Diamonds Are Forever - Brooke St. James Page 0,32

the shakes in front of them. "I put them in a to-go cup for you in case you needed to take them for the road," she said as she set them down. There was a canister of whipped cream in a refrigerator under the counter, and Betty took it out and began adding whipped cream to the top of Mac's milkshake.

"I know Mac wants whipped cream on his," she said. "But how about Drew?"

"Of course," Drew said. He smiled at Mac, and Mac was excited enough that he started swinging his feet again.

"I love your guts," he said to Drew after Betty walked away. He added a little fake laugh.

Drew smiled. "What'd you say?"

"I said, um, I love your guts, because that's what my mama says," Mac said. He took a sip of his milkshake. "So, I love your guts."

"Oh, okay," Drew said. "I love your guts, too, Mac."

Chapter 12

Lucy

I saw Drew and Mac coming up the path from my parents' driveway. They had food and drinks with them. I recognized the packaging, and I knew they had been to Carson's on Bank Street. Drew knocked a couple of times lightly, but Mac opened the door.

"What's all this?" I asked, looking at them from my place in the kitchen.

"It smells good in here," Drew said.

"It smells like cookies," Mac said. He came in strutting. He was holding a paper cup from Carson's, sipping on it and walking with swagger like it was the best day ever. He came into the kitchen. "Whatcha doin'?" he asked.

Mac was happy and confident like he always was, and I smiled and glanced at Drew who had stopped to take his shoes off at the door.

"Yeah, whatcha doin'?" Drew asked, seeing me look at him.

"I'm baking cookies. What are you guys doing?"

"We got milkshakes," Mac said. "And food, too," he said. But he kept going into his bedroom while Drew came to the kitchen.

I made sure there was a spot clear on the counter for him to set down the food. "You bought dinner?" I said.

"Betty said you'd want a sandwich."

"How do you know Betty?" I asked, staring up at him.

He grinned. "I just met her today. Apparently, Mac knows everybody."

"I wonder what Betty was doing there on a Sunday," I said.

"You even know their schedules?"

"No, well, yeah, I guess. I thought she was just there in the mornings now, on weekdays. She must've been filling in for someone."

"She knew exactly what you wanted, so it shouldn't surprise me that you know when she's working."

"Yeah, I basically grew up in that hardware store. I'm still there all the time. I go to Carson's a couple of times a week to pick up stuff for the guys at the store."

"That's a cool place to grow up," Drew said, thoughtfully. He was nodding slightly and looking at me like he might say something else, but he didn't.

I took plates out of the cabinet and began dishing out the food. "It was a cool place to grow up," I said. "And thank you for getting all this," I added, now that the boxes were open and I could see what was inside. "I'll give you some cash."

"Don’t even think about it," he said.

"Whose is whose?" I asked, staring at the sandwiches. He looked into the boxes as well. There were chips and a pickle spear in each box.

"They're the same," Drew said.

I began taking them out of the box and arranging them on our plates.

"I'm trying to get you a publishing deal," he said. My head snapped up and my eyes met his. He smiled at my expression. "I didn't want to say anything because it's not for sure yet, but it's your birthday, and I didn't have a gift for you. So, I wanted to let you know that I'm trying. I'm going to contact some of my dad's friends and see what we can do for you. I'm not promising anything, but I feel pretty good about it, especially because your stuff is so amazing." He paused and smiled at me. "So, I guess your birthday present is that I'm trying to get you a publishing deal. I'm not sure how good of a present that is, since it doesn't actually exist yet, but…"

"What? It's amazing." I blinked at him. "Are you being serious? Is that even something you could do? Do you have those sorts of connections?"

"Not specifically," he said. "I talked to my dad about it, though, and he said it would be a