As I headed to the grocery store, I rolled down the window to let the warm air into the car. It was a beautiful day. As I walked into the store, my phone rang. I answered without looking at the display. “Hello?”
“Hey, yourself. Are you home?” Greg’s voice always contained a bit of honey, especially over the phone.
“Nope, I’m walking into the grocery store. What’s up?” I took a cart and headed toward the produce section.
“Good, pick up something for dinner. The case has stalled and I’m declaring a night off.” Greg chuckled. “Unless you’re going to grill me for information.”
“No grilling here except for meat on the porch. You want steak and corn on the cob?” I spied some out-of-season corn that some local farmer probably had delivered this week.
“Sounds like heaven. I’ll stop at the shop and pick up one of Sadie’s cheesecakes. You have much stock this week?”
I glanced at my watch. “Tell Toby to pull one out of the freezer. It will be thawed by the time we’re ready. And we can invite Amy and Justin over for coffee tomorrow. Maybe it will sweeten things a bit between us.”
“You two still fighting?”
I wheeled the cart toward the soup aisle. “I guess. I wish I’d just ignored her request to spy on Esmeralda. Or I could have agreed and then ignored it.”
“You tend to say exactly what’s on your mind. That’s why I love you so much.” He must have covered the phone because I heard mumbled conversation. “Look, I need to go. Don’t forget a six-pack.”
“Do I ever?” I clicked off my phone and slipped it into my purse. I started checking things off my shopping list. The good thing about living alone: You got to eat whatever you felt like for dinner. The bad thing: You got to eat whatever you felt like. I’d decided to try to eat at least a little healthier on nights when Greg didn’t come by, and I thought stocking my shelves with a variety of soups might convince me to heat up something rather than finishing off a bag of chips in my cabinet.
It was a theory at least. I finished my shopping and went to get some tacos.
I’d missed the lunch crowd at Jose’s Hangout, so it took me just a few minutes to be back on the road to South Cove. I had just unwrapped a taco when my phone rang. “Yep?” Or at least that’s what I tried to say with a mouth full of amazing fish taco.
“Hey, boss. You okay? You sound weird.” Toby’s voice echoed through my Bluetooth.
I chewed fast, then swallowed. “I’m trying to eat.”
The line went silent for a minute. Then he came back on. “Aren’t you driving? You know it’s not safe to be distracted while you’re driving.”
“I wasn’t distracted until you called.” I slowed for a turning car. “So, what’s up?”
“Josh just dropped off an envelope with a citation for the water station yesterday. Man, if I’d known what was in the stupid thing, I probably would have wrung his neck. If my hands would fit around it.”
“Put it on the office table and forget about it. I’ve already talked to Bill, and the committee has no power to be citing people. It’s an advisory committee, and he’s had plenty of complaints about Josh’s heavy-handedness. Give it to Jackie when she comes in to work.” I looked at the taco and my stomach growled. “Oh, Greg’s coming by to pick up a cheesecake. Take one out of the freezer for him.”
“Yes, ma’am. You’re kind of calm about this whole water citation thing.”
“Not my first envelope.” I said my good-byes and clicked off the phone. Then I picked up the taco and scarfed it before anything else could happen to stop me. By the time I’d made it home, I’d eaten both tacos, a serving of seasoned fries, and drank most of my frozen lime soda. Just call me the queen of emotional eaters.
I had a few hours before Greg would show up, so I made good use of the time. I put away the groceries, made a quick pasta salad and put it in the fridge to cool, then I set a new jar of sun tea out. Filling my glass with the last of the tea from the previous pitcher, I took a book out of my tote and Emma and I went to the porch to read.
Six on the dot, I heard Greg’s truck pull into the driveway. Toby had arrived earlier and had his truck parked by the garage. I assumed he was asleep since he started his Saturday shift at nine. Tim was technically on all day Saturday with Greg filling in when needed, but in the off season, nothing much happened on the weekends, so the guys played a lot of Halo in the station’s break room.
Greg came up on the porch, the cheesecake box in his hand, and kissed me. “Let me put this in the kitchen. You got a cold beer in there?”
“Of course. Bring me out one, too.” I hurried to finish the few pages I had left in the chapter and then slipped a bookmark to keep my place and set the book on my side table.
When Greg returned, he nodded to Toby’s truck. “Did the Jeep break down?”
Confused at the question, I took the beer. “No, the Jeep’s fine, why?”