Chapter 8
Alex
Alex found himself sitting at that same dreaded table where his grandfather had looked him straight in the eyes and left him hanging out to dry.
The thing was, it wasn't dreaded at all.
In hindsight, everything had worked out for the best. And truly, it was a lovely little table.
He glanced around at the nook while he was alone in there.
There were toys, and he smiled, thinking about her sister getting better.
"Hey, Alex, push that wall back!"
Alex heard Josie's sister's voice just as he was thinking about her. He stood up and took a couple of steps until he could peer around the partial wall. She was looking that way, and she smiled at him. She reached up and adjusted the volume on the stereo, and the room got quieter.
"That wall right there," she said, beaming and nodding at him.
"Just put your hand on it and push it all the way back.
I'll hang out with you two while you eat.
I only had it closed so Luna could be in her own little world back there.
" Alex had been looking forward to hanging out with Josie, but her sister didn't look like she was going to easily forget about the wall.
She pointed and motioned to it. "Just push it back," she said again. "It'll fold back like an accordion."
The other cook came into their area with plates as Alex pushed the wall back.
"The ones he just brought in are for you and Josie," Audrey said to Alex. "I'll come set them on your table just as soon as I'm finished with these others."
Alex figured the best thing for him to do was to get out of the way, and he sat down as soon as he had pushed the wall back.
Within a minute, Audrey was there next to him, setting two plates of food on the table. He thought she would rush off, back to her station. But she didn't. She leaned against the empty chair where Josie and Luna had been sitting. "I'm Audrey. Did Josie tell you my name? I can't remember."
"Yes, and I'm Alex."
"Did you say something about a movie?"
"I did. I'm, we're making a film project here in Montana, a miniseries thing."
"Down in Darby?"
Alex tilted his head at Audrey, wearing a surprised expression. "Yes, actually. We're not filming in Darby right this second, but we are doing some scenes there. Have you been to Darby?"
She shrugged and smiled. "I've been an extra in a movie that was filmed down there.
It was a made-for-TV thing. I still have that dress I wore.
" She turned and motioned to her own ponytail, at the huge strip of bright pink hair that was covering the underside.
"I didn't have this back then. But even now, it can all be covered up with the way I style my hair.
If you need extras for your thing, I'm down for driving to Darby. I can get a sitter for Luna whenever."
"Okay, that sounds good. I'll have to let you know when we start filming over there."
Their eyes met. She looked similar to her sister. More mischievous. She grinned flirtatiously at him. "That's cool, I'm excited!" she said. She braced herself against the sliding wall and groaned a little as she pushed it back as far as it would go.
"Whoa," Josie said when she came back into the room and noticed the change.
"Yeah, I just had this closed for Luna. I served your food, and I was talking to Alex about his movie.
I still have those clothes from that Hallmark thing I did, Baxter Canyon.
Remember that? I was telling him I've been an extra before.
" Audrey's back was turned to them as she spoke.
She paused and glanced over her shoulder at Alex.
"We can go to Goodwill and get stuff for my sister, too.
Is it the wild west, pioneer days, or what? "
"Yeah, early nineteen hundreds," Alex agreed.
Audrey turned to the stove again, and Josie widened her eyes a little at Alex.
She was an innocent, sweet, pure, classic version of her sister, and there was no question about which woman he was attracted to.
Josie didn't stop to be annoyed with her sister.
She just smiled absentmindedly as she cut into her open-faced sandwich with the side of her fork.
"This looks amazing, huh?" she said, glancing at him. "I haven't eaten one of these since I left Montana."
"Really?" her sister said, chiming in.
He smiled at her and spoke quietly. "You were so good at making them. I thought you'd open a restaurant in Colorado."
"No. I wait tables on the weekend—Friday night and Saturday lunch. Mom watches Luna. I thought about a booth at a market with those protein cups, but no. I was working on finishing my degree, so the server job was enough."
"Did you finish school?" he asked.
"Yes, I did."
"You got your master's?"
"Yes," she said, speaking quietly.
He smiled. "Congratulations."
"Thank you. Now to get a grown-up job for the first time in my life."
"What does that even mean, right?" he said with a smile.
"I do have an interview set up for next week."
Alex asked her what sort of job she was looking for, and she gave a vague answer about it being at a school that was in a church. She seemed antsy when she spoke about it, and he thought she might have said more about it if her sister wasn't right there.
They sat together and ate, sharing casual conversation.
Her sister would chime in every now and then, and both of them were aware they were being overheard.
Alex wanted to mention the dance scene again, but he didn't. It would take place the following day, and the longer he sat across from Josie, the more he wanted her to be there.
It happened to be a fun, beautiful scene, and he wanted her to come to the ranch and experience it.
He found himself wanting to impress this woman—to stay next to her.
Alex didn't believe in coincidence. She had come up in his thoughts since the first time they met, and seeing her in that grocery store had him convinced it all meant something.
She had been on his mind all night last night, and there she was, right in front of him again, being sweet and looking like a dream.
