Chapter Seven
Theo
Esther was an excellent instructor, patient and concise.
She had a sharp sense of humor that seemed to come out of nowhere, flashes of dry wit that kept me laughing all through the process.
I still wasn’t happy about the idea that my mother had tried to warn her away from me, but given that she’d done so by complimenting me, I wasn’t completely sure I could complain.
Of course, I also believed that if my mother thought Esther would view me as any kind of threat, she would have drilled into me that I was to behave like a perfect gentleman. That was more her style.
And if I couldn’t deny the sizzle of attraction when Esther and I were standing so close together? Well, part of me wondered if my mother had foreseen that, as well.
By the time we finished making the pasta primavera—which I assumed she chose in order to go easy on me—Esther had probably said more than I’d heard out of her in our previous encounters altogether.
I thought at first that she was nervous, chattering to fill the silence, but it didn’t come across that way.
It seemed more like she’d finally deemed me safe enough to trust with her social energy.
“Is it a pain in the ass for you to eat at restaurants?” I asked, frowning as I realized just how much the allergies must impact her life.
Esther shrugged. “It can be. Certain places are better than others. The benefit to such a small town is that people know me and once I find somewhere that’s willing to work with me, they get to know the drill.”
“What about dating?”
“Like I said, I…don’t really date,” she said slowly, “but yes, it can complicate things. My first kiss wasn’t until college, because I was so worried about making sure whoever I was with hadn’t eaten anything with nuts recently.”
I frowned at that. “Are partners really not willing to forgo nuts for your safety? Seems like an easy choice.”
Esther stared at me for a second before saying, “Thanks, I think?”
As I finished serving up our dinner, I made a mental note to be sure I stopped consuming anything with nuts. Whether it proved necessary or not, I didn’t want to do anything that might put her at risk. It seemed like such a small change for me, but it could make a world of difference for her.
Or maybe even us.
The thought came out of nowhere, along with the desire to kiss her now that the topic had been raised, but it settled over my chest like a weighted blanket, soothing something deep in my soul. My presence here might be temporary, but that didn’t mean Esther wasn’t interested in temporary, too.
Still, I’d let it simmer, see how things unfolded between us.
“You said you’ll have the truck at the tree lighting the weekend after Thanksgiving?” I asked as I set a plate of food in front of her.
She nodded. “It’s one of the few gatherings I actually enjoy, so I’ll be open for a couple hours at the start, close up so I can go see them light up the tree, then I usually sell for another hour or until I’m out of cupcakes.”
“Do you have any help? Like a sidekick or an assistant or something?”
“Do I have…a sidekick?” she repeated, blinking at me for a beat before her laughter floated around me. “Sadly, no. This might surprise you, but I don’t mind working alone.”
I was too distracted by the dimple in her cheek and the mischief in her eyes to feign shock, but I snorted. “No way.”
“Way. Why, you wanna be The Nutless Wonder’s sidekick?”
It was an odd invitation, sure, but it was clearly an invitation nonetheless. I wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass. “Absolutely, I do, if you’ll accept my help.”
“I could be convinced,” she said, smirking.
“If you’re the Queen of Sweets, what would my name be?”
Her grin turned sly. “That is an excellent question. Eclair? King Cake? Oh, I’ve got it. Long John!”
“Esther,” I gasped, leaning toward her, “was that a dick joke?”
“No, of course not!” A blush crept along her cheekbones despite the denial. “A Long John is a type of donut, you perv.”
I continued to stare at her until she dissolved into giggles.
The sound did something strange to my chest, flooding me with a giddy kind of pleasure.
It wasn’t her usual sweet, husky laugh, but something light and carefree, fizzing in the air like champagne bubbles.
I wanted to bask in it. At that moment, she looked younger, the way I imagined she must’ve looked before meeting Steve Pautler.
Maybe this was the Esther my mother had first known, the one she’d taken under her wing.
When she managed to get herself back under control, wiping at the corners of her eyes, I was still grinning like a fool. And staring at her, a fact which had slipped my mind until her eyes widened slightly.
“I like hearing you laugh,” I said before I could think better of it.
Another faint wash of rose crept along her cheekbones, but she didn’t look away when our eyes met. Even if the feeling of triumph I experienced was unwarranted, that didn’t make it any less sweet. The sparkle of humor in those minty depths faded into something warm and a little bit rueful.
“It feels good to laugh again. I’m a little rusty, I think.”
“Well,” I said softly, “cool sidekick name or not, I’d be happy to help you out at the tree lighting. I worked in restaurants all through college.”
She hesitated only a second before nodding. “If you’re sure it’s not asking too much, I would appreciate the help.”
“I have basically nothing to do around here, Esther. I’m not used to sitting on my ass so much.
The Lawn Ranger’s books have never been so up to date, since that’s about all I can do from a distance.
Can’t say I’d be much good at baking, but I can definitely ring up customers and hand over your delightful cupcakes to adoring fans.
And I’d do just about anything for more of those cookies. ”
“I recently perfected a new brownie recipe that’s nice and gooey without being oily. I’m making one last test batch tomorrow. If you behave yourself, maybe you’ll get to try one.”
My lips twitched and I tried, I really tried, to ignore the way her gaze dipped to my mouth. “Then I’ll just have to be very, very good, won’t I?”
