by Holly Jacobs
“You never had that before?” he guessed.
“I have it here and that’s enough. I have friends—good friends—in Mattie and Sophie. And a family in Hank. At least, I will if you’ll share your grandfather with me and you’ll let me help.”
He stood up and nodded. “I will. It will be a comfort to know when I’m not here you will be.”
“Well, then, I guess we’re back to our truce.” She extended her hand.
He took it in his and they shook. “I guess we are. Why don’t you tell me about this boy, Joey...” He left the question hanging.
“Joey’s amazing. His mom left the family.” Lily couldn’t understand how anyone could leave Joey and his younger sisters. But Sebastian had to feel a connection. “His dad hurt his back and is recovering slowly. He can’t lift anything yet and for a while could barely get out of bed. Joey’s been getting his sisters to school, taking care of the cooking and cleaning...and he’s an honor-roll student. I’ve taken over dinners a few times, trying to help out. And Hank and I have the kids over now and again for a meal here. We send something home for their dad.”
“Of course you do,” he muttered.
Lily related to Sebastian’s frustration while trying to tie his shoes. She felt it now trying to deal with him. “I thought we’d called a truce.”
“We did. We do.” He sighed. “But here’s the thing.... You’re annoying.”
What was she supposed to say to something like that? “Ouch.”
“No, I mean it. You take care of Finn’s sister, help out my grandfather, and now you take meals to sick families. Plus, you find gimp-handed ex-soldiers YouTube videos and even play a mean game of one-handed basketball. With all of that, you make it impossible for me to wallow. You are too good to be true.”
“When you put it like that, I think I want to barf right now. That’s what you see? A Goodie Two-shoes? It’s not an accurate picture of me.”
“But you do all that,” he pointed out.
“Maybe.” She nodded. “Yes, I guess I do. But there’s a lot you missed.”
“So tell me,” he challenged.
Lily laughed. “Yeah, that’s right. I should tell you about all my flaws and weaknesses.” Her nightmares. She could tell him that while she’d had friends, she’d never let any of them get too close—until Mattie and Lily. And even with them, she hadn’t shared her past. She could tell him that she’d once thought she could fall in love, but in the end, she couldn’t go through with it. She’d left the man who’d asked her to marry him. No. She wasn’t sharing any of that. “You’re a soldier. I’m not going to arm you with ammunition you can use against me. You already do a good enough job at taking swipes. And if that’s how you see me, then I’ll let your picture of me stick.”
“Maybe I’ll make it my business to find out more.”
“You can try.” It occurred to her that challenging him might not have been the best way to go.
He appeared thoughtful for a moment, then said, “How about I try tonight...at dinner? Somewhere other than here.”
Lily was sure she’d misheard him. “Pardon?”
“Did anyone ever mention that you’re cute when you’re knocked off guard? You go all prim and proper. You say things like pardon. And it might not be quite a Webster-worthy word, but it’s awfully close the way you say it. So let me be clear, I’m asking you out to dinner.”
When she didn’t respond immediately, he clarified, “Dinner. Tonight.”
That didn’t make her feel any less confused. “Like on a date?”
“You could call it that. I mean, not in a ‘looking for a long-term relationship’ sort of way, but rather a ‘two single people hanging out and having a good time’ way. Maybe we get to know each other better. Not that you need to know any more about me.”
Friendly. That was the description of every relationship that she’d had since college. Sometimes it was friends with benefits. If things ever got too serious, she always cut the connection, so it was the get to know each other that gave her concern. But Sebastian had made it clear he was leaving after the wedding.
Shocking as it might seem, Sebastian Bennington might be her perfect match in Valley Ridge.
A man who was going to leave.
A man she’d liked immensely when she’d heard Hank’s stories. A man she occasionally still liked...when he wasn’t infuriating her to the point of screaming.
“You’re sure you’re not planning on falling in love with me?” she half teased, half asked. “I mean, after you’ve listed all my glowing attributes, how could you not?”
