Chapter Twenty-Five

The lower floor of the rooming house was empty. Lila left her bags at the bottom of the stairs and let herself into Mrs. Wheaton's kitchen.

She turned on the light, then went to stand at the sink, staring out the window into the backyard and the woods beyond. The sky was a bruised purple, hints of lights showing at the edges. Dawn was coming to Trouble Hollow.

Lila was amazed at the feeling that came over her in that moment. She would miss the little town and its inhabitants. She'd only been among them for a few days, but what she'd experienced in that time was astonishing. Her first foray outside of her home state had been eye-opening. There was a whole world out there, full of interesting people and beautiful places.

And now she was going back home, where she had a lifetime of regret awaiting her.

She had her whole life to dwell on what went wrong, so Lila sought to distract herself now. Picking up one of Mrs. Wheaton's cookbooks, she carried it to the kitchen table and paged through it, making mental notes about some of the recipes.

The section on breakfast breads gave her an idea. For days she'd been enjoying the fruits of Mrs. Wheaton's labors, and some very delicious meals, and it was time to give back. Lila began pulling ingredients out of the fridge, then raiding the cupboards. Today Mrs. Wheaton wouldn't have to cook breakfast for her hungry guests. Today she could just sit back and relax.

It wasn't too much later when the kitchen door swung open. "Somethin' smells good."

Lila turned around to give Mrs. Wheaton a nervous smile. She hoped the older woman wouldn't think consider her an invader to her territory, and it seemed that wish had come true, at least.

"Whatcha cookin'?"

Lila pulled the strips of ham out of the pan and began listing the breakfast items. "Butterscotch sticky buns, roasted seasoned potatoes, and a Florentine omelet with ham and creamed spinach."

"Good lord, honey. My kitchen ain't never seen dishes so fancy."

Lila served Mrs. Wheaton up a cup of coffee and motioned for her to sit at the table while she finished up. "I wanted to say thank you for all your help. And your hospitality."

"You coulda just said it, instead of slaving away at fixin' up a gourmet meal. Not that I don't appreciate it. It smells heavenly."

A sleepy silver head poked its way into the door, Jake's eyes coming alive when they lit on the pot of coffee in Lila's hand. Tony shoved him from behind and the pair stumbled into the kitchen. Lila suppressed a laugh as she dug out two more coffee cups and set them down on the table in front of the gentlemen.

She began placing plates on the table and watched with a pleased smile at the moans of delight coming from her companions.

"So good," Tony said around a mouthful of omelet. Then he gave her a hard stare. "You're going to have to pay for the gym membership I'll have to buy when I get back home."

Mrs. Wheaton laughed, and he turned his gaze on her. "Actually, you two will have to split it."

Jake rolled his eyes and took a long sip of coffee. A pang of jealousy went through Lila. There was an open seat at the table, and although she wanted to deny it, she would have given anything for a certain someone to be filling it.

Mrs. Wheaton gave a gusty sigh and turned in Lila's direction. "Git yerself a plate and come sit down, girl."

Lila dutifully piled food on a plate and carried it to the table, taking the remaining empty chair. She took a few bites, able to appreciate the well-chosen combination of flavors, but then began pushing her food around, her stomach rebelling.

"What happened to the flight?" she asked after a few moments.

"Change of plans," Tony said, his eyes firmly on his plate.

Lila's eyes narrowed. She didn't like the sound of that. "Well, when will we be leaving then?"

"Not sure yet. Damn, these sticky buns are good." Tony took a huge bite, obviously attempting to change the subject.

One of Jake's eyebrows rose as he looked at him. Then he turned his dark eyes on Lila. "What he's trying to say, and for some reason can't, is that Drake changed the plans. He asked us to wait to take you back to Atlanta until after today."

Lila frowned and noticed the sympathetic look in Jake's eyes. It riled her, that Alex was still manipulating her situation. "Ridiculous," she mumbled, then bore down on Tony. "If we leave now, can I still make the flight?"

Tony shrugged, deferring to Jake who checked the clock on the wall. "If I drove like hell, you'd probably still miss final boarding. I'm sorry."

Lila stood, stiffly carrying her plate toward the sink. Asshole! What was he thinking? Even though she'd been lamenting her leaving the small town and its people, the thought of staying longer, at Alex Drake's behest, left her cold.

Did he think he could wear her down? He couldn't. All he could do was make their parting more difficult, make the pain cut that much deeper. Why didn't he understand that?

"What the fuck is he doing?" she muttered to herself.

"Language, honey," Mrs. Wheaton said over the brim of her coffee mug. "And I reckon before long you can ask him yerself."