you to be older,” Lauren explained. “Grandpa talks about you nonstop.”
“Likewise,” Mitch said. “I feel like I know you.”
Yikes! What all did he know? The failure she’d been?
“So, Lauren, how long will you be in town?” Mitch asked.
“Three months!” Lem announced. “I couldn’t be happier.” He beamed. Mitch did, too, which meant he obviously cared about Lem. How close were they? Drizzles of dread seeped into her stomach.
“How’d you manage to get so much time off?” Mitch asked.
“I’m between jobs right now. I’m opening a specialty shop in Houston with a friend this fall. We started the business from scratch in her home a year ago. Our client list and workload grew to the point where we needed more space.”
“What’s the specialty?” Mitch kept a keen eye on traffic.
“Sewing. We’re leasing an historic building in town after receiving permission from local government and the Historical Society to open it. It’ll be called Ye Olde Time Seamstress Shoppe. We’re restoring the building’s nineteenth-century period decor. Took a lot of wrangling and red tape but it’s in the renovation stage now, so this was a perfect opportunity to finally visit Grandpa.”
“She’s getting over a much-needed breakup,” Lem inserted.
Lauren smirked. “Grandpa’s not letting me live it down.”
Lem harrumphed. “Told you from the start he was no good.”
Lauren noticed that Mitch navigated the roads with extra care. “You’re a very safe driver,” she commented. “I like that.”
“A welcome change from her ex who regularly drove ninety. I know because she called me, often upset,” Lem announced.
“My ex got arrested for speeding past a school bus and almost striking a child. That was my last straw,” she explained.
“He was reckless in general. With others’ lives and their relationship.” Lem relaxed. “I’m glad she refused to marry a man who’ll have little regard for his future children’s safety.”
While Grandpa was right, Lauren felt like sinking into the seat. She didn’t like Mitch knowing about the poor judgments she’d made.
“Do you miss him?” Mitch asked gently.
“No, actually I don’t.”
He’d not only ignored Lauren’s frequent pleas to slow down, he’d ridiculed her for caring. Mitch was obviously the precise opposite kind of person. One who cared deeply about the safety of others. If only that would ease her concern over his closeness with Lem. Maybe in time. Right now, it hurt. Badly. Still…
“It makes me feel better knowing Grandpa has someone like you looking out for him.” Lauren meant it. She shouldn’t be jealous. The men’s friendship should ease her guilt about living in Texas. But being here with Grandpa and the fear that he contended with made her never want to leave him again.
Unfortunately she’d given her word to her best friend, who’d forfeited her career to start the specialty business with Lauren. They’d poured their talents, time and savings into it. The first pangs of doubt about her decision assailed Lauren.
Lauren studied Mitch. Did he know why Grandpa’s fear surfaced now? He needed to. Maybe he could help alleviate Grandpa’s anxiety. Just because Lem’s grandfather and father died in their seventieth year didn’t mean Lem would. Right?
For a fleeting moment, she hated that she’d taken out a loan to start her seamstress shop and bound herself to be a business partner with her friend. It hog-tied her to Texas.
“He misses his only granddaughter.” Mitch raised his chin in a perceiving manner. “Lem tells me your parents died within hours of one another. I’m deeply sorry. What was it?”
His frankness surprised her. “Carbon monoxide poisoning. Their room sat over the garage of a house we’d moved into that winter. Daddy started the car to warm it up before taking me to school and Mom to work. They lay back down and…never woke up.” Lauren blinked swiftly against a wave of emotion.
“Losing her mama and daddy made Lauren want to become a nurse to help people,” Lem inserted. “And educate on safety and accident prevention.”
“I hear you,” Mitch said soberly. “I believe every accident is one-hundred-percent preventable. My dad perished in a motorcycle wreck.”
“Across the road from the trauma center site,” Lem added.
Had that inspired Mitch to build it? Lauren studied him.
Mitch turned onto the interstate that led Refuge to Eagle Point. “Dad was critically wounded. He could’ve been saved by surgery, had a hospital been closer, and if the person who pulled out in front of him had been looking.”
Lem clicked his tongue. “He also lost his mama. She died from cancer not caught in time. She didn’t have insurance and put off going to the doctor until too late.”
“But thanks to Lem inviting me to church chili-suppers and becoming like a second dad, I turned out all right.” He grinned.
Lauren’s heart arched toward Mitch. “I know what it feels like to lose someone to something preventable.”
Lem harrumphed. “Yeah, preventable like me losing you to Texas again when your building renovations are complete. I hope you hired horrible contractors who delay the timeline.”
“Grandpaaaa. Don’t be cranky. My friend sacrificed a lot to go into business with me. She’d be devastated if I bailed.”
“Yes, it’s prudent to honor your word, but that doesn’t make up for the fact that you made this big decision out of duress.”
“I’m glad you’re here, Lauren.” Mitch’s chuckle dissolved the squabble. He sounded like he really meant his words.
She crammed her hands under her knees. “Thanks. The seamstress shop will specialize in costumes and uniforms. A percentage goes toward charities for children who’ve lost parents.” For some reason her formerly noble plans felt barren.
“She makes specialty clothes for free to needy little kids and nursing home patrons, too,” Lem added. “Nice, although I hate that she’s not using her nursing skills like her sewing gift.”
“Grandpa! We don’t discuss that,” she remarked gently. Futile since she inherited her stubborn streak from Lem.
A determined scowl bore down on Lem’s bulbous nose and farm-freckled grin. “She don’t like me pestering her about it.”
“So I won’t tread there, either,” Mitch said with another tension-diffusing smile, which thinned into a tenacious line as his gaze gripped Lauren’s in the mirror. “Yet.”
What did that mean? She eyed Lem, smug now, then Mitch. Neither man’s expression offered clues. “This smacks of conspiracy.” She folded her arms and refused to look into that
