“Yes, ma’am. Just don’t forget to let me know if we have a date.”
“Oh, we won’t be having a date. We will be taking a ride and that is all,” Birdie said. “Now scoot. I need to call my brother.”
“Scooting,” Wade said, then smiled all the way back to the front desk.
* * *
Hunt was on the downhill slide of being done. The floors had been sanded and stained, and tomorrow the sealant would go on. He was running a dust mop over the floors to get rid of footprints when his phone rang. When he saw it was Birdie, he smiled.
“Hey, little sister.”
“Hi, Hunt. Are you at the house?”
“Yes, why?”
“Oh, I have a maybe-possibly-prospective buyer who just saw the auction sign and wants to come look. I told him I’d bring him by on my lunch hour, but only if you were there.”
“Well, I’m here, and it’s ten to twelve. Are you coming now?”
“I guess,” Birdie said. “I’ll get him and head that way.”
“You don’t sound very excited,” Hunt said. “A buyer is a buyer.”
“I don’t know whether he is interested in the house or in me. There, I said it. Just don’t you dare tease me about it later.”
Hunt laughed out loud. “Bring him by anyway. I might need to check him out.”
“Lord,” Birdie muttered. “See you soon.”
“Oh…who’s the buyer?” Hunt asked.
“Wade Montgomery. He’s my boss’s nephew.”
“Bring him on. I’ll know if he’s serious about you or the house when I see him.”
Birdie hung up, then grabbed her purse and jacket and headed up to the front of the store.
The last customer was walking out of the door when she walked up to the counter.
“Hunt’s there. It’s now or never,” Birdie said.
“Now,” Wade said, and then called out to one of the employees who was stocking shelves. “Hey, Eddie. You’ve got the register until I get back.”
“Yes, sir,” Eddie said and headed for the desk.
Wade walked out behind her, then as they started down the steps, he offered to drive.
“We can take my car if—”
“You’re riding with me or you can follow me. It’s your call,” she said.
Wade frowned. “Don’t you trust me?”
“Not yet,” she said. “What’s it gonna be?”
He sighed. “I’m riding with you.”
She aimed the remote and unlocked her car. They got in and rode to the house in silence, and then as they were pulling up, Birdie saw him lean forward and smile.
“So far so good,” he said. “Nice paint colors.”
Birdie pulled up and parked. “Hunt picked them out.”
She got out, then walked Wade inside, calling out as they entered.
“Hey, Hunt, we’re here!”
Wade was already admiring the room size and the light fixtures, and he could smell the fresh paint. Then he heard footsteps coming up the hall from behind him and turned, then hoped to hell he was hiding his shock.
He’d grown up idolizing Hunt Knox, the high school quarterback, the boy who mowed their yard and sacked their groceries. But he would never have recognized him now.
So tall and muscular, and that dark, brooding face was nothing like the teenage boy with the sunny disposition.
“Hunt, it is good to see you again. You used to mow my parents’ yard…Bill and Bonnie Montgomery? Remember them?”
And just like that, Wade saw recognition dawn and the smile was there again.
“Yes, I do remember them. You were just a little kid.”
“I’m the same age as Bridgette,” Wade said. “I’m really interested in this house. I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but would you mind giving me the grand tour?”
Hunt glanced at Birdie and winked. “I don’t mind at all. The only thing we have left to do is put the last coat of sealant on the floors, and that happens tomorrow. But everything else that we planned to remodel is done.”
“You talk. I’ll follow and listen,” Wade said, then followed Hunt and Birdie through the house, listening to them talk and watching the way Bridgette’s eyes lit up as she ran her hand across the new countertops and remarked about how beautiful the little house was now.
They went all the way to the attic and down again, then ended the tour on the back porch.
“I’d forgotten this backed up to the park,” Wade said. “What a perfect place to raise a family.”
“Do you have a family?” Hunt asked.
“Of my own? Not yet,” Wade said. “I’m holding out for ‘the one,’ if you know what I mean.”
Hunt glanced at Birdie. Her eyes narrowed warningly, so he said nothing, but he was feeling good about this guy.
“I know exactly what you mean,” Hunt said. “So, you’re planning on making Blessings your home?”
“Yes. Uncle Dub needs help at the store. That fire took a lot out of him, and I grew up here. I missed it. This is my chance to put down new roots. I sure appreciate you giving me the tour, but I’d better let you get back to work. Bridgette, I’m ready to leave when you are.”
“Then let’s go,” Birdie said. “I’m starving, and we still have time for me to get food to go from the Dairy Freeze.”
Hunt stood in the doorway watching them leave. He could tell by the side-glances Wade was giving Birdie, and the stiff set of her shoulders, that there was something happening between them. But whatever it was, it was theirs to explore.
He went back inside, finished up the floors, then locked up and went back to Ava’s.
Wade and Birdie got back to the store with minutes to spare. She ate at her desk while she worked, and Wade sat out on the dock and downed his food before going back inside.
He’d already made up his mind about the house, but there was nothing to do but wait for the auction.
* * *
It was the day of the auction. Ava was feeling good—like a woman who was ready for hot Texas days and even hotter Texas nights, and she was dressed and going to the sale with Hunt. It would be her first appearance in public since the report of her death and resurrection. There would be comments about how she looked, if she’d seen “the light,” if she’d talked to God, and variations on all of the above, and there was nothing she could do to stop them.