A Gift for the Hopeful Cowboy: Love in Sweet Bloom

Chapter 5

What had she just done?

Pippa stared at the empty space where Rob had just been and her heart sank to her knees.

No, it sank lower than that. Her heart was on the floor, ready to be stomped on by the next unsuspecting bartender.

What was wrong with her?! She shouldn’t have said that to him. Why was she acting like she was a teenager?

Because Rob words and opinion had irked her and snarky responses were always her go to method for combatting frustration. But their flippant banter had seemed less playful tonight, and she couldn’t figure out why. They were so different. They always had been. They knew just how to egg each other on in ways that made their friendship work.

Unfortunately, they weren’t children anymore, and she hadn’t meant to snub him like that. She should have just kept her mouth shut. Now, he was gone.

“Don’t sweat it, Pippa. Whoever that guy was, he isn’t worth your time.”

She wasn’t thinking clearly enough to place the voice with the name. All she could think about was fixing this problem she’d created. She needed to get Rob back here. At the very least, she needed to apologize to him so he didn’t completely shun her.

She’d gotten the opportunity of a lifetime. Rob’s arrival meant she finally had a chance to tell him exactly how she felt about him. She didn’t have to worry he would be taking some random job in another state, because he was here.

“Yeah, Pippa. That guy is garbage. You don’t need him.”

“Garbage?” She whirled around to face the men at the bar, her eyes staring daggers at all of them.

They shrank back and dropped their eyes. Putting them in their place wasn’t worth the headache it would be to try to explain why Rob was important to her. No one would understand her feelings. She wasn’t sure she did.

Pippa pulled the hand towel from her shoulder and tossed it in a bin that would be taken to the laundry room after their shift. Then she offered the men a smile, hoping they wouldn’t ask her a million questions about what had happened just now.

“I’m going to head out. I’ll send someone else over here to take care of your drinks.”

Pippa hurried through the kitchen and toward the back room where her kitchen manager would likely be working on next week”s schedule while things in the kitchen were fairly quiet. She poked her head into the office space and knocked on the doorjamb.

Gerald glanced up from his paperwork. There was no smile to speak of, but she didn”t expect one. He wasn”t a smiley sort of man. She’d long since given up on him ever returning a smile unless the situation more than called for it.

“I have a favor to ask you.”

If he’d been straight-faced before, he looked quite stern now.

Pippa adored Gerald. He might have been more gruff than her, but he knew his stuff. Her restaurant was so good because her kitchen manager could step in with his vast knowledge of every job in the kitchen. He could cook anything and make it Michelin Star worthy.

He was the best sounding board she”d ever had for all her menu ideas and nothing was ever available to diners without Gerald”s tweaks.

Gerald put his document down. “I’ve got things handled. Do whatever it is you need to do.”

She grinned. That was one more reason to love Gerald. He never flinched.

“Thanks. I might not be back tonight, but the menu is all squared away and everyone finally arrived for their shift. I”d only be supervising anyway.”

“You never just supervise.” He gave her a pointed look over his glasses.

“You know what I mean.” Pippa laughed as she removed her apron and darted out the back door to the lot where all her employees parked.

She jumped in her car and sent up a little prayer that Rob would still be at the Burger and Shake. If he’d fibbed about heading there or gotten his food to go, she might have to track him down at her brother’s place—and that was the last place she wanted to be spotted after visiting yesterday.

She made some questionable driving decisions to get to the fast-food restaurant, but when she pulled into the parking lot, she was relieved to see Rob’s truck. It was one he’d borrowed from Brent until he could find one he liked enough to buy. On the side was a logo for Brent’s small ranch.

A mixture of relief and worry gripped her as she launched from her car and headed for the front entrance. The smell of greasy fries and burgers wafted through the air, making her stomach growl. She’d missed dinner—mostly because she’d planned on sampling the food before it went out to the customers tonight and she didn’t want to make herself sick.

Now that she was gone, she regretted her decision.

The door flew open and Pippa jumped backward to avoid being hit by it and the customer leaving. Rob stared at her, unblinking. He glanced at the parking lot, then back down at her.

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at your restaurant.”

All she could offer was an embarrassed smile. “I… um...”

Why was it so hard to say it? Why couldn’t she just say she was sorry for teasing him? She’d been snotty around the other cowboys. She’d pushed back when he’d gotten defensive. It was her apology to make.

“You… what?”

She looked away as a new group of people entered the restaurant, forcing them to take a step to the side. Her focus landed on the bag of food in his hand. Her stomach gurgled louder this time, making for an even more embarrassing moment.

“I needed to talk to you.”

“Didn”t we already talk today?” Disdain laced his words and his brows lowered. He was still upset. And why shouldn’t he be? She hadn’t told him most people wouldn”t be wearing cowboy work clothes. She”d messed up there.

