He straightened and turned away, but not before she caught his sly grin.

“I remember. That’s why you and I would have been such a scandal back then.”

She sucked in a breath. He remembered. Well, she hoped he remembered, but neither of them had mentioned that night ever. Her one and only romp in the back seat of a Buick. In any back seat, for that matter.

And now he was going to be in her backyard for weeks. What could possibly go wrong?

“UM...” HAZEL STOOD in the entrance to the living room, which used to be an eighties vision of beige on beige on beige. She blinked a few times, then turned to Zoey. “What did you do? And...how?”

Zoey couldn’t hide a proud smile. “What I did was paint. And how? With lots of help. Mary, Piper and Taneisha were here almost all day Saturday, and Tani helped me finish up yesterday. She also helped with the shopping.”

Hazel stepped into the room. She’d been calling it “the world’s most boring tunnel” since they’d moved in. It was long and narrow, stretching across the front of the house. And it had been pretty boring, unchanged for decades. But now the wall facing the windows was dark teal, with the other three painted soft silver gray. The wood floors were worn and in need of refinishing someday, but a couple new area rugs with swirls of teal, white and green served as a distraction from that. A dark green sofa and love seat anchored one end of the room around the television. On the other end was a wall of tall white bookcases and a small writing table.

Hazel still hadn’t said any more. Zoey had really hoped for a more enthusiastic response, since her daughter followed dozens of “creatives” and “influencers” online. Then again, hoping for enthusiasm from a teenager was usually a mistake. Feeling a need to fill the silence, Zoey walked to the table.

“I borrowed this from Mary’s cousin, Kelly. I wasn’t sure if we’d want a desk in here, but I think it will be a nice spot for me to take care of household bills and stuff. And you can bring your laptop down and use it for homework if you want.” She gestured to the shelves. “Tani got us a great deal on these at the furniture store where she works. They were floor samples. I figure two readers like you and I can fill them up pretty quick.”

For now, her dad’s history books and reference books on metalworking were scattered on the shelves, along with a few knickknacks.

“You got all new furniture?”