Page 63 of The Matchmaker Club

“What’s this for?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I can’t stay here and eat your food and drink your coffee without contributing anything.”

“I don’t know how much groceries are in Boston, but this is way too much.”

“It’s fine. Use some of it to get good wine for the next meeting.” He winked at me and then pecked me on the cheek. “See you when I get home.”

A cheek kissandcalling this place home. That was definitely new.

He turned around before walking out. “I just kissed you on the cheek, didn’t I?”

“Yup.”

Ben walked in. “Hey, Taylor.” He slapped Lucas on the shoulder. “Ready to hit some trails?”

“You bet.” Lucas looked back at me. “I’ll be back in the afternoon.”

“Go and have fun.”

After Lucas and Ben left, my grandmother walked into the kitchen with aWeekly World Newsin her hand. “I didn’t know Lucas was into ATVs.”

I started washing our dishes. “He is now.”

“I wonder how that happened.”

I shrugged. “Not sure.”

She sat down and opened her paper. “How did he meet Ben?”

“I introduced them.”

“Hmm.”

I dried off my hands and glared at her with a hand on my hip. “What’s ‘hmm’ supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” She flipped to another page. “Do you like him?”

“Yeah, he’s not bad for a Freeman.”

“Once you get the stick out of his butt, he reminds me more of his grandfather than his father.”

I let out a sigh. “I’m not spending time with Lucas to convince him to let us stay here.”

She sipped her coffee. “I know.”

“You’re okay with that?”

“Everything happens for a reason… even if we don’t know what that reason is yet.”

All I knew was that Lucas needed that list, and he was changing before my eyes because of it.

I looked out the kitchen window above the sink. A few guys with bags of mulch over their shoulders walked into the backyard. Bill stepped into the yard as well and waved up at me through the window.

Dinner!

“I’ll be right back.” I headed out the back door. “Hey, Bill.”

“Have a few deliveries for Lainey.” He lifted his company cap and scratched the top of his head. “Is she around?”