32. Claire
CHAPTER 32
Claire
“ A h!” My fingers jumped on the keyboard, adding letters I didn’t want as Pebbles jumped up from her spot next to me, barking like a wild woman. Pigtail on top of her head bobbing, she ran for the front door.
Ellis laid his book down and got up from the chair. “Were you expecting someone?”
Willing my heart to stop racing, I shook my head. That dog would be the death of me one day. “No.” But that didn’t mean anything. Tamara had stopped by earlier without calling first. I figured that would be the norm until I could find a temporary office space.
It was a little late for unexpected work visitors, though.
I shut my laptop and set it on the coffee table, following Ellis to the door.
He peeked out the window. “It’s your coffeeshop friend.”
“Mina?” I moved closer to peer outside.
Sure enough, Mina was headed up the sidewalk from her car in the driveway, grocery sacks in hand.
I walked around Ellis and unlocked the door, opening it as Mina reached the porch. “What are you doing here?”
“Cooking you dinner.” With a wide smile, Mina breezed into the house. Her smile dipped a bit, confusion sparking in her eyes when she saw Ellis. “You’re the wrong brother. Why are you here and not the other one?” She looked at me. “Where’s the cop?”
“At work. Ellis is keeping me company.” I closed the door and relocked it.
The last traces of Mina’s smile disappeared. “What? No. That’s a load of bullcrap. What’s going on? Why do you need a babysitter?”
“He’s not a babysitter.” He was simply… looking out for me.
I suppressed an eyeroll. That sounded lame even to my own ears.
“I’m kind of a babysitter.” Ellis flashed a playful grin.
The eyeroll couldn’t stay hidden this time. “Whatever.” I turned to Mina. “Why are you cooking me dinner?” I wasn’t upset about it, but it was unusual. She rarely showed up unannounced for a meal. We always made plans ahead of time—even if it was for a half an hour later—when we wanted to hang out.
“You’ve been MIA lately. I know things have been crazy with the fire and all, but I need the tea.” She eyed Ellis again. “Apparently, there’s a lot of it.” Not waiting for an invitation, she set off toward the kitchen.
Ellis intercepted her, taking the grocery bags and carrying them for her. He peered inside as he set them down. “What is all this?”
“Elk stew.” Mina shooed him out of the way. “I slow-roasted the meat earlier this week.”
My mouth watered. I would never complain about Mina showing up with homecooked food. She should have started with a café or diner instead of the coffeeshop. I understood why she did; competing with Kellerman’s was not an easy task. But her food would have spoken for itself. I couldn’t wait to see what she did when she expanded.
I moved to a cabinet by the stove and removed my stockpot. “This will be one of your menu items when you expand, right?”
She lifted a shoulder as she shrugged out of her coat. “Maybe. I’m not sure what all I want to put on the menu. I need to finalize the sale and renovate before I think about that.”
“Well, I will always vote for elk stew.” No one made better.
After washing her hands, Mina grabbed a knife and set about chopping the vegetables she pulled from the grocery bags. “Tell me why you’re here.” She aimed the tip of the knife at Ellis, then chopped the end off a carrot.
“Because Oz asked me to be.”
Mina rolled her eyes, then looked at me. “He thinks he’s funny. He’s not.”
I chuckled. “He’s not wrong, though. With everything going on, Ozzie didn’t want me to be alone at night. Ellis is here until Ozzie comes back.”
A slow, knowing smile spread over Mina’s face. “We’ll come back to that part about the nighttime in a second. But first”—she turned to Ellis—“don’t you have a job? I’ve seen you in uniform in my shop. Did you take time off from the Coast Guard?”
“I’m separating from the service. Other than going in for paperwork and a few training sessions for my successor, I’m done. I had nearly a month of leave saved, so I decided to split it and use some so I could take it easy at the end. The rest will get paid out in my final paycheck.”
“Makes sense.” She beheaded another carrot, then slid both across the granite counter toward me. “Peel those, would you?”
I opened a drawer and took out the peeler, then picked up the first carrot.
