landscape. When her gaze finally lands on me, her eyes widen, and I swear, even from here, I can see the crimson staining her creamy cheeks. I wave at her because I’m suddenly back in high school, and it seems I have a fucking crush. And said crush seems to be just as taken aback. Selene is quick to snap the curtains shut, shielding me from view, and I can’t help but chuckle, shaking my head as I get back to work.
After another hour and a half, we break for lunch, most of the guys leaving to eat, while the rest of us hang back. Griffin left to get us food from Rita’s Diner. It’s a staple here in Dunsmuir. No one does burgers like Rita.
We pause at the sound of soft, lilting laughter, and we all turn toward the source. Holding a tray filled with glasses of water is Cece, Gavin’s wife.
“Hope you guys are thirsty. I brought my little helper with me.”
And there, a few paces behind her, is Luna, her footsteps slow and sure. Her pink little tongue is peeking out between her lips in concentration as she tries not to drop the glasses of water. For whatever reason, the kid makes me smile.
“Is the heat getting to you boys yet?” Cece asks, when she finally reaches us, the remaining guys taking the offered glasses. Cece is a beautiful woman for someone in her late fifties. If it wasn’t for the deep-set laugh lines and crow’s feet around her eyes, you’d never guess her age. It seems the time away from her husband wears well on her. It’s still hard to believe their relationship wasn’t what the town always thought it was.
“Nah, not yet. We’re managing, Mrs. Drake.” She seems to come up short on the use of the name but recovers quickly.
“This weather make you miss the Pasadena weather?” Griffin asks. She arches a single brow at the question.
“Boy, you haven’t felt heat till you’ve lived in Pasadena during the summer.”
A slight tugging on my jeans has me glancing down to the little girl at my side. Luna stares up at me with those big doe eyes, an extra glass of water still in her hands.
“Here,” she says, thrusting it at me, spilling some over the lip as she does so. I don’t mind, though. I take the water with a gracious smile, and just to really drive the thirsty act home, I finish the whole glass for her, and her entire face lights up.
“Nana, look! He drank it all!”
Cece smiles down at her indulgently and shakes her head as she looks back and forth between us. “That one is just like her mother. Can’t seem to steer clear of you. This little one has been yapping inside about you all day.”
I ruffle Luna’s hair, and she laughs like it’s the funniest thing in the world. It takes me a few seconds to process her words, and when I do, my brows pull down, and I turn back toward Cece.
“What do you mean?”
“I just mean like mother like daughter. Selene always had the biggest crush on you, and now it seems our little Luna has grown attached to you, too.”
The expression I’m wearing on my face must be one of confusion because Bishop and Landon laugh behind me. Bishop even goes as far as slapping me on the back as though he finds the situation hilarious.
“Oh, come on. You had to have heard talk around town over the years. And even if you didn’t, it’s always been kind of obvious. Well, at least to her father and me it was.”
If possible, the frown on my face deepens. “What exactly?”
“The day you moved into town, Selene damn near fell in love with you.”
If I had water in my mouth, I would’ve done a spit-take. What the hell is she talking about?
Cece frowns. “You mean you never noticed? Hell, I think my little Selene thought you two would get married one day. She had the biggest crush on you. Since that first night you rolled into town, she’d been doodling your last name in notebooks till she turned eighteen. Funny how life works out, isn’t it?”
With a parting smile, she calls after Luna, who goes running after her grandma, and I watch her leave, trying to process her words.
Selene used to have a crush on me.
Well, damn. Ain’t that something?
How did I never see it before? And why didn’t I ever notice?
“Mommy!” Luna yells as she runs inside