9. Rob
9 ROB
Getting up early to meet the girls for Monday brunch was a hassle, not because I didn’t want to go but because the long nights of the past few weeks were catching up to me. I couldn’t stop yawning as I made the short walk to Nix’s bakery. I stepped inside and the scent of coffee hit me. At first it was a welcome aroma but quickly my stomach decided that it wasn’t.
“Rob!” Nix’s smile spread wide. “Coffee?”
I shook my head. “How about some ginger tea? I think my body is rebelling from enjoying a normal diet after all these years.” I hoped that was it and not something more serious.
Nix flashed a sympathetic smile and nodded. “Ginger tea coming up. How about a pastry?”
“Croissants?”
She laughed. “Take a seat and I’ll bring it out.”
I dropped down at a table big enough to fit the five of us and rested my head in my hands. I was exhausted and counting down until I could go back home and nap until the Easter egg hunt kicked off Easter Fest.
“Here you go.” Nix set the tea in front of me, another in front of her and three coffees just as Kayla, Torey and Hailey arrived. “Right on time.”
“Why are we meeting here?” Hailey asked the obvious question.
“Because the bakery is closed today but I still have orders to fulfill and later I’ll be asleep.”
“Makes sense,” she smiled and looked around the table. “So, what’s up with everyone?”
Torey grinned and pointed at Nix. “She’s engaged to the billionaire who’s building the retreat on the edge of town.”
Hailey’s eyes widened. “I have an interview there as a yoga instructor next week.”
“I’ll put in a good word for you,” Nix offered with a grin even though Hailey hadn’t been part of our crew growing up. She was friends with Ryan, which put her a step higher than us mere mortals. “And Torey is almost engaged to my brother.”
“No way!” Hailey’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “I guess you never got over that crush.”
“Guess not,” she mumbled and then pointed at Kayla. “Dating a rock star. You might have heard of Lancaster,” she grinned. “Who is also Lee’s kid brother.”
“Well damn,” Hailey laughed and sipped her coffee. “And what about you, Robin? Is it an underwear model or ambassador?”
“Oh no, she’s dating the sexy lumberjack bartender Levi.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not sure I’d call it dating.” Technically we’d gone on exactly one date.
“Oh come on Rob,” Nix insisted. “You’ve been spending a lot of time together.”
I opened my mouth to deny it but both Kayla and Torey were there with photographic evidence. The Holiday Grove Facebook page had several photos of us. “He’s hot and he’s funny. I like him.”
Kayla finished off her coffee and stood to refill her cup. “Oh no, Rob. We deserve more than that.”
Nix and Torey both nodded while Hailey looked on fascinated.
“Fine, I like him a lot. He’s an excellent cook and when he looks at me, it’s like a woman and not some pinup fantasy. The past few weeks have been amazing.”
“Sounds like a but is coming,” Hailey pointed out.
“It feels too soon to like him the way I do. I know men and I know how quickly they change once they get you.”
“That much is true,” Hailey agreed rather ominously. There was definitely a story there. “Any red flags so far? Is he on the run? On probation?”
I laughed. “No. He’s here because he’s Marcus’ nephew and he inherited the bar.”
“Oh no, Marcus is gone?” She smiled wistfully. “He always told me why my fake I.D.’s were no good.”
“So no red flags,” Nix returned us to the topic at hand. “Lee and I fell for each other during a snowstorm. It was just two days.”
Kayla nodded. “It happens at its own pace. When you know, you know.” Her full lips curled into a grin that said she was thinking about her gorgeous rock star.
“I understand what you ladies are saying but I need to be careful. Men can be…crazy.”
“Women too,” Hailey offered.
“I once dated a guy for six months and it seemed like he didn’t know who I was, which was comforting you know? Then I went to his house and he had a cardboard cut out of me in that blue bikini in his bedroom.”
“You were smoking hot in that bikini,” Kayla offered with a smile.
