Page 27 of Truly

“If you stay much longer, I might do that. My back hurts like hell today.”

I frown.

“I’m kidding,” he says, grinning. “My back does hurt, but I don’t know if I could make you sleep on the couch. It feels rude.”

“It would be rude.”

He shakes his head.

“You know what else is rude?” I tease.

“What’s that?”

“I woke up, and there was no breakfast ready.”

He snorts and heads back into the barn. “This isn’t a bed-and-breakfast, Pumpkin.”

My cheeks already ache from smiling. “What are we doing today?”

“I’m going to Cotton’s to shoe a couple of horses.”

“On a Sunday?”

“Yes, on a Sunday,” he says, mocking me. “Horses don’t give a damn what day it is.”

“Oh. You’re just going to leave me here?”

He throws a bag over his shoulders and heads back to the truck. “Are you going to get all nervous about being in my house alonenow? It’s a little late for that.”

“Very funny.” I follow him through the barn. “How long will it take?”

“A few hours, probably. We have one horse out there with founder. I gotta meet with the vet and see what he recommends shoe-wise.”

“Sounds complicated.”

Luke leans against the truck and crosses his arms over his chest. “What are you going to do today?”

I take a sip of my coffee to avoid a quick response.

I had planned on spending the day with him, but I’m not certain what I thought we would do—nothing and everything, maybe. The news that he won’t be here startles me a bit, and it throws me off my game.

“Well, Stephanie leaves Indiana this afternoon, so I might try to figure out how to get my stuff from her without tipping anyone off,” I say finally.

“If she wants to leave it at The Wet Whistle, I can swing by after I leave Cotton’s.”

“Okay.”

“Or you could set up a rendezvous with Gavin.” Luke laughs. “He could meet her at the coffee shop in Brickfield so she doesn’t have to come all the way to Peachwood Falls.Believe it or not, Gavin can be pretty slick.”

I laugh, too. “Well, he did put a sticky note on the phone box with his number on it.”

“Really?”

The question’s simple, but the tone doesn’t sound so easy.

“Now I have his phone number, not yours,” I say. “I guess if something happens, Gavin will have to be my hero.”

“You don’t remember my number?”