“That makes me happy. As you can see, it also has a drip-irrigation that is ready to go. You can start planting those organic vegetables whenever you are ready.”
I’m pretty sure I heard her sigh.
“And one more thing . . .” I walked over to my toolbox and bent down to grab the small folded red towel sitting on top, handing it to Ruth.
She looked down at the towel and then glanced up at me. “What is this?”
“Look inside. It’s something I found. Well, I need to give credit where credit is due.” I chuckled. “Karma dug it up. Not sure if it’s yours, but . . .”
Ruth unfolded the towel slowly and looked inside. “My . . . locket.” It only took a few seconds before her eyes teared up. “You found it.”
A good sign because I hoped I had found something special that she had lost. It indeed was a locket, most likely sterling silver, considering how well it held up after being buried in the dirt for who knew how long.
She rubbed the outside of the locket, trying to remove some of the caked-on dirt. “I can’t believe you found this. My grandmother gave it to me. Now it’s all starting to make sense because I lost it right around the time she helped me plant the roses. I thought it was gone for good.” She held in her palms, close to her heart.
Then something happened that caught me off guard.
Ruth lunged toward me and hugged me tightly. “Thank you.”
Not wanting to feel like a stiff, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her back. “You’re welcome.”
“Seriously. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” I could feel the heat from her words against my neck. Then she suddenly pushed away, as if she just realized how long we’d been hugging.
I cleared my throat. “Hey, don’t thank me. It was Karma.” I laughed. I wiped my hands on my pants and bent down to close my toolbox. “Okay, I’m going to get out of your hair. I’ll see you in the morning. Good night.”
She stood there, a dazed look on her face, rubbing the locket again with her thumb and index finger, deep in thought.
I decided to leave, since it appeared that Karma and I were no longer in the doghouse.
I grabbed my toolbox and walked toward the side yard.
“You lied to me, by the way,” Ruth said from behind me.
I stopped in my tracks, not expecting that at all.
I guess I needed to turn back around.
And here I thought I had made the perfect escape.
Chapter Thirteen
RUTH
I couldn’t in good conscience let Nick walk away without a word or without offering him a bite to eat after what he had done today. I wasn’t happy with him for not listening to me after Karma had dug up my roses this morning, but I appreciated that he’d tried to make things right, and the way things turned out. His heart seemed to be in the right place.
Nick more than made up for the rose disaster with the miracle of finding my precious locket that I thought I’d never see again. I guess one could argue that if the dog hadn’t dug up my roses, I would have never found my locket.
Still, I wasn’t happy that he had worked all day without taking a break or eating. Sure, I had done the exact same thing numerous times in my career, but my work wasn’t labor intensive out in the sun. Plus, who knew how that affected his heart condition?
I would still find a way to feed the man. It was the least I could do.
Nick stopped and flipped around to face me. “What did I lie to you about?”
“You told me Brandon was exaggerating when he said you hadn’t eaten or taken a break in over ten hours.”
Nick shook his head. “When I said he was exaggerating, I was referring to the part where he said it wasn’t good for my heart. He’s not a doctor. He’s not allowed to make that statement.”
“What if he’s right?”
“What if he’s wrong?”
“Have you eaten today? Yes or no.”
Nick hesitated. “No, but—”
I let out a frustrated breath. “Inside. Now.”
Nick chuckled. “And you call me pushy?”
“Look—I went to an Italian restaurant today for lunch and—”
“For your date.”
I stared at him. “How did you know I had a date? Did Dee tell you?”
“No—you told me.”
“When?”
“Just now.” He chuckled. “But before that, yesterday, Dee said she needed to get back to finding you a man, but then I’m pretty sure you lied when you said it was for a hair appointment.”
I just stared at him.
Now he was accusing me of lying?
Yes, I did lie, but that had nothing to do with it.
Nick shrugged. “Hey, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Having someone in your life is a good thing.” He twisted toward the fountain. “I love the sound of the water. Have you tried my breathing exercise yet?”
“No.”
“Well, you should.”
“I can’t. I’m trying to be mad at you.”
He took a deep breath in through his nose and let it out slowly through his mouth. “Of course. Please continue. Go ahead and yell if it makes you feel better.”
He closed his eyes and inhaled again.
Did anything ever ruffle Nick’s feathers?
The way he exuded peace and tranquility was impressive and annoying at the same time.
Did he even have a pulse?
What kind of life was that, going around and pretending that he didn’t have a care in the world? He was exactly like Judy in the airport, except he was better looking and didn’t have a pukey-green suitcase. At least, I didn’t think he had one. It didn’t matter. The only difference I could see between the two of them was that Nick looked happy and Judy did not.
I sighed. “Can I get back to my point?”
“By all means . . .”
“Then open your eyes and pay attention.”
He opened his eyes and turned to me, not saying anything.
“Thank you. Now, where was I?”
“You went to an Italian restaurant today for lunch.”
“Right. Anyway, I went to an Italian restaurant today for lunch, by myself, and ordered some food to go for me and Dee, not knowing that the meals I had ordered were family-style that served four to six people. I love Italian food, I love my carbs, and I definitely love leftovers just as much as the next person, but it was way too much food for just me and Dee. You haven’t eaten. You’ll be doing me a favor by making sure the food doesn’t go to waste. You must be starving.”
Nick nodded. “You didn’t have a date then?”
“Why are we back on that? What does that have to do with anything?”
“Well, because you accused me of lying, and it would be perfect if you lied, too. Then the score would be even, that’s all.”
“The score? Is this a game to you?”
He grinned. “It could be. You’re not having fun?”
I couldn’t believe I was hearing this.
And I would never admit I was enjoying it.
All I wanted to do was put some food in the man’s system because I felt guilty that he hadn’t eaten all day. Why was this so difficult?