“Like stuff of fantasies hot,” Torey agreed.
“Yeah well I was so hot that he had it there and asked me to wear it for him during dinner.” Plenty of my so-called relationships were a variation of that.
“Gross,” Nix said with a shiver.
“Creepy too,” I added and took another sip of tea. Just the thought of my romantic past made my stomach flip-flop. “That’s why as much as I like Levi, I am determined to take my time. To be sure.
“I think it’s smart,” Hailey offered.
“Thanks.”
“It is smart,” Kayla agreed. “But don’t take so much time that Levi doubts how you feel about him because that’s the other part of the equation.”
It was a good point and it was another thing to worry about as I made my way home and collapsed on the sofa. I didn’t even make it to the bedroom, simply kicked off my shoes, curled up under a throw blanket and slept until my alarm blared from my phone’s speaker.
The truth was that I wasn’t sure how Levi felt, not exactly. I was confident that he liked me, was physically attracted to me but if it was more than that for him, I wasn’t aware of it. And more, I wasn’t ready to ask because I didn’t know what answer I wanted.
I dressed for the cooler weather and made my way to the park to meet Levi for the egg hunt. I was giddy to see him since I hadn’t stayed the night with him last night because I didn’t want to wake him when I got up to meet the girls. When I caught sight of him in what looked like a flannel coat I realized that I missed him.
Less than twenty-four hours and I missed him.
“Hey.” He smiled brightly when he saw me. His green eyes sparkled beautifully and he wrapped me in a hug that led me to believe that he missed me too.
“Hey yourself.” I inhaled his masculine scent, so tantalizing I suppressed a groan. “Ready for the egg hunt?”
“The glow in the dark egg hunt,” he added with a smile. “Why do the eggs glow in the dark?”
I motioned to the darkening sky. “Because this one is for adults and regular eggs are hard to see at night.”
“Of course.” His lips twitched with amusement.
The mayor spoke a few words before the hunt got under way and then I grabbed Levi’s hand as if I had the right to, and went to the bushes behind City Hall. “These bushes are well maintained and an excellent hiding spot.”
“You have the cheat codes.”
I laughed at the amusement in his tone. “I have a lifelong residency in Holiday Grove is what I have.” That was a thought that used to make me groan but today as an adults, I love my hometown more than ever. It was a soft place to land after retirement and the people here actually gave a damn about me.
We loaded up our eggs in a bucket decorated by the kindergarteners in silence for a few minutes. “Hey Rob, are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” It was an automatic answer that I always gave, I realized, because there were few people in my life that I could talk to without fear of them turning their backs on me.
Levi placed his hand on my shoulder to stop me from walking away. “Did I do something to piss you off? If so just tell me.”
“No, it’s not you Levi. I’m just feeling a little rundown today and I still don’t know what I’m going to do with the rest of my life.” It wasn’t his problem and worse, it wasn’t the basis of our relationship. “Sorry, I’m just…me.”
Suddenly his arms wrapped around me and my face was buried in his chest. “Being just you is great, Rob. You’ll figure out what you want, you’re too determined not to.”
“Yeah? How do you know that?”
“Because you left home at eighteen to conquer the world and you did. That kind of determination doesn’t just go away.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead and smiled down at me.
“Thank you for that.”
“Time’s up! Get your baskets to the counters,” Mayor Stevens called out over the microphone.
“You know, I’ve been in town for six months and this is the seventh festival.”
I laughed and dropped our basket so the eggs could be counted. “That’s Holiday Grove. A festival each month, at least, should be our motto.”
“It’s weird but I like it.” He leaned in and pressed the softest kiss to my mouth. “I like you too Rob.”
“That’s good because I like you Levi.”
He wrapped his arm around me as another team was named the winner. “How about I buy you dinner?”
“That sounds wonderful. Let’s do it.” Despite my misgivings I wanted to spend as much time with Levi as I could.