Chapter Eighteen
Adam
Brian brought home two bags of groceries that contained steak, potatoes, a can of green beans, and a bag of salad—along with a bottle of Ranch dressing.
My sweet tooth also appreciated the strawberry pie he got for dessert.
I’d already scarfed down both tarts Lainey sent home with us. (The blueberry was my favorite.)
I kind of felt like a freeloader, so I tried to be helpful and peeled the potatoes before boiling them to be mashed. I also opened the bag of salad and dumped it in a serving bowl, then opened the can of beans and cooked them on the stove.
It turned out, Brian could grill a mean steak, and we had a nice dinner on his patio, swapping stories about Shawn. It was bittersweet to reminisce about my Marine brother.
He’d been a good dude, and I was honored I got to be a part of his life.
“I think Shawn would be glad to know you’re watching out for Lainey and Conor,” I remarked as I took a swig of lemonade while enviously eyeing Brian’s beer. I was under strict orders to avoid alcohol while my brain healed.
“The whole town has taken them under their wing.”
“She hasn’t mentioned her family.”
“They’re in the picture, although I’m kind of under the impression Lainey was the wild child of the family.
Her parents are retired and moved to Savanah when she went away to college.
Her brother, Daniel, graduated a few years ahead of me.
I think he’s like a lobbyist or something in Washington D.C.
Which makes sense since he was president of his class.
“Jade, her older sister, was a year behind me in school, and if I remember correctly, she’s super smart.
I was kind of surprised we didn’t run into her today in the ER, she’s a nurse there; maybe she works nights now or it was her day off.
She and I are going to be Conor’s godparents when he’s baptized in October. ”
“So, is her sister Catholic?”
“No, but Jade being his godmother was one of Lainey’s conditions if she was going to allow Conor to be baptized in the church.
Technically her sister can only be a ‘Christian witness’.
But since only one godparent needs to be Catholic, and I am, Father Daniels isn’t making a big deal out of the semantics. ”
“Why is she waiting until October to have him baptized?”
“That was another condition—she wants him to be six months old before he’s around a bunch of strangers. Because she knows damn well that Hugh and Teresa, along with Granny O’Brien, are going to want to have a huge luncheon afterward and invite the whole town.”
Yeah, that tracked.
“Well, let me know the date so I can be sure to come.”
“Oh, I have no doubt you’re already on the guest list.”
I decided to tease my host a little.
“Are you taking a nice Catholic girl as your date? I’m sure that would make Granny O’Brien’s day.”
“Uh, no. If she brings that shit up one more time…”
“You’re her surrogate grandson. She wants to see one of her grandkids get married in the church.”
“Maybe Shawn’s sister, Katelyn, will come through for her.”
“So, there are no nice Catholic girls in town?”
“Why? Are you considering staying?”
“I told you I was thinking about it.” Although not very hard . “But religion doesn’t matter to me.”
“Me neither.”
With a sly grin, I asked, “So, you’re saying Molly Daugherty doesn’t do it for ya?”
He scowled as he took a long pull of his beer.
“Hell no. I think the only reason Shawn even dated her was because Granny saw them walk out of confirmation class together junior year and decided they’d be perfect for each other.
They lasted maybe three months before he broke up with her, and it was only that long because he was nice and didn’t want to dump her before prom. ”
“That was high school. Maybe she’s changed.”
Brian glared at me. “Yeah, for the worse. If you stick around long enough, I’m sure you’ll have the pleasure of meeting her.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s okay, I’ll take your word for it.”
Now it was Brian’s turn to tease.
“Come on. Wouldn’t your parents love it if you brought home a nice Catholic, Irish girl?”
“My parents would be thrilled if I brought home any girl. Nationality or religion wouldn’t matter.”
“What if she had a kid?”
I pulled my neck back. Why would he ask that?
“I’m sure if I loved her, they wouldn’t care.” I cocked my head at him. “What about your parents? Would they care?”
“If she was the one, it wouldn’t matter.”
I clarified, “But you haven’t found her yet?”
“Not yet… Have you?”
I knew my tone was wistful. “No.”
“Maybe you have, and you just haven’t realized it, yet.”
~~~~
I woke up the next morning with a slight headache. The doctor had said that was to be expected. Thankfully, I had some ibuprofen in my backpack.