If I wasn’t mistaken, her blush deepened as she turned her attention to her meal, and I was forced to do the same before she caught me staring at her.
Again.
To my surprise, the quiet that settled over us wasn’t uncomfortable in the least. It felt like Esther had simply used up her current allotment of chitchat and laughter, leaving her in need of time to recharge.
I’d always considered myself fairly outgoing, but for once, I didn’t mind the silent camaraderie, either.
As we had before, Esther and I rinsed and loaded the dishes together. While she was pulling her boots on, her phone chirped from a hidden pocket in the waistband of her leggings. My eyebrows lifted as she tugged it free and then grimaced.
“Bad news?” I asked.
Esther shook her head. “No, but Sofia wants me to meet the group of them at The Mermaid tomorrow night for dinner.”
Before I could respond, my own phone vibrated and I glanced down to see the same invitation. “Guess I’m invited too.”
“Lucky you.”
I tapped the edge of the phone thoughtfully against my chin as an idea took root. “We could go together,” I mused.
“Together,” she repeated. “You want to carpool?”
My lips twitched. “That’s not exactly what I meant.”
“Like…a date?”
“A fake date.”
“Remember how I said I don’t date? Sofia will never buy it.”
Esther’s expression was skeptical, but she hadn’t dismissed the idea out of hand. The more I considered, the better the prospect sounded. She was skittish, but it would give us the chance to get to know one another without pressure.
And it would give me the opportunity to see if she was open to more while I was in town.
“Think about it. You and I make occasional appearances together in a social setting. I’ll help you in the truck for your events. People in Spruce Hill start to make assumptions, and voilà—a perfect excuse for us both to avoid the inevitable invitations to various holiday dinners.”
“I usually just say no thank you,” she said dryly.
“That can’t be foolproof, right? Especially knowing the Jimenez family. They don’t ask half a dozen times, in different ways, hoping you’ll change your mind?”
Tipping her head to one side, she conceded, “Okay, true.”
“I’m only here until the end of the year, but that’s more than enough time to get us past the holidays. It’s perfect.”
She still looked unconvinced. “Perfect. Except then you’ll be headed back to North Carolina and I’ll be stuck here fielding questions from every resident in town about what went wrong. What I did wrong, because you know they’ll blame me instead of Spruce Hill’s prodigal son.”
That bugged me in more ways than one, the thought that people would assume she did something wrong instead of me, but I was increasingly convinced this would work.
“You can tell them whatever you want,” I said, my tone bordering on cajoling. “I’ll be the asshole. Tell one person that I had a rabid scabies infection and you sent my ass packing, and I assure you the entire town will know soon enough.”
With a choked laugh, she nodded. “It might work.”
“Okay, maybe the plan’s not perfect, but admit it, it’s not half bad.
I saw how Mrs. Meyers was, and we’re only getting closer to Thanksgiving.
Eventually, someone’s going to try to set you up with their cousin’s nephew’s stepbrother.
Don’t tell me nobody else in town tries to convince you to join them for a holiday meal? ”
“Only your parents,” she muttered, then added reluctantly, “And Sofia. Everyone else tends to hint at it instead of asking outright.”
I gave her my most convincing smile. “Just think about it, okay? If we spend the holidays together, we can turn down everybody else.”
For a moment, I thought she was going to tell me to go straight to hell, but then she nodded. “Fine. But there will be rules.”
Shock rocketed through me—no matter how confidently I’d pitched the idea, I didn’t expect her to agree. Fuck, I hadn’t been this excited about anything in a long time. A smile split my face as I nodded like a fool.
“Rules, yes. Anything you say. You’re the boss.”
“No Christmas gifts,” she said, frowning like I’d argue.
I inclined my head graciously. “No gifts. What else?”
“We only attend social occasions of my choosing,” she added. “I haven’t done a whole lot of socializing in recent years and I don’t know how much I can handle.”
“Esther, I hope it goes without saying that I have no desire to make you uncomfortable in any way. You absolutely get final say on anything we agree to go to.”
She sucked in a breath. “I don’t want to discuss my marriage.”
“I’d rather not talk about why I left town,” I countered. “I’m happy to shut down anyone who tries to bring up either topic, okay?”
“Okay.” The word was quiet, but firm.
“Any other stipulations?”
“I’m a terrible liar, Theo. If someone asks straight out if we’re really dating, I’m going to have a hard time with it.”
“Then you can put your air of quiet mystery to good use, and I’ll field as many inquiries as I can,” I said, relieved when she snorted a laugh.
“And when your parents hear about it? Because you know they will.”
“I’ll tell them that my mother’s ‘warnings’ piqued your interest and you asked for a low-commitment, scorching hot fling with an expiration date.”
Esther rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t hide that dimple. “Lovely.”
“It’ll be good, Esther. For both of us.”
“And just how touchy-feely are you expecting us to be in front of people in order to sell this charade?”
I hesitated, partly because I wasn’t sure what answer she wanted to hear and partly because there was a flare of challenge in her eyes that made me want to throw caution to the wind. It took a second for me to control the urge to tell her I wanted everything she would give me.
“Whatever you’re comfortable with,” I replied, keeping my tone soft.
She dropped her gaze to the phone in her hands for a long moment, then those pale eyes lifted to meet mine. Her dimple winked at me as she held out a hand to shake on it.
“Okay, Long John. I’m in.”