Doing It Over (Most Likely To #1)(10)

Melanie paused in her effort to clean the floor and smiled. “Hi, Miss Gina.”

Miss Gina jumped from the edge of the tub and threw her tiny arms around Melanie’s shoulders. “Oh, little girl . . . look at you.” She backed away and held her face. “You look tired.”

Melanie felt a laugh deep in her stomach. Leave it to Miss Gina to point out the obvious.

“Mommy’s always tired,” Hope said.

Miss Gina took in Hope with narrow eyes. “My Lord, she looks just like you did at her age. How old are you, doll?”

“Seven.”

Melanie held out her hand for another dry towel and Hope delivered it without taking her eyes from Miss Gina.

“I’m going to be eight at the end of summer.”

“Oh, don’t rush aging, little girl. It happens without your encouragement.”

Hope simply stared in bewilderment.

Melanie sat back on her heels once the majority of the water was off the floor. “I think the lobby is safe now.”

Miss Gina blew out a breath. “Yeah, but now I’m down one room.”

“It’s only one bathroom.”

“People don’t want to share bathrooms in a B and B.”

Melanie sucked in her bottom lip. “True.” She took another look around the familiar space. The wallpaper had changed from a floral print to one with muted stripes, but the art still held the flower motif she remembered. “How about offering it at half price?”

“I don’t know if that will work. Probably have to cut that down more. Besides, that would mean sharing my bathroom until I could get this one fixed.”

Looked like Miss Gina’s bad plumbing was Melanie’s good fortune. “We’ll take it.”

“Oh, no, no, no.” Miss Gina stood and wiped her hands on her shirt as she walked out of the room. “I can’t give an old friend castoffs. That wouldn’t be right.”

Melanie scrambled in front of her. “Really. We don’t mind. I was actually hoping Hope and I could stay in town longer than just the class reunion weekend. I can’t afford a full price room for that many days.”

“I couldn’t charge the person in this room. I’ll have plumbers coming and going. It’s too much to ask of you.” Miss Gina attempted to move around her, and Melanie planted her feet in the doorway.

“I don’t mind. Really. You’d be doing me a favor charging half.”

Hope pulled on Miss Gina’s skirt. “Mommy’s car broke.”

“It did?”

“Ah-huh.”

“You don’t have a car?”

“I’m using Jo’s until I figure out what to do with mine.”

“Can you believe our Jo is the town sheriff? I still pinch myself when I see her all geared up and wearing a gun.”

“Everything changes,” Melanie said with a glance at her daughter. “I’ll take the room, Miss Gina. I could use the extra time in town.”

Miss Gina glanced at Hope and back. “Fine . . . fine . . . but I’m not charging you for a crappy room. You can lend me a hand around here like the old days.”

“Oh, I can’t—”

Miss Gina stopped her with a hand in the air. “Not another word. It’s this room for free, or another one full price.”

Melanie bit her lip. “I’ll take it.”

Miss Gina’s grin gave Melanie pause. “Perfect. Hope, grab some of those wet towels. Let me show you where the washer and dryer are.” Miss Gina snapped her fingers with a wave of her hand.

Hope didn’t hesitate.





He didn’t mean to turn in . . . had actually driven by twice before turning around and pulling into Miller’s Auto. Besides . . . if he kept driving around the block, someone in River Bend was bound to think he’d been drinking and call the sheriff.

Not that Jo would do anything but laugh.

The crappy car he’d seen on the side of the road the night before was shoved outside of the garage doors and being lifted on the back of Miller’s tow truck.

Wyatt stepped out of his truck, shut the door without even taking the keys with him. River Bend was this side of Mayberry in terms of crime. The chances of someone jumping in his truck and taking off were nil.

“Luke?”

Luke was currently positioned between the undercarriage of the wreck and the chains of his tow truck.

Wyatt placed a hand to the side of the car and ducked.

Luke noticed him and tossed the hook his way. “Hey, Wyatt. Hook that up, will ya?”

He clasped the chain, made sure it held, and backed away from the car.

Luke wiped his hands on his faded jeans before grasping the automated controls of the tow to lift the car off the ground. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

While the belts and hydraulics kicked in, Luke asked, “What brings you by?”

“Saw this car on the road last night . . . just wondering how it all turned out.”

“Mel is an idiot,” Luke said with a laugh. “Leave it to a woman to run a car without oil.”

The familiarity of Luke’s words about the owner gave him pause. “Mel?”

“From Modesto to River Bend with an oil light blinking at her . . . who does that?” The hydraulics lifted the car as far as it would go before Luke tossed the controls on the bed of the lift. He fiddled with a few more chains while he worked.