19. nineteen
nineteen
Nora
The following morning, my employees are endlessly curious about my first Friday evening spent with Brooks. Maybe it’s the lack of sleep and the fact that I’m partly delirious, but I find myself unable to mask the happiness I’m still carrying. It’s spilling over into my walk, my smile.
“Did he kiss you?” Kate asks eagerly as she spins past me, balancing plates loaded with steaming stacks of pancakes and artfully assembled eggs Benedict.
“Don’t answer that,” Audrey says, hands full of a stack of bills ready to be processed.
“None of your business!” I say, biting back a grin. Brooks didn’t kiss me, but I wanted him to. Desperately.
“Tell that to the smile you can’t keep off your face,” Roman hisses into my ear from behind. I swat at him as he saunters past.
I get lost in the mindless task of stuffing paper napkins into the metal dispensers, which is technically Molly’s assignment today, but I decide to be a saint and help the poor thing out. I can see the panic-sweat shine on her pretty pink cheeks from here. The line near the host stand is growing longer and longer and the diners are in no rush, lingering as they do every Saturday morning.
Verl and Sue McConnell stop me on one of my rounds. “That mug I bought from you is my absolute favorite,” Sue says emphatically. “I reach for it every day and think of you.”
I can’t possibly express to her what that means to me, but I try, fighting back the swell of emotion it conjures up to know that she is using something I crafted with such care.
As the morning wears on, my mind easily slips back to thoughts of a sturdy hand clasping mine, laugh lines deepening around striking blue eyes, and a mouth so irresistible it’s truly a miracle I didn’t claim it for myself last night.
Being with Brooks unlocks something long tucked away in the deepest chamber of my heart, freeing sun-washed memories from another time when he occupied my thoughts as much as I’m allowing him to now. Everything about last night felt…good. So good I want to relive it in my mind all day long.
He’d somehow ignited a flickering desire within me while still making me feel entirely safe and at peace. A bubbling, contagious kind of happy. I shouldn’t be surprised, really. Even as a young girl caught up in the fire of her first love, that’s how he always made me feel.
“Nora?” Audrey’s voice cuts through my musings, and I look up. She’s got a suspicious grin on her face. “There’s someone here who wants to talk to you.”
“If it’s Tommy Collins again, tell him I’m busy.” I half-duck behind the counter fearfully. “I can’t handle him asking me out again, Audrey. I’ve run out of excuses.”
“It’s not Tommy. It’s somebody else. He’s waiting for you in Booth Six.”
My heart takes those words and runs ten miles with them.
“Booth Six?” I ask, craning around Audrey to try and get a peek at who Molly must have just sat there. The booth had been occupied for most of the morning.
Audrey gives me a little push out of the prep area. “Go!”
I straighten my apron and tighten my ponytail, weaving through the crowded dining area. The side of Booth Six I can see is unoccupied, so I don’t get a full view of its occupant until I’m standing fully in front of it.
An undeniably attractive man wearing a grey hoodie is scanning the menu with his lower lip caught between his teeth. He’s clearly trying to hide most of his face from view with a black baseball hat pulled low over his brow, but I’d recognize that mouth anywhere.
“Is there something I can help you with, sir?” I ask. His eyes flick up to meet mine, and the smile that spreads over his face at the sight of me makes my pulse stammer.
“Yeah,” Brooks says, pretending to further contemplate the menu. “Can I get a smoothie? Or a protein shake?”
“Hmmm…” I give him a faux grimace. “I’m sorry, sir. I’m afraid you won’t find anything here that’s not made with butter and excessive calories.”
“In that case,” he replies, setting down the menu with a sigh. “Ma’am…” His eyes dance. “I’ll just take five minutes with you.”
“Five minutes?” I counter, placing a hand on my hip. “You sure that’s all you want?”
Brooks’ eyes do a slow drag down my body and back up to my face before he smiles.
“You know I could never be satisfied with that,” he says, and I hope nobody in this restaurant can see the blush burning up the back of my neck right now.
“Here you are,” Roman’s cheerful voice cuts in behind me, and so does a steaming cup of coffee as he slides it to Brooks across the table. I catch his eye over my shoulder, and he winks at me.
“Join me?” Brooks says, gesturing to the bench across from him.
Roman doesn’t wait for me to answer and instead practically shoves me into the seat. “Sit down, honey. Get off your feet for a minute. I’ll make sure nobody burns the place down.”
“Thank you,” Brooks says, raising his coffee in salute towards Roman as he bustles away. “I like him. He makes things happen.”
I pull my lips in to hide my smile. My foot bumps against Brooks’ under the table as I try to scoot into the far corner and hopefully out of view from any prying eyes.
“He’s the one who wrote your number on my box, right?” Brooks asks. I nod. “He’s getting a massive tip.”
We share a smile.
“You didn’t tell me you were coming in today,” I say.
