Home Sweet Home by Hailey North

Author:Hailey North
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, second chance, small town
Publisher: Hyacinth House
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Later that evening, Courtney snuggled against the pillows on the porch swing. She pushed gently with one foot and tucked the other beneath her. Esme made an annoyed-sounding meow as she resettled her furry body against Courtney’s side.

She was replaying the time with Linc—the great part. She didn’t in any way regret their passionate couplings. Thinking of them in the room that she’d always think of as his parents’ kitchen doing it upright caused a blush to steal across her cheeks. She’d hated the embarrassment of having his daughters find the evidence of their sexual activity, but it was possibly a good thing that they’d shown up when they did. She and Linc had done their dance. Gotten it out of their systems. She’d complete her time in Doolittle. He’d spend the summer with his girls.

Life would go on.

Courtney sighed. Someone called her name and she glanced into the darkening night.

“It’s me,” called a woman, her voice warbling with age. “Mrs. Payne.”

“Hi,” Courtney called. She waved a hand but didn’t get up. She didn’t feel like engaging in conversation. Her focus was on reliving the magical moments with Linc.

The older woman shuffled toward the porch. “I didn’t think you were home.” She peered right and left and then approached the shallow steps leading to the porch. “I brought you a jar of my pickled peppers.”

Courtney edged Esme over and rose from the swing. Unthinkable to continue sitting there when the elderly woman, whom Courtney remembered as being fairly handy with a broom the times she and her friends ran through her yard, was being neighborly. She crossed to the steps. “Thank you very much.”

Mrs. Payne nodded and then started coughing.

“Can I get you some water?”

She nodded and sank down on the top step of the porch. “Take the peppers with you,” she said, holding out a canning jar.

Courtney took the peppers into the house. What in the world was she going to do with them? She filled a glass with cold water and returned to the porch. Her neighbor had stopped coughing and was glancing around. Rather nosily, Courtney thought.

“Thank you, dear,” she said taking the glass and sipping from it. “You were always so well-behaved. Now your brother and sister, they were holy terrors.”

“Really?” That was news to Courtney.

“Destroyed my entire spinach patch one year. Never could figure out why. Your parents replanted it for me. Naturally.” The woman sighed. “Doolittle will never be the same without them.”

Courtney figured she might as well sit down. She joined the older woman on the porch step. If she invited her in, no telling when she’d get her to leave. “Everyone misses them,” she said.

“You’re doing a good thing, moving home to run the café.” She handed the glass to Courtney. “I don’t get up early anymore but one day I’m going to make it in for a plate of biscuits and gravy. Though Doctor Richard keeps nagging me about giving up my favorite foods.”

“Moderation is okay, right?” Though truth be told, Courtney never touched the gravy she and Mae whipped up.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.