Considering Zoe had spent more time in River Bend in the past six months than she had in ten years, the question should have felt out of place. It didn’t. Still, returning home always tore a piece out of her heart. Well, returning didn’t so much as leaving again.
“I’m actually in the process of buying my own place.”
“Really? You’re buying a house?”
Zoe had a hard time stretching the truth. “I haven’t found what I want yet. So my weekends off are busy with open houses and such.”
Mel paused. “Oh . . . is that right?”
“It is. Production this week hasn’t gone well. I’ll be on set most of the month.”
“Huh.” Mel didn’t sound convinced.
“You should come visit me.”
Laughter met Zoe’s suggestion. “And pull Hope out of school? Not to mention I’m barely on my feet again. I’ve just about saved enough to buy a beater.”
“Do you even need to buy a car?”
“I can’t keep asking Miss Gina for hers.”
Zoe nodded even though her friend couldn’t see her. “I get it. Now’s not a good time for me to fly in.”
“I get it. But you have to promise me something.”
Mel’s voice dropped as if what she was going to say meant business.
“Sure, what?”
“You have to promise me you won’t avoid coming back because of Luke.”
Zoe hesitated . . . took a deep breath.
“Of course not.”
“Zoe?” Mel used her Mom voice.
“I told you and Jo I wasn’t going to disappear. I won’t.” She would just find a way for her friends to visit her once in a while and then slide home and hope she didn’t see him.
Just thinking about him made her heart hurt.
She’d done really well for ten years. Ten years of avoiding Oregon. Ten years of pretending Luke was just a high school romance. Ten years of getting on with her life. She’d even managed a few lovers in that time. They never lasted, and she never tried to push any relationship past the physical.
Even those encounters were far apart.
Then, when she’d returned for her ten-year reunion . . . those encounters stopped altogether.
Maybe the lack of any quality naked time was the reason she’d been thinking more and more about her high school flame.
“I’m holding you to that.”
“I’m sure you will.”
“Glad we’re on the same page . . . now, about Wyatt . . .”
For the next ten minutes, Zoe listened to all the ways Mel was planning to drop hints on styles and sizes of rings.
Like a good friend, Zoe listened and offered advice.
When she hung up, she realized that once Wyatt did pop the question, what would follow would put Zoe in River Bend more often than not. Between bridal showers, dress rehearsals, and the actual wedding, she’d need a permanent room at Miss Gina’s B and B.
And avoiding Luke would be impossible.
Chapter Two
Luke skirted out from under Jo’s Jeep and wiped his dirty hands on the rag sitting on the ground by a workbench. Led Zeppelin music pounded inside the garage, giving his brain the opportunity to work without thought. Music had always been white noise while his hands dipped inside an engine.
He rummaged around until he found the part he needed and headed back under the car.
“Luke? You under there?”
A familiar voice cut through the music. “Yeah. Just a sec.”
He tightened the hose with a clamp and left the underside of the Jeep again.
Wyatt stood to the side of the SUV, his eyes on the space Luke should be working in. Luke knew his friend’s question before he even asked.
“When will this lift be fixed?”
“Our guy in Eugene can’t get here until next week.”
“That sucks.”
“Tell me about it. This is the third time this thing has broken down in the past year.”
“Maybe it knows how much you love crawling under cars on your back.”
Luke rubbed the ache in his tailbone with the reminder. “At least most of the cars around here are lifted a few more inches than what the kids are driving these days.”
“Hey,” Wyatt said with a laugh. “I’m still a kid.”
“You drive a truck.”
“Still a kid.”
Neither one of them were kids any longer. But twenty-eight and twenty-nine weren’t exactly old.
“What brings you by?”
“Can’t I just drop in to say hi?”
Luke gave a single nod. “Yeah, but that happens later with beer. Middle of the day drop-ins mean you need something.” Which was an absolute sign that they weren’t kids and both of them had jobs.
Wyatt pointed two fingers in Luke’s direction. “Right. Two things. First, I need a starter for the track meet on Thursday.”
Stopping a workday to fire blanks into the air and watch kids run around a track was a nice diversion in his week. “Two o’clock?”
“Yep.”
“And the second thing?”
“I wondered if you could drive into Eugene with me on Saturday.”
“What for?”
“I found a couple of used cars I wanna check out for Melanie.”
Luke found himself staring. “You’re buying Mel a car?”
Wyatt shrugged his shoulders. “She needs one.”
“She’d rather have a ring.”
Wyatt smiled with a shake of his head. “Which is why I’m looking at used cars and not new ones. I think she’d flip a gasket if I told her we need to wait on a ring because of a new car.”
“What are you waiting for anyway?” It was obvious that Wyatt and Mel were headed toward marital bliss.
For a minute, it wasn’t apparent if Wyatt was going to answer. Then he sucked in a long breath. “My house is almost done.”
Luke thought as much. Wyatt had lived in his home for six years now and had existed in a constant state of construction. Only after he met Mel and it was obvious they were crazy about each other did Wyatt fast-track his own project. Considering Wyatt was the one you called for any and all general contracting needs in River Bend, it was a continuous joke that his own home sat half-finished.
“I knew there was a reason for the fire in your step. How much longer will it take?”
“I’m pushing for a month. Any more and I think Mel will be writing the number six on every street sign and notepad in town.”
Luke narrowed his eyes. “Six?”
“Her ring size. ‘How about a six-pack, Wyatt?’ ‘Are six tacos enough?’ ‘Did you know that most women wear a size six ring?’ There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t hear the number. I’ve even started betting Miss Gina how many hints I’ll get in a day.”
The thought of Miss Gina shelling out betting money to Wyatt brought a grin to Luke’s face.
“Poor Mel.”
“Not sure what she’s worried about. I told her the day was coming.”
“You have me there. I haven’t gotten to the ring stage of a relationship.” Not since high school . . . and at that time, he was young and dumb, as they say. “You might wanna give her a ring before she tattoos your arm in your sleep.”
“I doubt it will get to that . . . branding with a fire iron, on the other hand . . .” They both laughed at the image that swam between them like a cloud. “So, Saturday?”
“Yeah . . . of course.” Luke ran a hand through his slightly long hair. “I could get out of town.”
Wyatt let a sly smile pass his lips. “Maybe we should make it a guys’ weekend. See if we can’t get you laid.”