She knew who kept calling, too. She’d checked the phone the first three times. Bette clearly had something up her sleeve.

Finally on a break, Mandy listened to the voice messages accumulating.

Mandy, my grandson arrived early! He surprised me this afternoon. Please join us for dinner. Call me back, sweetheart, and let me know.

Mandy, can you join us for dinner? I’m thinking six o’clock. Where should we go for Tyler’s first night here?

Mandy, I was going to make a reservation but wanted to be sure you could join us first…

Biting back a sigh, Amanda returned Bette’s call. “Sorry, Bette, I’ve had back-to-back appointments. It turned out to be a very busy day.”

“Does that mean you’re too tired to join Tyler and me for dinner? I hope not. Would it help if I promised that it wouldn’t be a late night?”

“Don’t you want to have a night where you two can just catch up?”

“Oh, we’ve had all afternoon, and we’ve made lovely plans for the week, but I want him to meet my friends, and I’ve told him all about you—”

“Oh, I wish you hadn’t,” Mandy said under her breath.

“Why not?”

“Because he won’t understand why we’re friends. He’ll think I’m too young, or a bad influence, or something.”

“He’s my grandson, not my father.”

Mandy laughed softly. She’d always enjoyed Bette’s feisty sense of humor. “Just don’t have too high of expectations, Bette. He might not like me.”

“How can you say that? He’ll take one look at you and fall in love—”

“I can assure you that is not going to happen.”

“You never know.”

“No, I do know. And you promised you weren’t going to be doing any matchmaking.”

“I’m not, Amanda, but I do think you two will hit it off. At least, I hope so, because I need your help. I need you to help him understand why Marietta is so special, and why you love Marietta just as much as I do.”

“Oh, Bette.”

“Just a couple days this week? Obviously not when you’re working, but maybe one evening after work, and maybe Saturday or Sunday?”

“I work Saturdays.”

“Then Sunday?”

“I’m not sure what I’ve planned,” Amanda said, reluctant to commit to anything with regard to Tyler.

“But we’re on for dinner tonight?”

Amanda sighed, knowing she’d already lost. She’d never been able to say no to Bette. “What time?”

“We’ll pick you up at six.”

“Just tell me where we’re going and I’ll meet you.”

“But I don’t know that yet. We’ll just pick you up. Six o’clock?”

Mandy closed her eyes, counted to three, and then exhaled. “Sure.”

His grandmother gave him precise directions on how to get from her house on north Bramble, to the Wright Salon on the corner of Church and Second.

Tyler didn’t have the heart to tell her he knew exactly where the salon was, because he’d been there earlier. And so, instead, he followed his grandmother’s instructions, and pulled up in front of the salon, thinking perhaps Mandy was only now getting off work, but when she emerged from the house, she didn’t come through the front door, but a side walkway, and she was wearing a black wool coat that reached her calves, black gloves, and black heels.

“Where are we going for dinner again?” he asked his grandmother as Amanda made her way toward the car.

“Rocco’s. I love their ravioli.”

“Is it a formal place?”

“No.” And then she smiled as she caught sight of Amanda. “Oh, doesn’t she look lovely? Mandy is always so stylish.”

Tyler suppressed a sigh and climbed out of the car, not sure whether he was wildly underdressed or Amanda was wildly overdressed. All he knew for certain was that the prospect of having dinner with Amanda and his grandmother was making him nervous, and nothing made him nervous. At the office, he had a reputation for having nerves of steel.

Amanda approached him, her smile slightly mocking. “Hello.”

He closed the distance between them, and extended a hand. “Ty Justice.”

She arched a beautifully winged brow. “Ty, is it? Not Tyler?”

“My family calls me Tyler. My friends call me Ty.”

“Amanda Wright,” she answered, putting her gloved hand in his. “Only my family and close friends calls me Mandy.”

It was a not so subtle reminder that he was not a friend.

His fingers closed around hers, his grip firm, firm enough to make her look up into his face.