Chapter 7
Walker
I pull in a deep breath as I tug open the door to Fondante”s Inferno. Adalynn Tate is a very sweet woman, but there are also times she can be a little spiteful. I never know which one I”m going to get.
I stop dead in my tracks when I see Cash Tucker there with his arms wrapped around her.
It seems the rumors I”ve heard whispered at the bar are true.
”Look at the two of you,” I say, when even the chime above the door doesn”t pull their attention from each other.
Adalynn bites her lower lip, her cheeks turning pink when Cash refuses to take a step back even though she must feel like that would be best.
My smile triples when Cash shifts, standing behind her and resting his hands intimately on her lower stomach.
”So, you two are like a thing now?”
”We”ve always been a thing,” Cash confirms, his face the perfect image of a man in love.
”We haven”t told our parents yet,” Adalynn says.
”But we”re telling them tonight,” Cash adds.
”I”m happy for the two of you,” I say, and I don”t know that I”ve ever spoken truer words.
These two have been circling around each other for years. It”s great that they”re finally together.
”Do you have any of those chocolate mint cookies?”
My heart breaks a little when she shakes her head.
”What about the chocolate mint ice cream?”
”You know I can only sell that at the events in town. Besides, it”s wintertime. You should want hot cocoa.”
I perk up. ”Do you have peppermint mocha hot cocoa?”
She shakes her head. ”Ruth would blast me in front of the city council if I sold any form of hot drink. It”s also why I can”t sell my ice cream out of the shop.”
I hate the rules in Lindell sometimes. There”s a huge non-compete clause with the businesses here. Since Ruth has been selling ice cream and specialty milkshakes since before the dinosaurs roamed the earth, no one else in town can sell them.
”Your ice cream is better than the stuff she has delivered.”
Cash chuckles, his head dipping in agreement.
”You better not ever let her hear you say that, Walker Conroy,” Adalynn chastises. “I do have a few of those chocolate chunk cookies you love.”
Cash looks like he’s going to argue when she moves to step away from him, but his phone rings, drawing his attention away from her, if only temporarily.
”I”m glad you stopped by,” she says conspiratorially as she goes behind the counter. ”I was thinking you forgot.”
I”ve learned to never tell a woman that I have no idea what she”s talking about, so I keep my mouth shut when she bends down behind the counter.
”I had to get with Kristina about what kind she needed, but she”s a hundred percent certain this is it.”
I look down at the white box she”s holding out to me.
”Take it before he sees it,” Adalynn hisses, waving the box in her hand.
”What is it?” I ask after it”s already in my hand.
”The battery for Larkin’s ride-on toy. Quick, put it in your pocket.”
I do as she says, wanting to argue with her, but it seems like I”ve been sworn to secrecy when Cash walks back up and she changes the subject.
”I”m so sorry, Walker. I really thought I had some left. I”ll make it a point to bake some extras and set them aside for tomorrow.”
I know her game, but despite her attempt to get rid of me quickly before Cash asks why she”s yet again butting her nose in someone else”s business, I came in here for a snack.
”I”d prefer the chocolate mint cookies,” I say, my fingers tapping against the box in my pocket.
I should probably lean my loyalty toward Cash since we”re both men, but I”m choosing my stomach over everything else right now.
”You got it,” she says, her smile never faltering.
It seems this agreement is one she”s willing to make in order for me to do her bidding, and that seems like the right thing. She”s wanting to help Claire, and I don”t see a problem with that at all.
”When do you think those cookies will be ready?”
She narrows her eyes at me, taking a little too long to realize what I”m asking.
She had mentioned specifics when she called earlier in the week, and I was too distracted by Claire coming down the hallway to commit them to memory.
”Tomorrow by lunchtime,” she answers. ”Claire came by earlier today for Corbin.”
Even Cash wrinkles his forehead at her abrupt change in topic. The woman was never the best at being sneaky, but I can”t seem to help focusing on her mention of Claire”s other boss. He happened to be at the bar the last time Claire worked and it makes me wonder why he was there at all. The man doesn”t normally come in during the week, and it”s a rare occasion to see him on Friday or Saturday night. Is he there for Claire?
”She mentioned working at The Hairy Frog. Said she”s working tonight. That her shift starts late, after dark.”
”She is,” I agree. ”She”s a great waitress. See you tomorrow.”
I walk out without a snack and a heavy box in my pocket, annoyed that Adalynn would bring up Claire”s other boss.
With a growl, I pull the box from my pocket when the damn thing digs into my leg as I sit inside my truck. I toss it into the passenger seat, but the thing bounces and hits the floorboard, making me feel like a jerk if I broke the damn thing.
Maybe it”s my own guilt for thinking of the woman when I shouldn”t, but I somehow end up driving past the little duplex she lives in. I didn”t have to see her address on the application she filled out the other night to know this is where she lives. The town is small enough that I knew she rented this place from Jason Brecken within a week of her coming to town.
Her living here is expected. There aren”t many places in town for rent, but what isn”t expected is the sight of Corbin McBride”s truck parked a few spots down from Claire”s car.
I”m out of my own truck and around the side of her duplex before that part of my brain that handles reason clicks on.
I”m both annoyed and glad that I can stand on the far side of her little chain-link fence and see inside her home. It”s creepy that anyone can walk back here and see what”s going on. That part of me that has seen bad things happen in other parts of the world as a soldier makes me want to jump the fence, bang on the glass door, and tell her to at least close the damn curtains.
I make it through step one, but movement inside makes me duck behind the wall to the right. Jason really needs to provide his tenants with a little more room.
After a minute of feeling like a creep, I realize just how disturbing I am when I reposition myself so I can look inside. What could I do if Corbin was inside with her? Not a damn thing, that”s what.
I don”t even have a right to be angry that it might be a possibility, but surely the woman knows better than to get tangled up with her boss, right?
I scowl when I pull Corbin out of that equation and put myself there.
I”m looking left, inside her house because the kitchen is all the way on the right, when I sense movement, but I”m too slow to dart back behind the wall.
I look over and find Claire standing on the other side of the glass wall, staring right at me.