Avery paused, then exhaled an, “Oh, hell, why not?”
Delaney squealed. “Wait until I tell Phoebe. Oh my God, she’s going to start nesting and driving me crazy.”
They both laughed and said their goodbyes. Delaney was grinning so big her cheeks hurt when she turned for the door of Black Jack’s to find Harlan McClellan standing at the base of the stairs, his hand closed around the railing.
“Oh.” She stopped short. “Hey, Harlan.”
“Homie still smells like that lavender crap you washed him with last week,” he said, his voice grouchy, but his mouth half curved in a Harlan-style grin. “Everyone’s gonna think he’s a girl.”
Delaney laughed and propped a hand at her hip. “That crap keeps fleas away. And what’s wrong with smelling like a girl?”
“Nothin’—if you’re a girl.” He glanced at the windows, then back. “Amazing what a ruckus small-town folk can make. Food smells good, though.”
“It does.” She pressed a hand to her stomach. “I’m starving.”
“Guess that means you’re goin’ in, not c
omin’ out.”
“Yep.”
“You probably deserve your very own pizza judging by the work I hear you’ve done at the bar in the last week.”
“Oh, how I love the small-town gossip mill.”
“Is it gossip or is it true?”
“It’s true,” she conceded. “I happen to love demolition. It’s a great way to release frustration. Which is probably why it’s going so fast.”
He chuckled. “This place can do that to you.” But his smile faded quickly and his gaze went distant in a way that made Delaney uncomfortable for a reason she didn’t understand. She was just about to segue into a goodbye, when his gaze returned to hers. “Avery comin’ for a visit?”
“Yeah.” The reality softened Delaney’s heart. “But don’t tell Phoebe. I want to surprise her later tonight with the news.”
That got a full smile out of Harlan, and for the first time Delaney caught a glimpse of Ethan in his grandfather, which pulled at something deep in her chest. “Bet it will be good to see her.”
“So good,” Delaney agreed.
“Yep, family . . .” Harlan sounded as if he were going to say something profound, but then came back with a quipped, dry, “Can’t live with ’em; can’t kill ’em.”
Delaney laughed and squeezed his arm. Harlan patted her hand, then gestured toward the stairs. “After you.”
She pulled in a deep breath as she ascended and slipped into the restaurant, grateful for the crowd enabling her to get her bearings without dozens of pairs of eyes on her.
It seemed the whole town was there. People she recognized from her past. People she’d reconnected with recently. And new people to the community who were complete strangers.
“You’re here.” Heidi spotted her first and pushed through the crowd with her new baby cradled in one arm, using the other to hug Delaney. “I was starting to think you weren’t going to show.”
If she were honest, she’d thought about it. Seriously thought about it. Just knowing Ethan was in the other room made her stomach jump. And that place deep in her body that had started aching when she’d laid that application for a building permit on his desk deepened now.
“Lots to do,” she said, hugging her friend back.
She’d barely pulled away when another mutual friend from high school came flying her way, grin wide, arms open. “There she is!”
Delaney laughed and hugged Shiloh while Heidi greeted Harlan.
“Mommy.”
Shiloh pulled back. “Yes, yes, honey. Delaney, this is my daughter, Hunter.”