“I swear I’ll manage,” he replied with a grin. “That is, I can if you can promise not to fall in love with me.”
“Uh, Sebastian, I’ll grant you that you’re easy on the eyes, but most women want something more than that. And by more than that, I mean someone who doesn’t throw things—”
“I knocked it over,” he protested.
“Yeah, if you say so,” she teased. “Still, women want a man who can keep their temper in check. I know that would be important to me if I were looking for someone long-term.”
“You’re not?” His tone said he found that hard to believe.
“No. I’m not. I can say that emphatically and categorically. I’m not looking for anyone long-term. But it does seem that I have a date tonight with a guy who’s leaving after Sophie and Colton’s wedding. For now, shoo. I want to get a bit more done around here before I go home to change for dinner.”
* * *
SEBASTIAN HADN’T INTENDED to ask Lily for a date. But his curiosity won out. At least, that was what he told himself. It was merely curiosity that moved him to issue the invitation.
He might have stayed and tried to uncover more about her, but as if on cue, his cell phone rang. Mrs. Dedionisio asked if he had a couple hours to assist her neighbor.
He closed his phone and said, “Looks like I have a job. Let’s say I pick you up at six on the front porch?”
“Six works fine,” she said.
And with that, he left before he embarrassed himself further.
He walked the few blocks to Mrs. Dedionisio’s.
She was out at the edge of her driveway, picking up debris and dropping it into a small wheelbarrow with another elderly woman. Mrs. Dedionisio smiled when she looked up and saw him. She wiped her hands on her purple housedress. “Sebastian, have you met my neighbor of thirty years, Margot Esterly?”
The other woman looked familiar. That was the thing about Valley Ridge—even if you didn’t know someone, you generally recognized them. Well, you did if you worked in the diner.
Rather than answer that she only looked vaguely familiar, he said, “Hi, Mrs. Esterly. What’s up, ladies?”
“Some hooligans knocked down her mailbox last night.” Mrs. Dedionisio’s voice was laced with indignation on her friend’s behalf. “I thought you might put it back up for her?”
He saw that the debris they’d been picking up was the splintered post and dented metal mailbox that had been hit so hard the flag and door had been knocked off.
He thought about asking why they had called him. However, he then realized that asking for help got easier once you’d done it the first time. He’d carried Mrs. D’s bags, and maybe that made it easier for her to ask for his help now. “Sure. I’m on it. I’ll have to run over to the supply store and pick up materials, but yeah, I can get this back up for you.”
“I’d be happy to pay you, and of course, the costs,” Mrs. Esterly offered.
“Don’t worry about paying me. I’ll bring you the receipt for the supplies, though.”
Mrs. Dedionisio pushed the wheelbarrow toward the house. “See, I told you that he might have been a hooligan back in the day but he grew into a fine man....”
Sebastian was glad when she moved out of earshot because he’d felt like a fraud listening to her glowing compliment. He’d felt just as uncomfortable when he’d met Lily, who’d heard one too many stories from Hank.
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He decided that even though the Farm and House Supply was a few blocks away he’d probably have to get his car in order to bring the materials here. Plus, he’d need a posthole digger and some other tools.
A police car pulled up next to him. Well, actually, the police car. Valley Ridge only had the one. Dylan Long got out of the cruiser. He looked more like a surfer than a cop. Tall, lean, with sandy-blond hair. “I heard you were back,” Dylan said.
Sebastian nodded. “Yeah. Thought I’d have seen you at the diner.”
“I’ve been there. It seems our paths haven’t crossed until now. Want to tell me what happened?” He gestured at the stump where the mailbox had been.
“Mrs. Dedionisio called me to see if I could help her neighbor fix her mailbox. Someone knocked it over last night.”
“Someone walloped the hell out of it,” Dylan said, toeing some splinters of wood.
“Probably some kids.”
“I’ll go in and talk to her, then file a report. But you know how these things go. Thankfully, we don’t have much mischief like this in Valley Ridge, but even small towns aren’t immune.”
