Page 20 of The Coppersmith Farmhouse (Jamison Valley 1)
“I appreciate the offer, but Rowen doesn’t know you. I don’t feel comfortable with you watching her.”
The second the words left my mouth, I knew they’d come out wrong.
“You don’t trust me?” she whispered.
“Of course I trust you.” I sighed. “It’s not that you can’t watch her. It’s just—”
“Six-thirty,” Jess announced.
At the same time I asked, “Huh?” Maisy shouted, “Great!”
“Six-thirty. I’ll be at the farmhouse to pick you up. Maze is good with kids.”
“I’m not going to dinner with you.”
“Be ready,” he said.
I opened my mouth to tell him, again, that I would not be eating with him but he didn’t give me the chance. He turned and started walking to the door.
“I’m not going!”
He kept walking but lifted a hand to wave. “Six-thirty.”
I crossed my arms as he strode through the door. He was too far out of earshot for me to keep yelling. Who did he think he was? Who did he think I was? I wasn’t a woman who liked to be ordered around and I certainly wasn’t desperate enough for a dinner date to go out with him.
When I turned back to Maisy, she had a huge smile on her face.
“Would you mind telling me why you’re playing Yente today?” I asked.
“Yente?” She tilted her head as her eyebrows came together.
“Yeah, Yente. You know, from Fiddler on the Roof.”
Nope. Nothing.
“Yente was the matchmaker in Fiddler on the Roof,” I said. “It’s a popular musical. I’m surprised the Prescott High School drama club hasn’t done a rendition. My high school did it every two years.”
“Prescott High doesn’t have a drama club.”
“They don’t?” I asked. “Never mind. Whatever. That’s beside the point. Why are you pushing me to eat dinner with Jess?”
She shrugged. “He’s a good guy, Gigi. Even though he was a jerk to you this week. But he called me this morning and asked what kind of coffee you liked. He told me it was going to be a peace offering.”
“I appreciated the coffee and his apology, Maisy, but that doesn’t mean I want to have a meal with the man.”
Maisy’s mouth turned down and she peeked at me with doe eyes from underneath her lashes.
Eff.
I was not going to be able to stay mad at that face.
“I really like you, Gigi. I guess . . . I just already think of you as a friend. You guys might hit it off and that would be super cool. I mean, he’s taken care of that farmhouse almost his whole life. How awesome would it be if he hooked up with you and then he could finally live there? Plus, he’s way hot and a real gentleman. He could be so totally good to you. If you just give him a chance, you’ll see he’s not the jackass he’s been pretending to be this week. I promise. He is a nice guy.”
“I am really not a Jess Cleary fan. But I appreciate where you’re coming from.” I hoped she would drop this ludicrous idea.
“Please?” she begged. “Just consider going? I know! Don’t decide yet. Like, see how your day goes and then decide tonight when he comes to pick you up. I’ll still come by to hang with Rowen, just in case.”
“It’s not going to happen, Maisy, but you’re welcome to come by,” I said.
