Page 8 of Lovewell Lane (Honeyfield Dreamers #1)

Derek

“Give Cheddar Jack one last hug goodnight,” I said. Pushing the curtains of my daughter’s bedroom window shut, I turned to find a hamper full of dirty clothes that I was supposed to wash earlier in the day.

“Can’t he stay in here with me?” my daughter whined.

Through the faint glow of her nightlight, I saw her sleepily rub her eyes.

Our far-too-old cat sat in her lap begrudgingly.

He was a grumpy old man, though he’d been that way since he was a kitten.

Cheddar Jack was rightfully named after my youngest brother because of their uncanny resemblance both physically and in their personalities.

I picked up the basket of clothes and grabbed a stray jacket off the floor to add to the pile. “He’s just going to wake you up. You know he doesn’t like to be in closed spaces.”

“He looks really happy here,” Tessa said. Her arm wrapped around his head in a near choke hold. His face told me he was only accepting this treatment because it was Tessa, and he had a soft spot for her.

“We’ll try it. But if he starts hollering, I’m going to let him out. Okay?”

My daughter smiled and nodded happily, every blink of her eyes lasted longer than the one before it. I leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I love you. Sweet dreams, alright?”

“Sweet dreams,” she mimicked. I tiptoed to the door, hoping for a quick bedtime tonight, so I could get some much-needed chores done. “Daddy?”

One foot out the door, with one still in, I stopped. “Yes, Tess.”

“Can we go to the aquarium?”

“The aquarium,” I repeated. “Where did you hear about that?” Hell, I had never even been to one.

“Sienna told me about it. She said they have fish bigger than me in there,” my daughter’s sleepy voice raised in pitch at her excitement. “Like in Pinocchio when the dad gets eaten by a giant whale. They have one of those there.”

“They do? Maybe we can go sometime this fall. The aquarium is pretty far from here,” I said. Tessa smiled happily and nuzzled into Cheddar Jack. “Good night, honey.”

I slipped out the door as her breathing evened out.

Downstairs, I went through the quiet house with precision.

Laundry in the washer. Take the clean clothes out of the dryer.

Put them on the coffee table to fold. Ah, shit.

I forgot the dishes. I stood to go take care of that first when I found an empty sink.

One of my hard-headed siblings must have done it despite me telling them not to.

They’d gone to the bar tonight to catch up with their hometown friends before Jack and Calli headed back to Atlanta in the morning.

Slick offered to watch Tessa, so I could join them, but I hated giving up bedtime with her more than anything.

And apart from my siblings, there was nothing in a bar that I’d be interested in wasting time on.

Pouring myself a glass of whiskey, I walked over to the wide windows that peered out into my backyard. I couldn’t help but glance toward the guest house, and a harmless glance turned into staring when I discovered my new pretty neighbor was dancing around in there.

She looked straight out of a movie, jumping around in sweatpants and a t-shirt.

Her confidence made the dance moves that would look dorky on anyone else undeniably sexy.

This wasn’t a show for anyone. She was just dancing for herself, and her laugh when she caught sight of herself in the mirror showed she was having the time of her life.

When I noticed her headphones, I couldn’t help but feel my lips tip up at the corners. She listened to my request to keep it quiet.

I stood there a few beats longer until she unexpectedly turned in some ballerina-like spin move. We made eye contact, and I froze. Great, now she would think I was a total pervert.

Her hand raised to give me a quick wave. Instead of looking embarrassed, her expression showed nothing but satisfaction.

I was in trouble.

All I did was raise my glass and down it before forcing myself to get back to my chores.

-

“Can I come with you to see Uncle Andy?”

I looked at Tessa through the rearview mirror. “You know you have to go to school.”

She shrugged. Worth a shot , her posture screamed.

Every now and then I got a painful reminder that my baby girl was just like me.

That was something I was both fearful and proud of.

We sat in comfortable silence as the drop-off line got shorter and shorter, small kids with colorful backpacks ran down the sidewalk, ditching their parents without a second glance.

“Can you tell him I made him a picture?”

I reached into the backseat to pat her leg. “I’ll pass along the message. Anything else he needs to know, honey?”

“Margo. You have to tell him about Margo.”

I sighed. Margo, along with her adoration for giving us cookies, seemed to have invaded every facet of my life in just three days. Andy had definitely already heard about Margo, and that was precisely why I’d been avoiding him the past few days. Hard to do in a town this small for long, though.

