Page 7 of Lovewell Lane (Honeyfield Dreamers #1)

From the sound of things, Honeyfield wasn’t doing too hot money-wise. So why not support local businesses? It was the right thing to do.

And with that thought, I straightened my shoulders and pulled out the loaf of bread to march across the street. I’d already accepted an awkward conversation would be the best outcome, and the chances he didn’t speak at all were very possible.

Until I opened the door to hear ACDC’s Thunderstruck blaring throughout the farm store.

This was unexpected.

I swung my head around to scan the store. Just like when I came in the day before, no one was to be seen. Not wanting to repeat past mistakes, I walked up to the front counter and decided to wait.

Then I heard it.

Two voices, one very deep and one very high-pitched sang along to the beginning of the song.

My hand clapped over my mouth to avoid laughing at how ridiculous they sounded.

This wasn’t any casual humming along under their breath.

They were both going full out and trying their hardest to hit every high note.

Unable to contain my curiosity, I walked closer to where the sound was coming from.

There was a door wide open to what I assumed to be a storage area.

The singing turned into humming as I peeked my head around the corner.

I found Derek and Tessa, his adorable daughter who saved me from a very invasive duck yesterday.

Tessa was spinning around and dancing whilst shaking a box of chicken feed like a makeshift maraca.

Derek continued humming with his back facing me, his foot tapping along to the song as he read something on the wooden table in front of him.

I physically had to bite my tongue to stop myself from asking him for an encore.

Tessa saw me first. She immediately stopped dancing, and I felt horrible for interrupting such a cute moment.

I smiled anyway and waved at her. “Hi,” I said over the sound of the music.

Derek spun around. He turned back to a stereo system next to him and turned down the song nearly all the way. “We need to put a damn bell on you,” he grumbled before turning back to me.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” For my living situation’s sake, I would take this to my grave. “I just walked in and didn’t see anyone.”

Derek looked at me and waited for me to continue speaking. So, we were going with pretending I didn’t exist, sweet.

“I brought your bread as promised.” I presented the bread to him as a peace offering.

He was still glaring at me like my entire existence perplexed him.

He wasn’t just annoyed, he looked at me like I was the most interesting person on the planet.

Like I was a bug under his magnifying glass. “And more cookies for Tessa.”

Tessa’s smile lit up a little at that. “Thanks,” said Derek.

“Also, do you know anyone who could help me with a leaky roof?” The words spilled out of my mouth before I could change my mind about asking Derek. Asking for help was never my strong suit. “My new store seems to be not-so-new.”

Derek looked at his own ceiling for a long moment. I was just about to inform him he was looking at the wrong roof when he put down the pencil in his hand and looked at Tessa.

“I can take a look at it.” His face said he regretted the sentence before it even left his mouth. “Tessa, let’s go.”

“Oh, great,” I said surprised. Without any other words, I followed the two quiet Westons out of their store and into mine.

Derek turned to stop and stare at me once we were all inside. Words, Weston. They’re a wonderful invention , was what I wanted to say. Instead, I wordlessly led them to the back and pointed. Two could play that game.

Silence droned on, and I was counting down the seconds until Derek inevitably pulled out a black beret and white face paint to fully commit to his dream career as a mime.

“Yuck,” muttered Tessa.

“Agreed,” said Derek. There was something endearing about how similar they were. They even stood the same way, hands on their hips as they looked up at the ceiling. Tessa was a mini Derek with a pink sparkly dress and pigtails.

Then Derek turned to me. “I can fix it. We just need to patch the roof and replace the damaged part of the ceiling.”

“Perfect. When can we start?” I asked.

He looked around at the rest of the empty diner while thinking. “Tomorrow good?”

“Yes,” I answered. We were clearly back to playing the game where everyone said as few words as possible. How fun.

“I like your hair,” Tessa spoke up in a soft voice.

I felt my braid out of instinct and pulled it over my shoulder so that she could get a better look. “Really? I can do one for you sometime. It’s called a Dutch braid.”

Tessa nodded emphatically. I would make time to do it for her, no matter how much convincing it took for her father to let me.

Derek already did not seem enthused at the idea, but the smile on his little girl's face made him pause. He was a good dad. Clearly, they had a special bond. To imagine either one of them singing and dancing without a care in the world would have been impossible if I hadn’t just seen it myself a few minutes ago.

I wished I could have had a family like that growing up. Or now. To live in a world where my favorite people know all the parts of me, embarrassing or not, and still love me. To feel comfortable enough to share those embarrassingly sweet moments would be a dream.

Derek interrupted my thoughts by grumbling something about ‘getting back’. His accent made it nearly impossible to understand his muttering, so I was mostly guessing.

Tessa placed her hand in his and cheerily skipped her way out of the kitchen while Derek walked slower than usual to accommodate for her much shorter legs.

I smiled at the two of them as they made their way to the front door.

When I thought our interaction was over, Derek surprised me by turning around.

“Thanks for the bread and cookies,” he said.

My eyes widened. Did I imagine that? Derek Weston going out of his way to say extra words and thank someone? I had only known him for a day, and I already knew that was out of character.

He watched my reaction and his eyes turned suspicious. “Don’t look so surprised,” he chided.

“If you keep talking like that, I just might think you’re starting to like me, Weston.”

He cracked a half smile before turning his back to me. It was wonderful. A deep satisfaction filled my chest at the sight. Nothing was better than getting even a fraction of a smile out of a giant grump that looked like he was born with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

I vowed to myself that I’d get a real one out of him eventually while I watched the two walk across the street hand in hand.