“Was I supposed to?” Brooks says, taking a sip of his coffee. “Mmm,” he hums appreciatively. “That’s good.”
“It feels unfair,” I continue. “You’re always showing up and surprising me, but I never know where to find you.”
“Easy fix,” Brooks replies, setting down his coffee. “I’ll text you my sister’s address. Come by anytime. I’m sure they’d love the chance to interrogate both of us at once. Or you could come see me in Seattle sometime. I’ve got an apartment in the city near the stadium.”
The thought of showing up at Brooks’ apartment alone makes my insides quiver. No, no. I could not be trusted to be alone with him behind the firmly closed doors of his living quarters.
“You sure you don’t want to order some food?” I ask. “I can have Max make you your omelet just the way you like it.”
“I just finished a run,” Brooks leans forward, resting on his elbows. “I only came here to see you.”
Warmth floods through me as he looks me over with a soft affection. I sink further into the corner of the booth, determined not to be seen blushing and fidgeting by anyone in this diner.
“It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours,” I tease. “Did you miss me that badly?”
“Yeah,” Brooks says, his expression open and eyes truthful. “Yeah, I did.”
There’s that honesty of his that disarms me every time. My brain has officially short-circuited. There will be no more taking orders or remembering requests for the remainder of the business day today. Or tomorrow, for that matter.
“I wanted to get my daily dose of Nora this morning. Thought it would help me stay on track.”
“What’s this about a daily dose? I thought we were casually hanging out for a few Friday nights?”
“Tell me,” he says, adjusting the brim of his baseball hat. “Did you think about me after I dropped you off last night?”
I swallow. Did I think about Brooks? That would be the understatement of the century. I tossed and turned in my bed like a fish flopping on a deck. I was wired after the night we spent together. It hadn’t been long enough.
“Maybe,” I reply coyly.
“Then tell me you’re not glad to see me.”
“I am glad to see you.”
“Then, I would think our standing Friday dates can continue, but if we both are on the same page, we can see each other as much as we want.”
“Here we go,” Roman’s voice cuts through the tension between us, and I sit up, not realizing I’d been leaning across the booth towards Brooks like he’s a magnet. Roman slides a plate of French toast onto the middle of the table. “Eat up, sweetheart. I haven’t seen you eat anything all day, and I know how you get on an empty stomach.” Roman grimaces at Brooks to convey just how awful I get when I’m hungry before dancing away.
“Have some of this, please?” I beg Brooks. “There’s no way I can eat it all.”
“I’m not sure anyone could eat all of that food. Who set the portion sizes at this place? This is obscene.” He reluctantly takes my proffered fork and knife.
I watch Brooks fork a bite of French toast into his mouth, waiting to gauge his reaction.
“That is sinful,” he says, shaking his head.
“I thought you would like it,” I say, feeling pleased as he goes in for more. “But what will your trainer say?”
“Forget my trainer. Where you at, girl? Help me out.”
I dig into a piece of fluffy, syrup-soaked bread with my fork. A few short minutes later, our plate is practically licked clean.
“Hope you have nothing planned this afternoon. Get ready to hibernate,” I say.
Brooks eyes me from across the booth. “What are your plans for the rest of the day?”
“Grocery shopping. Cleaning my house. Then, my sister Sydney is coming over tonight to paint one of my bathrooms.”
“You guys need help?”
“It’s a small bathroom,” I say, not really answering his question.
“Then, it wouldn’t take very long to paint it.” He pushes his plate away and crosses his arms over the table. “I could help.”
“That’s very kind of you,” I say. “But Sydney is using some new technique she saw on the internet and wants to test it out in my house first before she does it in one of the cabins. I don’t think I’ll be helping her much at all.”
“Well, in the future, I’d be happy to help you with things like that. Put me to work,” he says, disarming me with another smile. I most definitely will. The thought of Brooks working on my house is so tempting that I may just go home and break something, just so he can come fix it.
“Did you have anything planned for tonight?” I ask.
“Well, not tonight,” he says. “But apparently, my dad is back in town. He invited my sisters and me over for dinner tomorrow.”
“Oh,” I say. “I’m guessing you don’t want to be there?”
“No. I don’t.” The honesty in his voice makes my chest ache. There’s so much hurt hidden there.
“Then don’t go,” I say with a shrug. “I’m sure the twins would understand.”
“It would be easier to provide an excuse if someone, say, you, perhaps, were free tomorrow night. Then, I could tell my sisters that we already had plans.”
“Are you trying to use me to avoid seeing your father?” I tease.
“No, not at all. I’m trying to find any excuse I can to spend more time with you.”
First, he shows up at the diner, brightening my whole day. Then, he offers to help me paint my bathroom. Now, he tops it off with a comment like that ?
I think my list of favorite things now only consists of one thing…Brooks Alden.
