“Holden!” I heard my name being called out and I turned to see Mrs. Nelson waving her hat above her head as she hurried frantically toward us not paying attention to the people that were already seated on the grass. She knocked over a red Solo cup that was sitting on a cooler and it didn’t even slow her down. “Wait up!”
“Is she okay?” My mom asked under her breath.
“I think so,” I whispered.
“Hello, Mrs. Nelson,” my mom greeted her as she hurried up to us. “You look lovely tonight.”
“Oh thank you, dear. I’m not getting any younger but that doesn’t mean I’m out of the game.” She winked at my mom who covertly squeezed my bicep. “Holden, I’m so glad I caught you! My water heater is making the most awful noise, I was hoping that you could come by and look at it after class on Tuesday. And Thursday I’m having a new television delivered, it was a gift from my Sasha. I was hoping you could come and put it up for me.”
“Of course.”
Mrs. Nelson smiled widely, the apples of her cheeks which had circles of pink rose up to her eyes. “I’m glad I locked you down before Edith got a hold of you. Apparently, her back door is sticking. I told her to spray some WD40 on it and it would be fine, but you know how helpless that woman is.”
This coming from the woman that had me replace the tiny bulb in her refrigerator that had been out for two years.
Something behind me caught Mrs. Nelson’s eye and she waved. “Oh, there’s Edith now! I’m going to go let her know I’ve got you booked next week.” She headed off in the direction of Mrs. Scoggs as she called over her shoulder to us. “Don’t forget. Tuesday!”
“Someone’s in high demand.” My mom patted my arm.
I grinned as I heard Mrs. Scoggs’s voice raise. I glanced over my shoulder to see the two women engaged in what appeared to be a heated debate.
“You’ve only been home for two months and you already have women fighting over you.” My mom chuckled as we made our way across the crowded area, saying hi to everyone we passed.
By the time we made it to the spot my dad had come here early to scout and claim, he was nowhere to be found. We sat down and spotted him a few yards away talking with Walker Briggs, Travis and Jackson’s dad. The two men had been friends since birth making them more like brothers.
We settled on the blanket that my dad had laid out and my mom sighed. “I know that the circumstances aren’t great, but I do have to say, I’m glad you’re home. I’ve missed you.” Her brown eyes were glistening with unshed tears.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve come home more.”
“It’s fine.” She waved her hand dismissively. “I know that you were busy.”
I had been busy. But my mama didn’t know the whole truth, that I’d avoided coming home because I hadn’t wanted to see Olivia. I used to believe that I’d stayed away because I’d been scared to hurt her. If something happened between us and then I left, I thought that it wouldn’t be fair to her.
Now that something had happened between us, I was starting to think that something, even if it was subconscious had stopped me because I wouldn’t have been able to leave her.
If I’d kissed her, or made love to her then I think I would have given it all up. I would’ve walked away from my career. As it was, the only reason I hadn’t told her what I felt was because she deserved better than a broken-down man. She deserved a man that would have chosen her, not his career. She deserved a man that could make love to her the way he wanted, not one that had to worry about his back giving out on him.
“So besides rehab and being Wishing Well’s newest handyman, what have you been up to?”
“Not much.” Unless you counted obsessing over Olivia.
“Your birthday is coming up, do you have any plans?”
I’d never been a fan of birthdays, and this year I definitely didn’t want to celebrate. “I might be flying out to New York for some work.” I wasn’t scheduled to be there until two days after my birthday, but if it got me out of celebrating it, I’d leave early.