“What would you like me to do?” Ellis asked.
“Scram.” Mina smiled, softening her words. “No offense, but I came to interrogate Claire.”
Ellis chuckled and held up his hands, backing up. “No offense taken. Claire, I wish you luck.”
I sent him a wry grin. “Gee, thanks.”
“Holler if you want more help. I’ll be over there.” He pointed toward the living room, then walked away.
Mina cast a couple of quick looks his way as she peeled an onion. “He’s just as cute as his brother.”
“And very single,” I hinted.
She let out an inelegant snort. “I do not need a boyfriend at this time. I barely have time for my cat.”
“I’m just saying. Ellis is single.”
Mina waved her knife, then sliced into the onion. “Forget him. Tell me about his brother. The one here at night .” She waggled her eyebrows.
My cheeks heated. “There’s not much to say. He’s been sleeping here.”
She hummed. “In your bed, by the looks of it.” She gestured to my face.
The blush staining my skin deepened. I cleared my throat. “Yes.”
“Ha!” She grinned. “Good. I’m guessing he’s no slouch, either.”
“No.” The rest of my body heated, remembering how I woke up this morning. He’d slipped into bed sometime during the night and I hadn’t realized it. Near the time my alarm was set to go off, what I thought was a delicious dream had turned out to be oh so very real. I’d awakened to his wandering hands driving me to the brink of heaven.
“I’m glad. You deserve a man who makes you happy. It’s been a long time since you dated anyone seriously. Or at all.”
“I could say the same about you.” I picked up the second carrot.
“True. It’ll happen eventually. I’m not worried.” She picked up the cutting board with the sliced onion and scraped it into the stockpot. “And that is not an invitation for you to ‘make it happen’.” She aimed a pointed look at me.
I offered her an innocent smile. “But he’s so cute.”
Mina laughed. “Maybe so, but he’s not really my type.” She cast a quick look toward the living room as she picked up a batch of parsley and washed it. “Nor is he looking for a relationship.”
As much as I would love to see my best friend with Ozzie’s brother, so we could be one big, happy “family,” I knew Ellis wasn’t the type of man for her. Mina preferred quieter, more introverted men. Someone more like Ozzie, actually. Despite her sunny disposition, Mina was an introvert at heart.
And I agreed with her that Ellis wasn’t in the market for a commitment. I had a feeling he’d been badly burned once and hadn’t yet fully healed.
“Fine. I’ll behave.”
“You will, or there will be no stew for you.” To emphasize her point, she chopped the ends off the parsley stems. “So, tell me more about things with you and the handsome detective. And I don’t mean the bedroom stuff.” She waved her knife. “I mean the relationship stuff. Are you guys seriously serious?”
I let out a loud sigh as I took another butcher knife from the block and slid out a cutting board from the small stack behind it. “I think so. But we haven’t really talked about it too much. It’s been a whirlwind of feelings this past week. All I know is, I really like him. Pebbles adores him. Actually, that’s mutual. He didn’t seem to at first. I think it was more of that caution cops and postmen get around dogs, you know? Where they’re not sure if the animal’s bite is as big as its bark?”
Mina nodded.
“But after just a couple of meetings, he was carrying her around like a stuffed animal. She’s his best buddy now.” My face contorted with false anger. “Sometimes even more than me.” I smiled.
“Check his pockets for treats.”
A laugh bubbled free. “For sure.” Sobering some, I thought about her question and the emotions that had been tumbling around in my brain and my heart for the last several days. “I know it’s early, but he could be the one.” The words felt strange to say, but also right. Ozzie had made an impression. He wasn’t the gruff, standoffish man I first met who’d told me to keep my dog on a leash. Instead, I’d discovered he had a kind heart and just wanted to make the world a better place.
I looked down, concentrating on chopping the carrots. “You know, I wasn’t looking for love, either.” I lifted my head. “But if it’s meant to find you, it will.”
Mina shoved a bag of potatoes toward me. “Well, even if that’s the case, it needs to wait until after I open the café portion of my business. I don’t have time for love.”