“I don’t think Mrs. Esterly is expecting miracles, but I do think she’s hoping for a new mailbox.”
Dylan started for the house and turned around. “Heard you got Mrs. Dedionisio to let you carry her groceries. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to get that woman to let me help. I’ve offered her a ride, or even to walk with her and carry them.”
“I played the injury card—” he extended his messed-up hand “—and told her I’d feel emasculated if she didn’t let me help.”
Dylan choked on his laughter. “Brilliant use of an injury.”
Sebastian couldn’t help but think that Lily would be impressed with his looking at the silver lining. Hell, he might not have even noticed there was a silver lining if he hadn’t met her.
It occurred to him that he no longer hid his hand in his jacket pocket. Here he was flashing it left and right without a thought.
Thanks to Lily.
“Not everyone would use their free time to help out like that...like this.” Dylan waved at the mailbox.
“There’s a lot I can’t do, but carrying a couple bags and putting in a mailbox are things I can, so I did, I am.” That realization—that there were still things he could do—came courtesy of Lily Paul, too.
“Well, thanks,” Dylan said. “As long as you know someone appreciates it. If everyone helped where they could, the world would be a better place.” He waved as he headed up the driveway.
Sebastian drove his car over to the supply store. He found that Jerry, the owner, was still exactly where Sebastian remembered him—behind the counter, helping a customer. He looked the same, too. Old. Frankly, Jerry had always looked old.
He relished the things that stayed the same.
He borrowed a posthole digger from Jerry, dug the hole, placed the post, then poured dry concrete around it. He doused it with water, then backfilled dirt on top of it. He was getting ready to mount the mailbox onto the post when he spotted Joey and one of the other kids from the basketball game. “Hey, Joey. And Cameron, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, sir,” Cameron said politely. Too politely.
“What’s going on?” Sebastian asked.
“Cam’s got something to say.” Joey elbowed his friend.
“I did it.” The kid gestured to the mailbox. “I was out with some friends last night, and they dared me, so I got a branch and whacked it.”
“You whacked the post down with a branch?” That would have been one hell of a branch.
Cam shook his head. “No, that part I kicked.”
“Why?”
The boy shrugged. “It was stupid, I know. But they dared me, and I didn’t want to seem like a wuss, so I did it. I came to apologize to the lady and ask if I could fix it and pay for the damages, but I don’t have any cash right now. I can make it and pay her back.”
“Why don’t you two help me finish up with the mailbox? I was trying to figure out how I could hold the screws with my bad hand.”
“Yeah, did you see his hand the other day? It’s messed up,” Joey told Cameron. They both admired his scars.
“Gross, but cool,” Cameron agreed.
Sebastian had felt the scars were gross, but he’d never really thought of them as cool...until now.
Cameron and Joey actually mounted the mailbox under his supervision and they cleaned up the mess just as Mrs. Esterly came out of her house. “I see you have some helpers,” she said, extending a plate of cookies at them all. “I thought you deserved a treat.”
Cameron eyed the cookies guiltily. When Joey elbowed him for a second time, he said, “I don’t deserve them, ma’am. I messed up your mailbox and came to say sorry. I wanted to fix it, but Mr. Bennington had it almost done when we got here.”
“He helped, though,” Joey threw in.
“And you are?” Mrs. Esterly asked.
“His friend. Joey Williams.” He held out a hand and shook Mrs. Esterly’s in a very adult manner.
“He wasn’t there,” Cameron assured her. “There were some other guys, but I’m not here to rat on them. They didn’t do it. I did.”
“They dared him,” Joey explained.
“But I took the dare,” Cameron said honestly. “It was stupid, ma’am. I told Mr. Bennington I was gonna offer to fix it, but since it’s done, I’ll pay for it. I don’t have the cash right now, but if you’ll give me a chance to earn it, I’ll pay you back.”
Mrs. Esterly studied Cameron, then slowly said, “Well, it just so happens I have a very big garden in the back. I’m always behind on the weeding. Maybe we could work out a deal?”