Tessa leaned up from the back seat to rest her hand on my arm. “And her cookies! He will like her a lot too, I think, Daddy.”

“I’ll let him know. Maybe we can invite him for dinner, so you can tell him yourself?”

Her eyes lit up. I suddenly felt guilty that I was less social. While she was shy, my daughter still loved spending time with her people, and I needed to do a better job of making that happen more often.

Not needing a verbal answer, I affirmed, “I’ll see when he’s free. Have a great day at school.”

Her hand on my arm formed a fist as she held it out to me. Something Sam taught her. “Nucks,” she giggled.

I returned her fist bump and held her backpack out to her as she climbed out of the car. “I love you,” I said. “Stay safe.”

She nodded and quietly poked her head back in the car. “Love you,” she whispered before closing the door. Only six, and she was already embarrassed in the car line? We had a ways to go.

-

Walking up to Andy’s shop, my eye was caught by a familiar packaging sitting on one of his work benches. I snatched it up and walked over to him with pace. “Who brought you this?”

“Good morning to you too, Sunshine,” Andy said with a heavy amount of sarcasm. He pushed out from under the car he was working on to greet me and see what I was holding. “Oh, Margo brought it by. She’s sweet.”

I couldn’t help the way my spine stiffened. So it wasn’t just my family that she was obsessed with fattening up with her baked goods. This was a town-wide issue.

“Heard she’s living with you,” he added.

I shrugged. “Not my decision,” I retorted.

I put down the wrapping paper carefully and leaned against the car shop’s wall. It was my decision. I just didn’t want to own up to it. Everyone would make such a big deal of it.

“You have a second to look at my car later? It’s making that noise again. I’m thinking it must be the alternator,” I said.

“Yeah, just leave it here. I’ll text you.”

I nodded but still lingered. Sam was opening the store today, and the only real project I had to do was–

“Margo,” Andy said loudly. “You like her?”

My eyes rolled, despite my lack of audience. Andy was already back under the car.

“She’s fine.” He rolled back out from the side of the car just to raise his eyebrows at me. “I’m doing work for her diner today. She needs a few repairs.”

“She’s taking over Wilkins’ old place right?”

“Mhm.”

“And she seems okay? It’d be nice to have a restaurant in town again. I’m sick of eating cereal in solo cups every morning.”

“The lack of a restaurant in no way means you have to eat out of plastic cups, Andy.”

“Not all of us have the kitchen skills you do,” he said.

I was reminded of how he grew up, practically abandoned by his parents who would rather open and close the local bar— back when we had one— than take the kid to school.

My parents both did their best to take Andy in when we were growing up, him being my best friend and all.

“I’ll teach you sometime. You’re a grown man, you should know how to cook a meal.”

He stood up from his creeper and gave me a smart-ass smile. “Maybe I won’t have to learn. She makes damn good cookies.”

“She’s a Dreamer, so I doubt the restaurant will last. You’ll have to learn eventually.”

“Have a little faith, Sunny.” I hated that nickname.

“We’ll see,” I grumbled.

He slapped me on the back before moving to the bench behind me to rummage around for a tool. “You seem to be wound extra tight this morning. Something wrong?”

“No,” I said. I just really hoped that Margo had the good sense to let me work in peace and quiet. She was distracting, and it felt like she was entirely unavoidable. “I should go, I told her I’d start this morning.”

Andy checked out my expression with a smile. “Have fun. Tell Margo I say hello.”

“I definitely won’t.”

-

Peace and quiet was wishful thinking. Margo waited for me with ACDC on at the highest possible volume coming from her little portable speaker. I heard it through the glass windows before I even walked in.

“It’s six thirty in the morning,” I deadpanned.

She hopped off the countertop that she was sitting on and looked up at me with a bright smile. “Thought it’d get you hyped up.”

“I was just stopping in to let you know I was here. I’m going to go get a ladder and a few things from my store.”

“I’ll join you,” Margo said. She matched my steps with hers, despite her having to take an extra step every now and then due to her shorter legs.

Inside, I walked past Sam straight to the back. Why the hell was everyone smiling this morning? From the storage room, I could overhear the two chatterboxes going at it.

“I had no idea you got a repair job,” Sam called to me. His voice lowered shortly after, so I assumed he resumed talking to Margo. “Everyone in town is real’ excited about having a diner. I’ve mentioned it to everyone I’ve seen.”

“Thank you. Now I just have to make sure it’s a place worth eating at,” Margo joked.