Open Your Heart (Kings Grove #4) - Delancey Stewart Page 0,91
crashing end. Avoidance had been easy when things were light and simple—when I was pretty sure she was just flirting with me. But this morning on her deck she hadn't been the same—she'd been worried, I could tell. And I hated it.
So I'd offered to help. And even though that would be putting myself directly in proximity of attraction and the crushing heartache that would potentially follow if I let myself act on my attraction, maybe this time I could hold back. Maybe I could just be the friend Annie needed. I was going to try.
"What's up gents?" I swung myself up onto the wide open platform currently extending out toward the green expanse of the meadow behind the diner.
Chance Palmer was leaning against the back of the diner, arms crossed and a glower on his face as he stared at his little brother Sam, who was grinning as he knelt where he'd been hammering in a plank.
"Tuck'll settle this," Sam said, springing to his feet and coming to my side.
"Don't be so sure." I looked between the brothers, who had a comical love-hate relationship. Getting between the two of them during the hate part of the cycle was not my idea of fun.
"It's pretty safe this morning," Chance said, pushing himself off the building and coming over to shake my hand. "No hammers flying yet anyway."
It was just the two of them back here working, since they wouldn't ask a crew to come out on a Saturday and this job was essentially a favor for Frank and Adele, who owned the diner. I sighed. "Okay, hit me."
"Hot dogs," Sam said. "They're sandwiches. I mean technically, right?"
"What?" I asked, shaking my head. They were arguing about hot dogs?
"That's not the debate," Chance said, stepping in front of his brother. "This is: what is the technical definition of a sandwich?"
"What's the . . . ?"
"Anything between two pieces of bread, right?" Sam asked, moving even nearer.
The Palmer brothers were nearly in my face now, both of them looking dead serious about the sandwich debate.
"How long have you guys been arguing about this?" I asked.
"Play along," Sam suggested. "Define a sandwich. Bread, filling, bread. Done."
I lifted a hand, scratching my ear as I thought, then looked between them. "What about the open-faced sandwich?" I asked. "Like the tuna melt, for example. I mean, it's called a sandwich, but there's only one piece of bread, right?"
"Thank you!" Chance shouted, throwing a fist in the air.
"If that qualifies," Sam said, shaking his head, "it throws off the entire vernacular of food definitions. What's pizza then? It's really just an open-faced sandwich! You're just inviting chaos with this kind of willy-nilly sandwich definition. It'll be deli anarchy." Sam's face was serious, but I could see a spark of amusement in his eyes as he spoke, and I couldn't help chuckling.
Sam liked to goad his more-serious brother, and I sensed he was just pushing him this morning. "Despite the merits of the arguments on both sides, guys, maybe we should just get back to work? I need to cut out at about quarter of three."
"Comes in at eleven-thirty and can't even stay past three," Chance muttered, shaking his head even as a smile teased at the side of his mouth.
"I know, I'm a crap worker," I said, pulling my hammer from the toolbox I'd brought.
"Just happy you'd come help on a Saturday at all," he said, clapping me on the back. "What's going on later?"
We picked up a plank and laid it adjacent to the last, kneeling down to pound it into place. "Helping Dr. Gish get the tree set up for the winter festival later this week."
"Oh yeah," Sam said. "The lighting is next Friday, right?"
"Mike's been working herself up about the ceremony," Chance nodded. "I think she's got Harper running around crazy, trying to make it great now that the new Inn is hosting."
Mike—Michaela—was the manager and owner of the Kings Grove Inn—she and Chance had built the place together, gotten married there, and now she ran the place and Harper worked there, handling events.
"It's my first," I reminded them, "so I'm just taking orders."
"A KG Winterfest virgin," Sam said slowly, as if looking for the joke in the statement. I waited, but he seemed fully engaged in hammering now, so I went on.
"Yeah, Annie—Dr. Gish, I mean—needed some help. She's helping me train the girls, so I figured it's a fair trade. I wondered if I could borrow the boom lift, actually. To get the topper on the tree."
Chance looked up at me, raising an eyebrow. "Sure," he said, that one word revealing his understanding of my attraction to the good doctor. He was chivalrous enough to leave it at that.
Once we got rolling on the deck, the conversation died to an occasional banter, and I was glad for the monotony of the work. It freed my mind to consider other things, and I found myself looking forward to seeing Annie again. When it was time to go, I sprang to my feet and bid the guys goodbye.
"We're closing up shop anyway," Chance said. "Miranda's got Sam taking some kind of dance classes down in the valley."
"Seriously?" I stared at Sam, whose cheeks were turning red. Evidently that hadn't been common knowledge.
"Yeah. Ballroom," Sam confirmed, his voice dark. "And we scheduled them right next door to Chance's waxing appointment. He can't be late—his manscaping is very intense."
"Funny," Chance said, his voice flat.
"If I leave you, you won't beat the crap out of each other, right?" I looked between them.
"We've survived this many years," Chance said.
"No thanks to you," Sam told him.
"Okay," I said, backing away. "I'm gonna go."
"I'll have the boom lift over by the tree for you," Chance said. "Sam won't mind driving it over."
"I won't, huh?" Sam asked, a laugh in his voice.
"Thanks!" I hopped down off the platform and into my truck, turning it toward the stables with more excitement in my stomach than I wanted to acknowledge.
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Also by Delancey Stewart
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The Singletree Series:
Happily Ever His
Happily Ever Hers
Shaking the Sleigh
Second Chance Spring
Falling Into Forever
The MR. MATCH Series:
Book One: Scoring the Keeper’s Sister
Book Two: Scoring a Fake Fiancée
Book Three: Scoring a Prince
Book Four: Scoring with the Boss
The KINGS GROVE Series:
When We Let Go
Open Your Eyes
When We Fall
Open Your Heart
Christmas in Kings Grove
The STARR RANCH WINERY Series:
Chasing a Starr
THE GIRLFRIENDS OF GOTHAM Series:
Men and Martinis
Highballs in the Hamptons
Cosmos and Commitment
The Girlfriends of Gotham Box Set
STANDALONES:
Let it Snow
Without Words
Without Promises
Mr. Big
Adagio
The PROHIBITED! Duet:
Prohibited!
The Glittering Life of Evie Mckenzie
Copyright © 2018 Delancey Stewart
All rights reserved.
OPEN YOUR HEART was originally published as LOVE RECLAIMED by Delancey Stewart
All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
OPEN YOUR HEART is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.