Page 26 of The Birchwood House

“The very same,” he sang out cheerfully, and he wiggled his feet slightly.

She rolled her eyes, determined not to find him in any way appealing. “You were informed about my decision to stick around in town for a while. Why are you surprised I’m still here?”

Theo rolled out from underneath the car, giving her a crooked smile. “I guess I didn’t process the information correctly. This is great news! You being in town will give us plenty more opportunities to spar. Verbally, I mean. Or with lightsabers. Whatever floats your boat.”

Michelle let out a sound that was something between a squeak and a grunt. “I’m not here to enter a gladiator match with you, Theo. I’m just here to pick up my grandmother’s car.”

Theo seemed amused by her remark about a gladiator match and chuckled. “I’m all done here, so you can have it. But—I would really have loved to see you wield a spear.”

Michelle exhaled, determined to keep a look of annoyance on her face so Theo would not suspect that she too was starting to enjoy the conversation.

Theo whistled as he stood up and began to walk across the garage toward a row of small hooks that held various keys. He grabbed a set of keys with a delicate white and silver keychain which Michelle felt certain belonged to her grandmother. He began to dance from side to side as he made his way back to her, still whistling.

She knew he was trying to make her laugh, and she was determined not to give him the satisfaction. She kept a neutral, somewhat disdainful expression on her face as he handed her the keys.

“She’s all yours,” he said. “Tell Elaine hi for me.”

“I will. Thanks for fixing her car.”

“It’s my job.”

She didn’t know what to say to such an obvious statement—especially when spoken in such a cheery tone—so she simply nodded and got into the car. She turned the key in the ignition and carefully pulled the car out of the garage and onto the road.

She was a block away before she let herself smile, and the laugh that she’d been holding back at the sight of Theo dancing across the garage spilled out of her.

Maybe Grandma is right, and I have been a tiny bit bored,she admitted to herself.Coral Sands has felt very quiet. As much as I hate to admit it, having Theo around has the potential to at least make things a little more entertaining.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Audrey’s heels clicked wildly against the wooden floorboards of city hall, the sound of her crisp footfalls echoing off the ceiling of the hallway she was running down.

She glanced at her watch again, biting her lip. Technically, the mayor’s office had closed two minutes ago. But didn’t his secretary say that he always stayed after work for hours? If he was planning on staying there for a while, surely her arriving a few minutes late wouldn’t actually make any difference to him?

She pushed open the door to his office, and found his secretary in the entryway, just slinging her purse onto her shoulder.

“Audrey!” the secretary said pleasantly. “Did you have an appointment?”

“Well, no sorry,” Audrey panted. “But I mean—well, look, he’s still in there.” Through the glass of the inner office door, she could see Evan typing away at his computer with a determined expression on his face, as if he intended to remain parked at his desk like a defiant bulldog for several more hours. “I’m sorry, I know you’re technically closed, but I was wondering if you could make an exception for me and let me in anyway.” She blinkedher best pleading eyes at the other woman, who hesitated for a second and then laughed.

“Okay. You do you. You’ve got a good point—if he’s still working, technically the office is still open, right? Have a good night, I’ll see you around.”

“You too! Have a good night. See you around.”

The two women exchanged a friendly smile, and then Audrey took a deep breath and pushed open the door to Evan’s office.

He looked up from his desk the second he heard the door opening, his mouth parting as if he was about to form the words to a sentence he’d been expecting to say. As soon as he saw Audrey, however, his lips clamped shut as if he was doing his best clam impression.

He must have thought I was his secretary,she thought, holding back a chuckle.Gosh, he looks perturbed to see me. I didn’t think I was that scary.

“Hi,” she said.

He blinked at her, an annoyed expression on his face. The more she watched him, however, the more she got the impression that his annoyance was forced and that he was actually feeling a little amused by her. Behind his gruff scowl, she thought she could see his eyes dancing. Or was it just her imagination?

“I wanted to know,” she said, trying not to pant too much but still feeling out of breath from running, “if you received any news about what will be required for us to expand our front porch back to its former glory?”

“Ah, yes.” Evan cleared his throat and began to rummage in a well-organized file folder that was resting on his desk. “I have the paperwork right here.” He handed her a couple of crisp, clean documents—no coffee stains on these. “It turns out that you don’t need any kind of a permit to expand the deck.”

“Really?” she gasped, feeling thrilled. “Oh, that’s wonderful news! Are you sure?”