“We go to the dances and go home. I’m about to stop because I’m sick and tired of watching poor Zeke get taken by that harlot.”
“Harlot?” I nearly spit out my coffee.
“Harlot,” she repeated with a hard chin nod. “She comes in here flaunting poor ole Zeke when he ain’t got nothing to his name. Everyone knows he’s done lost it all. She’s acting like she’s his saving grace. I even heard they were getting married. I told your dad that he needed to talk some God-given sense into that old man.”
“Old man? You mean Zeke?” I asked, figuring there was no way I was going to make her stop talking about Zeke and Florence, so I let her ramble on, barely listening as I finished my breakfast.
“Mhhmmmhmmm, your daggum right I mean Zeke Grey. He’s lost his marbles, telling your dad how Florence is going to take care of him for the rest of his life. She’s got millions, he boasted at the poker game.” She shook her head and let out a long sigh. “What on earth does a man Zeke’s age want with a woman like her?”
“Money.” It was pretty simple by what she said Zeke was saying. “But according to her niece, she’s living here to keep an eye on Florence.”
“An eye?” Mom’s interest had been ignited.
“Yeah. I’m not sure what that’s all about and don’t have time to gossip with you about it because I’m going to be late for the announcement of the scholarship winner.” I crossed my fingers on both hands. “I’m hoping one of Grady’s football players gets it. I think there are two up for it.”
“That’s wonderful. Before you go, what can I bring for tomorrow?” Mom was asking about the family Sunday supper.
“Ummm…” I tapped my temple. “Dad.”
She groaned and said under her breath, “If I could only leave him at home.” She held up her hand for me to wait while she went back into the kitchen and came back with a to-go box. “Take this home to my grand-fur-babies.” She winked and took the liberty to stuff it in my mail carrier bag.
“They will love you for it.” She was always sending them something. And it wasn’t scraps either.
On that note, I hugged Mom and Dad goodbye and headed straight to Tabor Architects.
“You’re late.” Mac Tabor stood inside the entrance of his office next to what was Julia’s desk.
“For what?” I questioned. “I didn’t realize the mail was delivered on a time schedule.”
“For this.” He walked over, took the mailbag off my shoulder, and dragged me in for a nice warm hug followed up by a kiss.
“If I knew I was going to get that, I’d been here first thing.” I looked into his deep brown eyes and couldn’t help but think I was the luckiest gal in the world.
It wasn’t too often someone found love once in a lifetime. I truly loved Richard, even though after he’d died, I found out our entire marriage was a lie. But with Mac, I’d found love again. And I was almost willing to bet it was a much more authentic love than the one I had had with Richard.
“Guess what time it is?” I questioned him.
“What?” he asked, though I could see he was trying to come up with a witty answer.
“Your six-month dental checkup.” I reached down into the mailbag and pulled his mail out. “Here’s your card.”
When I said I knew more about people than most of their families, I meant I knew every appointment, every letter, every newsletter subscription, and every bill they got. A few times, I was known to head down to the electric company when someone was getting a notice of shutoff due to nonpayment. Of course, I did it anonymously because if the postmaster knew I was paying people’s bills because I knew what they were getting—meaning I was nosy—I’d probably be fired.
“Snooping into other’s mail, I see.” He flashed that fancy bright smile at me, making my heart swoon.
“And a haircut.” I handed him his mail with a haircut notice. “Don’t let her cut it too short.”
He had thick brown hair that he always kept nice and tidy, not too short but long enough to run my hands through. He had some brains and substance, which was really what I was most attracted to.
Mac Tabor was also a great friend to Richard, and more than that for me and Grady. It was Mac who had kept Richard’s secret all those years but told me all about it after I’d not been able to really move forward ten years after Richard’s death.
I was forever grateful for the truth that’d come out after all these years and forgave him for keeping the years-long secret since he was Richard’s friend. After that was when we discovered our attraction was more than just an attraction. We had an actual foundation and a life that he was always a part of. Richard had been “out of town for work” when in reality, he had been in the town where his second family lived.
So in a sense, Mac was around for all of Grady’s events and anything I needed. And he still was.
He’d even given Julia a secretary job at his architecture firm, along with great benefits, even though Grady was employed by the school system.
It might’ve been a rocky ten years, but Mac had gone above and beyond to make up for it.
“What else is in that bag of tricks of yours?” he questioned and tried to peek inside. “Or in that cart out there.” He looked out the window of the office, where I’d left the cart full of packages for Courtney Gaines.
“Wouldn’t you like to know about the secret packages your tenant receives on a daily basis?” I asked in a mysterious voice.
“Really? She gets a lot of packages?” He glanced over my shoulder. “From who?”
“Mac Tabor.” I gasped. “Are you asking me to tell you post office insider information? How dare you.” I hoisted the bag on my shoulder. “She gets packages from all over the United States. I guess she’s a shopper. One of those online shoppers. But it’s killing me to drag that thing around.”
“I think you’re getting some muscles,” he teased and squeezed my bicep.
“I have no time to sit here and gossip about your tenant who moved to town to keep an eye on her aunt Florence, who just so happens to be dating Zeke Grey, who is in financial trouble.” I twisted around to walk out the door. “I’m going to be late for the announcement for the scholarship winner.”
“That was a mouthful.” He walked me to the door. “But I want to know more about this romance between Zeke and Florence over supper.”
“You better get carryout because I’ve got to get those vegetables planted in my garden boxes.” I was already late in planting and barely about to hit the cutoff time for growing.
“I’ll be sure to bring my spade and gloves.” He pulled me closer. “That way we can work double time and have a little snuggle time after.”
His goodbye kiss sent a tingle from my lips to my toes, barely letting my brain remember my mail route from his office to the church sanctuary, where the winner was about to be announced. All I could think about was snuggle time and how good it would feel for Mac to give me a massage after a long day of walking all over Sugar Creek Gap.
“I’m glad I’m not late.” I’d found Grady in a pew a few rows back from the altar. A long banquet table had replaced Brother Don’s pulpit. “Any idea who might win?”