But there was nothing I could do about the two black eyes I was now sporting, despite putting ice packs on my nose on and off all day yesterday and last night.
Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, it looked worse than it felt. So after Brian left for work, I debated about going to the diner for breakfast. Even though it was within walking distance from Brian’s house, as was pretty much everything else in Haven Springs.
In the end, my growling stomach, along with my lack of desire to cook anything to alleviate the rumblings, won out over my vanity. I figured since everyone had already seen me the day before last, maybe I wouldn’t be such a novelty, and they would ignore me.
I sure as hell wasn’t expecting the reception I received when I walked in. It was a far cry from the first time I came through the door.
Oh, everyone still stared, but this time it was because they all seemed to know me. It appeared word of my altercation had spread like wildfire. I guess almost getting blown up in combat and still being able to kick my assailant’s ass yesterday had elevated my status in town.
“Good to see you, Adam!” someone called as I walked to a vacant stool at the counter, while another yelled, “I heard you really held your own yesterday.” And still another chimed in, “We need someone like you protecting the town.”
Ah, it seemed Chief Shaughnessy was waging a campaign to make me stay, and he’d enlisted the town’s help.
Everyone in the diner was friendly and either smiled, waved, or called out a greeting. Everyone except one man in the corner with dark, beady eyes, and a combover that wasn’t fooling anyone. He glared every time he looked my way. Which was often once I sat down.
I noticed a bruise on the man’s face, and that he had one arm banded around his middle, like his ribs hurt as he slowly ate his breakfast.
The man in the John Deere hat from yesterday was sitting at a table in the middle of the diner with a group of older men, and observed, “Glad to see you’re walking around better, although it looks like you might be having some trouble seeing.”
“I’m on the mend,” I replied with a smile as I sat down and flipped over my coffee cup. “I didn’t get a chance yesterday to thank you for your help. I appreciate it.”
He chuckled. “I didn’t do much; just made sure you didn’t fall down.”
“Well, it was plenty, so thank you.”
“Of course.”
The waitress appeared right away with a pot of coffee in hand and filled my cup with a welcoming smile.
“Rumor has it you’re going to be Haven Springs’ newest law enforcement officer.”
“Well, I haven’t taken the job yet.”
“But you’re going to, right?”
I gave her a flirty smile, which I knew probably didn’t have the same effect as it would if I didn’t have two black eyes.
“Still weighing my options.”
I glanced down at the menu, hoping she’d take the hint I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Thankfully, she disappeared to refill other patrons’ coffee cups.
I had to admit, Chief O’Shaughnessy was right. The people in the town were ready to welcome me with open arms.
But I knew if I stayed, the temptation to get Lainey in my arms—and bed—would be too great. And it’d be both our downfalls.
While Lancastle may have stoplights, I still knew how small towns operated. The only way you recovered from a scandal like that was if you moved out of town. Which would be easy for me to do, but her whole life was here. That wasn’t an option for her.
No, it’d be better if I went home and left her alone. Maybe a man worthy of her would step up and deal with all the “O’s” in her life. Although I had hard time believing any man deserved her.
I wondered what she looked like when she came. I bet she would be beautiful—flushed cheeks, mussed hair, dreamy smi—
My cock moved and my conscience screamed, Knock that shit off!
My waitress reappeared, pad and pen in hand this time.
“You ready to order, hon?”
I hadn’t really looked at the menu, I’d been daydreaming about giving Lainey Beaumont an orgasm. Fortunately, I remembered that I’d enjoyed my breakfast from the other day and decided to have it again.
“I’ll have the Dad’s omelet. Whole wheat toast, and hashbrowns.”
“You ordered that the last time you were here. You must have really liked it.”
“You remember my order?”
She gave me a wink. “That’s my job, sugar,” then with a smirk, sashayed toward the kitchen window. This place was so old school that she slid her ticket on a metal spinning wheel and announced my order to the cook.
Yeah, there was no chance I’d get away with giving Lainey an orgasm without the whole damn town finding out about it.
After breakfast, I was going to head to the bus station and see about getting a ticket to Lancastle, Massachusetts, on Tuesday. That should be long enough time for me to have healed, and hopefully a short enough time to have not gotten myself into trouble.