“I guess I just zoned out. Like I said, it’s been a long day.”

“How was your cookout with your friends?”

It had been a very revealing cookout, but they’d promised not to share the news about Mike and Zoey.

“It was nice. Most of my book club friends were there, so we chatted and let the younger people do their thing.”

“What does your book club actually do?” He glanced at her. “I don’t think I’ve seen you pick up a book since we started—”

“Started our torrid affair?” She squeezed his fingers. “I’ve been a little busy. We try to read a book a month, but our meetings tend to wander way off topic.”

“Uh-huh.” He grinned. “I’m working on a landscaping project with Owen Cooper on the other side of town, and he said you guys love to play matchmaker. I never thought of you as a romantic.”

She felt stung. “I’m plenty romantic! I’ve been married three times, haven’t I?”

“I just meant...” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “You’re Miss Practicality. You’re the no-nonsense Lady in Charge. The idea of you trying to set up young lovebirds is...” He rolled his eyes. “You know what? Never mind. There’s no way for me to say it without it sounding bad, and I don’t mean it that way. I was teasing.” He turned the truck into Zoey’s driveway. “Jesus—Rob sure had a thing for his so-called art, didn’t he?”

She looked at the dozen or so metal figures scattered around the deep lawn. Some were recognizable as people, dragons or various animals. Some were just a jumble of wires, springs and pipes.

“Zoey wants to move most of them out of the yard so it doesn’t look so...overwhelming. Some of the neighbors are giving her grief about it being an eyesore.”

“That’s dumb.” Gordy gestured at the yard. “I think it looks cool—like a sculpture park or something.”

Vickie thought about that. Was there a place in town where they could create a sculpture park? Would anyone want one? It might be worth bringing up at the next festival committee meeting. Rendezvous Falls was known as much for its monthly festivals as it was for their Victorian homes. Maybe they could tie a local sculpture park idea into the art show that happened alongside the Summerfest in August.

“Oh, good, we’ve got able-bodied help,” Gordy said.

Mike was standing on the front porch. He didn’t need to hide his presence at Zoey’s place any longer—at least not when Hazel was at her dad’s. Vickie needed to talk to Zoey about that. Secrets were rarely a good idea.