Chapter 19
She held up the card, still clenched in her hand—Sledge Bolton, Artist —then shamed herself by pressing it to her nose and inhaling the faint scent of his apartment. Even that tiny hint of him made the card seem too precious to throw out.
Come on, Michelle. She was being ridiculous in precisely the way she’d promised herself not to be ridiculous anymore. Seat belt undone, she was about to pull the door handle, when a car honked impatiently behind her, someone anxious for his own miracle parking space. She craned her neck and saw a line of cars behind the honker, waiting for him, waiting for her to get out of the way.
Oh, crap.
She tossed the card onto the passenger’s seat, buckled again and backed out in a hurry. There was nothing magical about that trash can. She had plenty at home. First thing through her door, she’d march into the kitchen and throw his card away. No, she’d tear it up first, then throw it away. Or even better, put it through the shredder so she wouldn’t change her mind and try to piece it back together.
There. That was her plan. The New Michelle would follow through and be rid of The Temptation of Sledge Bolton in less than half an hour.
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Candace almost jumped out of Nolan’s car. The three of them, Nolan, Candace and Michelle, had eaten a very good dinner on North Avenue, a small, cozy neighborhood restaurant, new to the area since Candace had lived here and indicative of how the restaurant scene in Quinley had become more sophisticated in the six years she’d been gone.
However. What should have been a nice, relaxed celebration of her last night was anything but. Michelle had been hyper and spent the evening trying to get Nolan to flirt with her. Nolan had been polite to Michelle, but spent the evening trying to get Candace to talk to him. Candace had avoided Nolan by spending the evening trying to get Michelle to reminisce with her. And so it went, from the excellent salads to the fresh and unusual pasta and pizza dishes, to the deliciously rich desserts. As soon as Nolan paid the check, the three of them had practically sprinted for the exit and jumped into Nolan’s car for the silent drive home.
In the humid summer air, Candace opened their back door, aware of Michelle and Nolan hovering behind her. Thank God she was going to Langford in the morning; she should have showed more backbone and started her trip today. The thought of leaving Quinley again hurt and, okay, she’d miss the thrill of Nolan’s attention, but she couldn’t take much more of this weird triangle. Michelle deserved a guy like Nolan, was clearly smitten with him, and Candace needed to be out of the way for them to discover if anything could ignite between them.
Inside, she flipped on the kitchen light, tossed her purse on the counter and glanced at her watch. Not late, but too late to call Gran and Grandad. She’d sent a message earlier telling them she planned to start her drive the next morning, Sunday. A hurricane watch was in effect for Central Rosehill; the hurricane was expected to land Tuesday morning. Candace should be there in case they hadn’t taken proper precautions and needed her help.
“Any messages from Gran?” Candace asked, “My phone is dead,”
Michelle checked her phone and Candace watched her curiously. “Ohhhhh…,” She sounded awfully excited.
“What's going on? Expecting a message?”
“More like dreading one.” She put on a big show of rolling her eyes, then returned her attention back to her phone.
Uh-oh. Candace ’s alarm bells started ringing. This was classic Michelle man-behavior.
“If that’s ‘dread,’ I’d hate to see ‘eagerness.’” The murmur came just over Candace’s head, private and intimate.
“Hmm.” Candace turned to smile coolly, which didn’t work because Nolan was standing close, one hand up on the cabinet above her, and with wine from dinner still in her system, it was hard to do or feel anything but…hot. “I’m not sure she’s—”
“There's a voice note from Gran.” Michelle increased the volume on her phone and Gran’s quiet voice again filled the kitchen she’d spent so many hours in for so many years.
“… Tell Candace not to come down until this storm is over. We’ll be fine. There’s still a chance the worst will miss us to the north, which will make more of her trip more dangerous. Even if it hits here, we have friends who’ve already helped us secure the house and will drive us to the evacuation shelter at the high school. We aren’t taking any risks and don’t want her to, either, for her sake and because we’ll worry. Love you, girls. Grandad says hi and sends his love, too. Bye.”
Michelle frowned at Candace . “What are you going to do? If you leave tomorrow you’ll get there right when the hurricane hits on Tuesday.”
“I’ll have to drive in two days instead of three.”
Michelle nodded, chewing on a fingernail. “That would do it.”
“Two ten-hour days driving by yourself?” Nolan shook his head. “That’s crazy. Plus there’s plenty of bad weather ahead of the actual landfall.”
“It wouldn’t be that bad.” Michelle was clearly not pleased to be argued with. “And she’d be there to help Gran and Grandad.”
“They already have help.” Nolan spoke calmly, “Your grandmother said so. Why should Candace put herself in danger?”
“She wouldn’t.” Michelle fisted her hands on her hips. “She’d be safe at the shelter with them.”
“They’ll worry about her driving all that way.”
“Not if they don’t know she’s driving until she shows up.”
“Stop.” Candace covered her ears. The more rational Nolan sounded, the more shrill Michelle got. “I’ll decide. It’s my neck, and they’re my grandparents.”
“Hey.” Michelle jabbed a thumb into her chest. “They’re mine, too.”
“Michelle, for heaven’s sake, you know what I meant.”
“Okay, okay.” Nolan backed to the kitchen door, hands up in surrender. “If you two are going to start shrieking, I’m going upstairs. Hate to miss a word, but…”
“Sorry, Nolan.” Michelle deflated sweetly. “Sorry, Candace .”
“S’okay, Michelle.” Candace rushed to make peace. “We’re all tense about the storm.”
“Yeah, don’t worry about it.”
Nolan’s phone rang. He fumbled in his jean’s pocket and hauled it out. “Hello…yes…Oh, right. Hi, Annie.”