Free One Week with her (Ex) Stepbrother (Eden Manor #2) by Noelle Adams Page B

Eden Manor,
without even going home. She put together the lunch in the car, and then she
got out.
    She
didn’t see Zach’s truck, but he was supposed to be here. If he’d gone to get
more supplies, he would be back eventually—probably in time for lunch.
    She
walked toward the front of the house and saw that Kelly was sitting on the
porch with an older woman. The woman was tiny—even shorter than Missy—with
steel gray hair in a tight bun and a dark dress on.
    Missy
then remembered that Kelly’s grandmother was visiting this weekend. She should
have remembered that and not come by.
    She
was about to turn around when Kelly waved and called her over.
    “Sorry
to interrupt,” Missy said with a smile. “I forgot you had guests this weekend.”
    “It’s
no problem,” Kelly replied cheerfully. “This is my grandmother, Mrs. Beaufort.
This is my friend Missy.”
    Missy
was pleased to be called Kelly’s friend, and she took the steps up to shake the
old woman’s hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs. Beaufort. I’m sorry to
bother you. I was just bringing lunch to Zach. I thought he was supposed to be
here.”
    “He
was here earlier, but my grandmother sent him home.” Kelly looked both amused
and embarrassed.
    “She
did?” Missy’s eyes widened as she turned to look at Mrs. Beaufort.
    Kelly’s
grandmother had been studying her with such close scrutiny it was unnerving.
Now she tsked her tongue and said in an imperious voice, “Ah. I see. You belong
to that sad-eyed young man who was pretending to work on the lawn here this
morning.”
    “I
belong to…” Missy was so surprised she could barely articulate a response.
    “Grandmama,”
Kelly murmured, in what was obviously a futile attempt to stop her from
interfering.
    “I
told him that instead of sulking about whatever broke his heart, he needed to
be a man and go fix it. I do not understand young men these days. It’s as if
they think all good things in life will simply fall in their laps while they
sit there in front of the television.”
    Missy
stared in bemusement from Mrs. Beaufort to Kelly. Her heart was pounding like
crazy, even though there was absolutely no reason for it to be doing so.
    Kelly
gave an amused little shrug. “My grandmother.”
    Missy
couldn’t help but laugh, although it came out rather shakily. “Anyway, I’m
sorry to bother you on your visit. It’s very nice to meet you. I’ll just take
the lunch by his house.”
    Kelly
said a friendly goodbye while Mrs. Beaufort gave her a dignified nod. Then
Missy walked quickly back to her car, wondering why she felt like her world was
about to burst into pieces around her.
    She
drove to Zach’s house, but he wasn’t there. She had no idea where he was, and
she could hardly drive around town looking for his truck. Instead, she drove over
to Vanessa’s house, relieved when she saw that Joe wasn’t there.
    Missy
liked Joe just fine. She liked him a lot. But she wanted to talk to Vanessa
privately.
    Vanessa
was taking advantage of the beautiful day and sitting outside with a book.
Missy joined her, explaining what had been happening and feeling better
afterwards, even though Vanessa had no new advice to give her.
    A
couple of hours later, Missy left Vanessa’s, driving once more by Zach’s place
to see if he was home yet.
    He
wasn’t.
    She
would go see him later. She needed to talk to him. She had no idea what was
happening here, but it seemed like the rest of the world was working in concert
to get her to fix things with Zach.
    She
drove home, her heartbeat speeding up when she saw that Zach’s truck was parked
in her driveway.
    He
wasn’t in the driver’s seat, though. He wasn’t waiting on the front porch. He
couldn’t have gotten inside, so she had no idea where he was.
    Her
backyard was the only other choice, so she walked slowly around her house
toward the back.
    He
was there, in the corner of her yard near the big oak tree and the shed. He was
building