Jennie clutched her present nervously, wishing she’d taken the time to unwrap it and re-do the job so it was prettier. She shouldn’t have trusted Marge at the hardware store with her gift-wrapping needs, but it had been a free service. Still, the white paper with black wrenches all over it didn’t seem all that festive, and Jennie felt like it was a dead giveaway as to what was inside.
She knocked on Bennett’s carport door and went in, admitting defeat. She couldn’t change the paper now.
Soft music played from the speakers in the living room, and the scent of roasted meat and something sweet hung in the air.
“Bennett?” she called, glancing around. His house was definitely clean, though it felt lived in too.
“In the bedroom,” he called from the hall directly in front of her. “Be out in a
