to him in her sleep, they’d had limited physical contact.
He sat on the floor with his back against the couch and coaxed her onto the cushions between his legs.
“Like this?”
“Exactly like that.”
He brushed her hair over her shoulder. It was every bit as silky and soft as it looked.
“Relax,” he commanded softly, putting both hands in the tender area between her neck and shoulders and feeling the tension there. “Close your eyes and take a deep breath.”
She moaned softly when he began to gently knead the knotted muscles there. He used his thumbs to make small circles on either side of her spine. Before long, she dropped her head and loosened up considerably.
“That feels amazing.”
He thought so, too.
“I think I’m really liking this friendship-plus plan,” she murmured. “But it seems pretty one-sided so far.”
“It’s not,” he told her. “I’m getting something out of this, too.”
“Like what?”
“Spending time with you.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Tina
By the time Saturday rolled around, Tina was feeling almost back to normal. She credited much of her quick recovery to Doc and the desire to see him again. He had been so awesome over the past week, so she wanted to do something nice for him.
Kate had let it slip that Doc was a fan of Obermacher’s peach products, so she went down to The Mill and put together a basket of goodies, including a few specialty items from her private stash, before she went to the farmers market for the day.
Sunday morning, she gathered everything together, anxious for her trip to Sanctuary. Rick’s warning from earlier in the week had been relegated to the back of her mind. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since that day. Hopefully, he’d had time to calm down, but regardless, she would do what she wanted to do.
When she walked into the main house, however, it became apparent that a quick in and out was not in the cards. Bonnie wasn’t the only one in the kitchen. Rick was there, too, sitting at the table and managing to look both impatient and irritated. The tension in the air was palpable, but that wasn’t unusual when Bonnie and Rick were in the same room.
“Well, this is a surprise,” Tina told him. “It’s Sunday. Don’t you have somewhere else to be? O’Malley’s? The compound? A lynching?”
He scowled at her. “Sit down, Bert.”
“Sorry, I’ve got plans. I’m feeling much better, by the way. Thanks for asking.”
“Cancel them. We need to talk.”
“No, and no—unless you’re planning on telling me what’s going on with payroll because I’m still waiting for an answer on that.”
Tina had called Gunther and left several messages inquiring about the bounced paychecks, none of which had been returned.
Rick’s face reddened, confirming that he knew all about it. “Nothing you need to worry about.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Where’s Gram?”
“I’m right here,” Lottie said, making her way into the room just as a piercing scream rent the air. “And I’m ready to go. Bonnie, Rick, your son is using Adelle’s stuffed animals for target practice, and I just saw Adelle heading toward his room with a pair of scissors. I strongly suggest you intervene before someone gets hurt.”
Bonnie made a noise of irritation and left the room, reluctant to miss any of the brother-sister showdown.
Lottie put her hands on her hips and glared at Rick. “Well? What are you waiting for? Go disarm your son!”
Rick clearly wasn’t happy, but not even he would openly disrespect his grandmother in her own kitchen. He turned to Tina and said, “This isn’t over,” before stalking out.
“Let’s get going, dear,” Lottie said to Tina, urging her out the door. “I might have overexaggerated the situation a bit. Give me a boost, will you?”
Tina helped Lottie into the truck, thankful she’d invested in the non-slip, solid running boards, and then she hurried around to the driver’s side and climbed in. Only once they were safely on their way toward the main road did Tina ask what was really going on.
“Ricky was using Adelle’s stuffed animals for target practice but with a Nerf gun. And the scissors I saw Adelle carrying were the safety kind that wouldn’t cut through warm butter.”
“What was that horrible screech?”
“I’m not sure, but I suspect Ricky booby-trapped his room and Adelle walked right into it.”
Tina laughed. “Just like my brothers used to do to keep me out.”
Lottie chuckled. “Until you started turning the tables and set a few traps of your own.”
“Ah, good times, good times.”
“You always were a feisty thing, holding your own against