Pippa swallowed hard. “I need to tell you I’m… sorry. I shouldn’t have teased you. And I definitely shouldn’t have made things worse. I was…” She looked away again. “Honestly, it made me mad when you put down my customers and my restaurant.”

Pippa continued to stare at the ground where her black sneakers poked out from her black dress pants. She didn’t know what to expect from him. Too much time had come between them. Maybe one date was too much to ask. It was entirely possible they”d outgrown their ridiculous pact. They might have changed too much.

Her stomach gurgled again, drawing a chuckle from Rob and a startled look from Pippa. She stared at him, unsure if he was laughing at her or mocking her—because with Rob, those were two different things.

Rob heaved a breath and then lifted up his bag. “Well, I was going to drown my sorrows in three cheeseburgers and a large French fry, but?—”

“Three?” She choked. “You got three burgers? Do you realize how big the burgers are here?”

“In my defense, I haven’t eaten anything all day,” he shot back. “I was planning on going to my friend’s restaurant and trying all sorts of disgusting food fit for royalty.” This time, the playful sarcasm came through with each word he spoke. This was the Rob she knew and loved—the one who could keep her on her toes and knew where to draw the line in the sand.

Pippa snorted. “Well, the joke is on you, because the amount of food you would have bought to fill you up—seeing as you think you can handle three burgers—would have bankrupted you.”

He lifted a brow. “Oh, yeah? Where’s the friends and family discount?”

She crossed her arms with a smirk. “I don’t know how much you have in your bank account, but I would assume you might still need to wash dishes at the end of the night.”

Rob leaned forward, his nose nearly touching hers. “It would have been worth it,” he said.

Her heart leaped into her throat as her body reacted to his closeness. All the feelings of desire and passion were there like they had been when they were younger, but it was stronger somehow. He could kiss her right now and she wouldn’t resist.

In fact, she would have dived headfirst into that questionable decision.

Over the last several years, they’d gotten closer, though it was a long-distance friendship. There were things he knew about her that no one else did—not even Allie. Pippa had a connection with Rob that wasn’t going anywhere.

Now he was here, standing in front of her, and available… she wanted nothing more than to jump down that rabbit hole no matter what dangers it would present.

When she didn’t speak right away, Rob straightened. “Well, your stomach sounds like it might be able to handle all three burgers. Maybe you and I could split them and neither one of us might end up regretting our decisions.”

His statement held more than one implication. The funny thing was, the only thing she was willing to risk regretting had nearly happened twice now.

“You mean we won’t end up in a food coma,” she said quietly.

He studied her, and in that moment she knew without a doubt he was fully aware she understood what he’d really meant.

Rob nodded to his truck in the parking lot. “How about we set up shop like the old days.”

She tossed a look over her shoulder. How many summer nights had they spent in his truck back in Rocky Ridge? How many of those impromptu, late-night snacks had ended in a make-out session? Her stomach swirled, and it wasn’t because she was hungry—her appetite had successfully been snuffed out. If she agreed to eat with him in his truck, she would be choosing to the see where things with him might go.

Pippa nodded, slowly turning to look at him again. She plastered a nervous smile on her face no amount of faking could hide. “Please tell me you got one without onions.”

Rob reached into his bag and pulled out a burger wrapped in yellow paper.

Her eyes widened as her hands wrapped around the monstrosity of a burger he offered her. “You’re joking.”

He shrugged. “Maybe I was feeling nostalgic.”

She laughed. “That’s ridiculous. You love onions.”

“And you don’t.” He said it like it was the most simple thing in the world to admit. “Though I never understood how you could love cooking so much and hate onions.”

Pippa scoffed. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Onions should have remained medicinal. You don’t see me crushing up antacids to sprinkle all over my food, do you?”

“Maybe you should.” Rob chuckled.

They’d reached his truck, and he opened the door for her. She snorted and shook her head. Of course he would have thought that was a good idea. Rob lingered by the door, not shutting it immediately. Their eyes met and a decade of conversation passed between them.

It was like there was more he wanted to say, but he wasn’t willing to voice it. She could understand that feeling—in fact, it was currently making her head spin. Perhaps that was why she read it in his eyes. She wanted him to experience what she was going through so they could just get the issue of her attraction out in the open.

But Rob didn’t want to settle down. Why else would he move here? This was temporary. He had family and a life back in Montana. Eventually, he’d want to move home and start his own little family.

If anything happened between them, it would be short-lived and for old time’s sake. She’d come to the realization already. It was just hard to remember that when he was looking at her with his soulful eyes.

Pippa cleared her throat and lifted her burger. “Our food is getting cold. We should probably dig in.”