My Guarded Valentine (Hope Peak’s Valentine’s Day)

6. Mitzi

Chapter 6

Mitzi

O nce we got to the diner, he let me inside and we walked, sat down at a booth right away. I looked around, trying to get a feel for the place. It looked like it hadn’t been renovated for the last 15 years. With plastic booths and tables that were little scratched up on most of the table tops. Gleaming silver napkin holders sat on every table and pictures of idyllic farm life were on all the walls. The thick plastic coated menu felt heavy in my hand as I looked at the menu. I looked at Buck and he smiled.

“I’ll pay it, by the way,” he said.

“Now I think you’re just gonna take pity on me every moment I turn.“

“I have an abundance of money. I have no one to spend on and if I wanna spend on you, then I will.”

I couldn’t help the blush that crept up on my cheeks with his words. Unfortunately, at that time, an older woman wearing a frilly apron walked to the table and clapped her hands together. “Fuck, did you finally find a lady friend? I have been trying to convince you to find a girlfriend for years.”

My eyes widened as I realized the woman was misinterpreting me being his girlfriend. My mouth fell open right as Buck figured out what she was talking about. His skin darkened and he laughed as he shook his head with an eye roll.

“I can’t believe you’re embarrassing my new friend, Ms. Dolly.”

“Are you telling me she’s not not your new girlfriend? But she’s so cute and I think she would do you so much good. You’ve been grieving for so many years, you need to stop punishing yourself. It was an accident.”

My head tilted as I watched Buck’s reaction and tried to figure out what she was talking about. Was there something else going on with Buck? Before I could think about it, Ms. Dolly started to prattle again about dating. I needed to think about this later. Now, I was focusing on his reaction to Ms. Dolly. Did he really not date anybody since he moved up here? The look of excitement on her face was obvious as she saw me with Buck. Did I just break her heart because, once again, Buck was still single? Then again, a lot of older women once see men and women hooked up. So is she doing it from a place of concern or a place where everyone must date somebody?

“Mitzi and I are not dating. She had car trouble, and I saved her.”

Ms. Dolly flashed me a knowing smile and a wink. “That sounds like a romance movie in real life. Maybe you needed your special someone to drop out of a broken-down car for you to open your heart.” She placed her hands on her hips and returned a glare at Buck.

I giggled at the thought of a big and burly buck being chastised by an old lady. His eyes sparkled as he glared at me. That look seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place why. “It’s not funny, Mitzi.”

“It is as though you’re getting a talking to, and it’s not even your mom.”

“Ms. Dolly is like a mom to me,” he said with an affectionate glance towards Ms. Dolly sighed and picked up her notepad again.

“Well, I guess since he’s gonna be single forever, can I get your order?” she said, but there was an ice in her eyes as she looked back at Buck. I couldn’t help but giggle once more as I glanced at the menu once more.

“What about your fried chicken? With mashed potatoes and mac and cheese?” I said.

Ms. Dolly nodded and turned her head towards Buck. Buck waved his hand. “Just my usual thank you.”

She walked away, and he grabbed my hand. “I am really sorry about that. She means, well, she just cares about all of us a lot in this town.”

“No problem at all. It was just embarrassing. I didn’t expect that if I was seen in town with you, people would assume that I was your girlfriend. Does that happen often?”

He waved towards the kitchen. “As you can tell, it does not happen often, so she was really excited to see you.”

I made a face and then smiled. “No one is ever excited to see me.”

A small smile grew on his face as his thumb circled the top of my hand. “I was excited to see you this morning,” Buck whispered. My heart skipped a beat.

My mouth fell open, and I realized we were still holding hands. I didn’t know how to respond and I didn’t know if I should move or not. I felt frozen in this time in place. A curl of desire twisted in my belly trying to remind me he was an older man who looked exactly my type who treated me with so much respect and caring so far and he was touching me. Luckily, in that moment of indecision and questioning, Ms. Dolly walked over with our drinks in her hand. I quickly jerked my hand backwards and put them in my lap. I nodded and mumbled my thank you to her before she left the table. I wasn’t sure if he realized the awkward moment like I did or if it was just in my imagination, potentially it was all my imagination. Maybe this attraction to him was only on my side. Why would a man that looked like his life was put together with someone like me?

“Do you come here often? You must if she knows what your usual is?” I asked as I tried to break the awkwardness between us. Was I the only one that felt this energy between us? Or is it something I just hoped for?

Buck nodded. “Yeah, I come here quite often. Like I said, she’s like a mom to me. Most of my family is gone. I had my brother for a while, but…” Buck sucked in a deep breath through his nose. “Unfortunately he’s gone now too.”

I reached across the table again and grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “I don’t have a lot of family left either. It’s hard, especially after all the recent holidays. And the worst of all“—I waved to the window that had window marker hearts all over it—“this holiday might be the worst of all. Not that I think of Valentine’s Day as a card holiday. It’s because it’s just another reminder that I’m by myself after a whole Christmas, New Year’s, Thanksgiving by myself. I know there’s friends-giving and everything like that, but it’s not the same.”

Buck smiled and nodded. “You’re all right, Mitzi,” he muttered. Right on time, Ms. Dolly came back with our food in her arms and a knowing grin on her face, as I pulled my hand far away from his hands. We were caught in the act and somehow I felt like an errant teenager now.