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him insane, and he was holing away money for an apartment when he transferred to Georgia Tech. He found out I was an only child and then jokingly pegged me for an elite snob when I told him I’d gone to Westminster Prep School before going to Agnes Scott. When I finished, I helped him take out the last group of boxes. I didn’t realize how long we had been yacking until Maddox’s voice boomed behind us.
    “Hey Drew, whenever you’re done drooling over Lane, could you come out to the warehouse to help with those produce crates?”
    As Drew flushed ten shades of red, I fought the urge to smack Maddox. “Uh, yeah, I’m coming,” Drew replied.
    “Talk to you later,” I said.
    He nodded before scurrying away. I caught Maddox’s eye, and he gave me a wicked grin. I responded by shooting him a death glare before stalking back inside. I ran into Maudie after I slammed the back door. “Lane, are you all right?”
    “Fine.”
    Maudie gave me a suspicious look before saying, “I was coming to see if you were ready to eat lunch? I made some of that chicken salad you like.”
    “That sounds great.”
    She smiled. “Go on and get the stuff out of the fridge, and I’ll grab us something to drink.”
    “Okay,” I replied, as I started across the store to her office. I scooped up the bread and chicken salad container in my arms and thought of Maddox’s comment to Drew. If he kept it up, we’d never be able to have a decent conversation the entire summer. He was such an infuriating egomaniac.
    Huffing, I plopped down in Maudie’s chair. The exertion sent the wheels into overdrive, catapulting me backward. The loaf of bread and container went flying out of my arms. They fell to the floor just as the chair smacked against the wall. Well, at least what I thought was the wall.
    I started sliding back to the desk when I heard something crash onto the ground. “Shit!”
    The last time I’d seen the painting was this morning when it was on Maudie’s sofa, so it was only natural to assume it was either there or had made its way onto the wall.
    Nope, I was wrong.
    A quick glance at the wall showed the nails primed and ready to hold up the painting. I could only assume that she hadn’t been able to lift it herself and had brought it over to the desk to call for someone to come and help her when she’d gotten interrupted with something or another.
    When I finally dared to pick up the painting, my stomach lurched. The canvas had separated from the frame. My shaky fingers ran over the edges. Fortunately, I didn’t feel any rips or tears in the painting itself. But the frame was totally ruined. “Oh hell no!”
    The door creaked open, and I whirled around. Maudie bustled through the door with our drinks. She stopped dead in her tracks at what must’ve been the horror on my face.
    “Lane, what’s wrong?”
    “I…uh…um…”
    “You’re pale as a sheet.” She set the apple cider glasses down on the desk and then started feeling my forehead. “No fever.” She eyed me from head to toe before lowering her voice and asking, “Is it woman troubles?”
    Her concern made me feel even worse. “No, Maudie, it’s nothing like that. It’s just…I’ve done something terrible.” At her widening eyes, I quickly rushed on, “Trust me that I didn’t mean to do it, but it happened all the same.”
    “Well, what is it?”
    Grimacing, I murmured, “I accidentally broke your new painting.”
    Maudie gasped as her hand flew to her throat. She stood motionless for a moment before she stooped over and snatched up the frame. As she did an inventory of the damage, the breath I assumed she’d been holding whooshed out. “Lane, it’s okay. We can fix this. I’ll just get one of my woodworking buddies to get the canvas back into the frame.”
    “Are you sure?” I felt horrible because it seemed I was getting off way too easy.
    Maudie nodded as she fingered along the painting edge. Suddenly a frown dotted her brow. “Now that’s