there. We just need to find a way for you two to run into each other again.”

I roll my eyes and head to the vegetables section of the market. Eva is out of her mind. No change there.

The sale of eighteen pieces of art to the Colorado Club has been pretty life-changing. I put most of the money aside into a college fund for Riley, but I kept some to help with the day-to-day. Now, instead of having to worry about whether I can afford riceandcannellini beans this week, I can pick healthy, nutritious ingredients and know that my card won’t be declined when I get to the cashier.

It also means I can treat Riley to a packet of Snoballs and not feel bad about it. I see a packet of the less-than-nutritious snack on the shelf and toss it into my cart and grin at what I know will be her expression when she sees what I bought. Then I continue to find something green and leafy to counteract the sugar and chemicals in the Snoballs when I almost run into Rosey.

“Hey, Juniper!” she calls.

Rosey’s lovely. She’s one of those women who’s always smiling and happy. I wonder what that must be like.

“Hey, Rosey. How ya doing?” I glance behind me. “This is my friend Eva.”

“We know each other,” Eva says, and they exchange smiles. “Excuse me for a second. I just need to try outside for a better signal.”

“It’s so good to see you!” Rosey says. There’s a little bounce to her step, which is just adorable. “It was great hanging out at Grizzly’s the other night. All of us out together was so fun, especially with Fisher.”

So much Fisher talk this afternoon. Fisher wasn’texactly what I had expected him to be. Yes, he was hot as all holy hell. He was charming and flirtatious. But there was something more to him that came as a bit of a surprise. He was a little deeper than I’d thought he would be. Not at first, but as we talked, he really seemed to want to hear what I had to say, and he… thought about what I’d said. It’s been a while since I’ve even talked to someone I haven’t known at least twenty years—and usually since one of us was born. Fisher was not only new, but he was genuinely interested in what I had to say. And I was interested in him.

It was nice. More than nice.

“It was really fun,” I say.

“You and Fisher seemed to get along.”

I nod, trying to think of what I should say that doesn’t include how hot I think he is. “Yeah, he seems great.”

“He really is. Such a good man. And so kind.”

Her eyebrows pull together a little, like there’s more to it than she’s telling me. No doubt there is plenty about Fisher I don’t know.

“Even Byron had a good time,” she adds with a laugh. “Fisher always enjoys himself,” she says. I wonder if that’s true. “He’s single, you know.”

I smile. “I gathered that. He was quite flirtatious. But I get the impression that’s part of what makes him,him.”

“Yeah. I think he’s flirtatious by nature. But he wasparticularlyflirtatious with you.”

I can’t tell if she’s just trying to make me feel better or if she’s telling me Fisher liked me. Although I’m not sure it matters either way.

“Well, I appreciated it,” I say.

It’s true. He’s built like a Greek god, and he had a way of looking at me like the rest of the world just disappeared—like the world could go up in flames and he wouldn’t care as long as he could keep talking to me. Keep smiling at me. Keep making flirtatious little jokes.

Truthfully, I haven’t enjoyed myself so much at a night out at Grizzly’s for—well, ever.