Cameron and Mrs. Esterly worked out their deal, which basically amounted to Cameron visiting for an hour or so on Saturday mornings for a wage that he would apply to his debt. “And afterward,” Mrs. Esterly said, “if you want, we can talk about you keeping the job for the summer and keeping that money. I’ll need to tell the police, though.”
Cameron looked scared spitless and Mrs. Esterly patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll tell him that I’m not pressing charges, so it’s okay,” she said. “What made you confess?”
Sebastian had wondered that.
Cameron eyed Joey, then addressed Mrs. Esterly. “I told Joey, and he said I had to man up and tell you. He said that everyone makes mistakes, but a real man tries to make up for it.”
Joey seemed embarrassed. “My dad says stuff like that all the time. I only passed it on.”
“Your dad’s right,” Mrs. Esterly said to Joey. “And, Cameron, it takes a real man to own up to his mistakes. I’m proud of you.”
“Your dad’s a very wise man,” Sebastian agreed. He said goodbye to the boys and Mrs. Esterly, then suddenly realized he hadn’t come up with anything for tonight’s date. He’d take most women to a nice restaurant. Valley Ridge didn’t have anyplace that would suit, but they were close enough to Erie or Buffalo that he could find someplace. But that idea didn’t seem quite the thing for Lily Paul. An idea finally came to him and he texted her, Wear something casual.
Well, good or bad, he’d set his first date with Lily in motion.
CHAPTER NINE
BY THE TIME Sebastian returned Jerry’s posthole digger and went over to explain the situation to Dylan, he was running late getting home. He made one quick stop at the grocery store before arriving at Hank’s place. He had a quick shower and raced out the front door at five minutes to six. There was a very real chance that his palms were sweating. He wouldn’t be surprised. He was feeling like a teenage boy on his first date. And that was ridiculous. He was a grown man. He’d fought for his country. He’d dated women before.
And yet...
He stood waiting with sweating palms, a roaring heart and hopes that he’d made the right choice.
Lily came from around the back of the house in jeans, some flat shoes and a big, billowy top that pretty much hid any assets
she had—and he knew she had assets—but she looked all the sexier because of its modesty. And like that first day he’d met her, she had on big jewelry.
But it was her hair that drew the bulk of his attention. It was down again and hung in dark waves behind her shoulders. A few strands crept forward, and everything in him wanted to push them back into place, if only for a chance to touch her.
“I’m so glad you texted me the appropriate attire. I’d planned on wearing my slinky designer dress.” She grinned and he knew she was teasing.
He teased back, “Nothing’s written in stone. I could wait while you go change, because try as I might, I can’t picture you in something slinky. You’re more flowy and wild.”
“Is that a good thing?” she asked.
“A very good thing.”
“Then thank you.” Those wrinkles at the edges of her eyes fell into their happy places. “So you didn’t say where we were going.”
“It’s a surprise.” He didn’t know Lily well enough yet, but he sensed she wasn’t a conventional-date kind of woman. In fact, he was counting on it. She didn’t say much as they rode through Valley Ridge, then down toward the lake. Actually, she didn’t say anything.
With some women, that might have been awkward, but the silence felt comfortable with Lily.
There was something easy about being with her.
As the car reached the top of the ridge, Sebastian could see out over Lake Erie. It was warm for May. The evening sky was a well-worn-pair-of-jeans sort of blue that was reflected in the lake’s color. Sebastian realized how much he’d missed the lake.
Yeah, he knew missing a lake, even if it was one of the Great Lake, might seem odd, but he’d spent his childhood roaming its shores with Finn and Colton. He’d watched sunsets, he’d gone parking with girls from school, gone swimming...
Lake Erie was a big part of his childhood memories.
And hopefully, if tonight’s date went well, it would become a part of some of his adult memories, as well.
Lily finally spoke and startled him from his reverie. “This is the way to the Nieses’ cottage.”