She ate the whole plate of food, and Alex remembered that night when she crushed his burger and eggrolls.
She was adorable, and it was so unforced.
She tossed her fork onto the empty plate and sat back in her chair.
"That was amazing, Audrey, thank you. Hey thanks, Cal, that was great, I'm stuffed." Both chefs were nearby, and she spoke to both of them before she took a deep breath and looked at Alex with a hand on her stomach. "I'm stuffed."
He smiled at her. "Me too. Thank you, guys," he added, talking to the others in the room.
"Hey, I'm glad you sat at Luna's table," Audrey said.
Josie stood up, and Alex did the same.
"Are you leaving?" Audrey said, looking at Josie.
"Yeah, I was going to head over to the—"
"How long are you going to be here filming?" Audrey asked, cutting her off and looking at Alex.
"Eight more weeks, roughly," he said. "I'm trying to have it wrapped in July."
"Oh, my goodness, that's so exciting. I really would love to come be an extra. I have the clothes and everything. And I like acting." She looked at Josie. "Can you please make sure he has my phone number so he can call me about it?"
Josie nodded.
"Thank you, sis, it was great meeting you, Alex," her sister said, smiling and being charming with her chef apron and spoon.
"It was nice meeting you, too. The breakfast was amazing, thank you."
Alex was tempted to say that it was almost as good as her sister's, but he knew she had been through a lot, so he didn't. They told Audrey goodbye and headed through the restaurant. Josie stopped to talk to Carly and another guy in the front, and Alex told her he would wait for her outside.
Carly made a face at Josie when Alex said that. It was a face that asked if there was something going on between the two of them. Everyone blew past it as he walked away, but Alex had noticed it, and he liked it. He wanted people to notice them together.
He opened the door and walked outside. It was a gorgeous morning, and he breathed a deep breath, filling his lungs with air. In less than a minute, she came out. She had no idea how adorable she was.
"I'm going to walk to the waterfront if you want to join me," Alex said, making that up on the spot.
She nodded and started walking beside him, which gave him way too much pleasure.
"I don't want you to pay for breakfast," he said as they walked. "I thought you might be working it out with the cashier, and I didn't want to interrupt, but I'll pay you back for that."
She looked at him with a smile and shook her head. "I, uh, I really loved taking care of my niece and being able to help my sister out for the last year… so I don't want to make it seem like my sister owes me anything. But no, breakfast is on the house. My sister took care of that. It's all good."
"Do you feel good about where Luna went?"
"Oh, yeah, Maddie's great, and Luna was missing her little friends. She was excited when I took her out there. We might run into them on the waterfront. Maddie mentioned taking them to the carousel because that was Luna's favorite. I like it too, actually."
"I've seen that thing come up, but I've never gone to it."
"It's fun," she said. "It goes pretty fast."
"Do you want to go ride it?" he asked her.
"Na," she said. But then she looked at him and tilted her head. "Do you?"
He shrugged. "I have another hour before I need to go back."
She smiled at him like she thought that meant he wanted to ride it.
The truth was that he didn't care what they did. He just felt good being next to her, regardless of where they were.
"We can head that way and see how we feel," she said. He pointed out a mural that was painted on the side of a building, and she nodded. "That's one of my favorites," she said. They studied it as they walked by.
"Where's your job interview?" he asked.
"Uh…" she trailed off and let out a defeated sigh. "It's at my church."
"Don't sound so excited."
"No, I, I really want it. There's a small school attached to our church. It's K through 8, which is what I went to school for—educating children through eighth grade. I pretty much set myself up for this job with my last six years in college, but now I’m…"
"What?"
"It's complicated."
"How?" he asked.
"Because I’ve gone on three dates with this guy, Marcus, who works there—basically runs it.
We've known each other for years, but I never…
anyway… I had gained some confidence when I came back from Montana, so I guess I was acting differently.
I had Luna and everything, so no one even knows we're talking, but we've been out a few times. "
"So, he works there, and he's getting you the dream job?" Alex asked, feeling annoyed.
"No, the opposite sort of. He does work there. His dad is the main pastor, and he's a junior pastor. I'm the number one candidate for the job, but he was saying that giving me this job might be a… conflict of interest."
"Yeah," Alex said, feeling otherwise speechless.
He was quiet after that because he was disappointed that she was seeing someone. What did he expect, that he would run into her at a grocery store and then they would ride off into the sunset? Yes, he did, actually. But there was someone else.
"I've been going to that church for eight years. I know everyone there. It's like my family." She took a deep breath. "So, the interview should go well. But I'm not sure about the job. He may say it's better to… keep it professional."
"Why don't you just quit going out with that guy if you want to start working there? That seems like the most logical choice."
Josie seemed to understand that he was saying that to serve his best interest, and she grinned at him. That grin was completely irresistible, and he wanted to stop walking, take her into his arms, and kiss her. He had done it before.
"Is he a good kisser?" He asked when he had the thought. He said it out loud even though he knew he shouldn't have. He wanted to know the answer, though, so he waited.