“Well, tomorrow is Sunday,” I say. “I have to go pick up Ollie from his dad’s.”
Brooks rolls his lips together, and his eyes darken at my mention of Nate. “Right. I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking…”
“But,” I hear myself saying, and my hand makes a hesitant path across the table to land on Brooks’ arm. “If you wanted to come with me to pick him up, I’d be fine with that.”
Something shifts in Brooks’ expression, and his eyes take on a determined cast. He layers one of his warm, strong hands over mine, and his fingertips dance over my knuckles.
“They live half an hour away in Carleton Point.”
“I can come pick you up, and we can go together,” he says.
The idea of having Brooks by my side when having to face my ex-husband is relieving. Nate and I really don’t speak much, except on the days when he has Ollie. Our custody agreement stipulates that he sends me updates on how Ollie’s doing so I don’t worry too much about him. I never anticipated that Nate and Brooks would ever come in contact with each other again, and I’m not entirely sure how either of them might behave. Nate was something of a fan of Brooks...but I doubt he’ll see him that way once he finds out about us.
“I’d like that,” I say, and Brooks squeezes my hand in his reassuringly.
“Nora?” A gruff voice asks from above. I turn to find Tommy Collins staring down at me from his impressive, lanky height. My grip on Brooks’ hand tightens, and he looks at me curiously.
“Oh,” I say, feeling flustered at being caught sitting with Brooks by the ever-persistent, blindly oblivious Tommy. “Hi, Tommy. You remember Brooks Alden, right?” We’d all gone to high school together, but Tommy was in the grade above us. I glance over at Brooks to find him watching me with an amused smile.
“What’s up, Tommy?” Brooks says, and though his tone is light, I detect the slightest hint at unfriendliness. “Long time no see.”
“Yeah,” Tommy stammers, rubbing one hand behind his neck. “Yeah, it’s been a long time.” Tommy looks down at our joined hands, and I know I’ve got to use this to get Tommy off my back. For good.
“So are you two…uh…” Tommy gestures between us. “Are you two dating?” I shoot a panicky glance at Brooks, not wanting to mislabel our relationship in front of someone else. Tommy gives me a hurt look like it was my job to personally update him on such things.
“Yep,” I say quickly, and Brooks arches one eyebrow, questioning. “We’re dating.” I widen my eyes at him to non-verbally tell him to roll with it, and he smiles, lifting his chin in understanding. Tommy is not going to take this news well, but it needs to be conveyed. “It’s a recent thing,” I continue.
“Very recent,” Brooks says with an amused quirk of one eyebrow. “So, help me out here, Nora. If we’re dating that would make us…what, exactly?”
One side of his mouth slips up in a cheeky grin that makes my belly swoop. He’s playing along while simultaneously setting me up to define our relationship.
“We are…” I say slowly, trying to keep from laughing. “A…couple?”
“We’re a couple,” Brooks repeats, looking highly pleased at my answer.
“You’re a couple,” Tommy repeats dejectedly, looking like he may actually shed tears at the receipt of this depressing news.
“Yes. We are,” I say brightly, hoping Tommy will get the message.
“Thanks for stopping by,” Brooks says, a slight edge to his words that makes it very clear that I am off-limits. Tommy is harmless, but I love how easily Brooks claimed me as his own.
Tommy swipes a finger under his nose, glancing away. “This is a blow to the ego, I admit,” he says with a bitter laugh. “But I can’t compete with…with…” He waves a loose hand at Brooks and then sighs in defeat. “Can I get a picture with you?”
“Sure,” Brooks says, shooting me a look that says he’s highly entertained by all this. He waits patiently while Tommy fumbles for his phone, which is appropriately encased in a Stormbreakers logo pattern.
Tommy leans awkwardly over Brooks’ side of the booth, and I snap a picture of the two of them.
“Good luck…” he says as I hand him his phone back. He gives me a lingering, dejected glance. “To the both of you.”
Brooks doesn’t let go of my hand, even after Tommy is well out of sight.
“Thank you,” I breathe a sigh of relief. “He might actually leave me alone now.”
“He’d better leave you alone,” Brooks says, a flash of possessiveness in his eyes. “Because according to you, we’re a couple now.”
“You forced that out of me!”
“No, I didn’t,” Brooks says with a satisfied smirk. “You defined our relationship as exactly what you want it to be.”
“Brooks–”
“Don’t worry,” he says, leaning across the table towards me. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“But Tommy will!” I whisper-yell. “Everyone’s going to think that you’re my…”
“Your what?” he says, lifting his chin, daring me to continue.
“Stop it!”
“Your boy toy? Your friend with benefits?”
“You’d better keep your voice down!”
He lifts a hand and drags his thumb across my cheekbone and down my jawline. I swear I forget how to breathe as he says, “I’ll be whatever you need me to be, Nora.”