Chapter 3
Chapter three
Cam
October in Blue Lake brought changes to the weather and trees I hadn’t expected. In my years in California, I’d grown to expect nothing resembling the falls and winters of New England. The Bay Area had a coastal climate, which was lovely, but lacked the distinct seasons.
Blue Lake was more inland, and the air grew crisper with the scent of leaves changing in the air. I was told it rarely ever snowed, but I still appreciated the autumn.
Despite Eddy’s protests, I got him to let me put pumpkin spice items on the menu. I won the argument by pointing out that pumpkin loaf and cinnamon rolls would pair well with the drinks.
When the bell rang over the door, I whipped my head up in a Pavlovian response. Every morning, around eight, Rowen showed up. My body reacted predictably, a mix of turned on and excited like I really was a dog, waiting for scraps of his presence.
It wasn’t Rowen, and I had to keep myself from pouting when I saw it was Pam. The woman wasn’t horrible, a nosey neighbor from just up Wolf Creek Road, but she wasn’t Red.
“Hello, Pam. What can I get you today?” I greeted her with my best customer service voice and listened to her complain about the weather and people driving too fast before ordering her usual breakfast tea with honey and a lemon loaf on the side.
She paid with exact change, leaving no tip. “Coming right up!”
Busying myself with her order wasn’t difficult, pouring heated water and plating the pastry, so I had plenty of attention to spare when the bell rang again.
The familiar redhead with glasses and tattoos walked in and waited far away from Pam.
I had seen her accost Fowler about how noisy his motorcycle was—despite him owning a motorcycle shop, so clearly he wasn’t planning on getting rid of the bike—so I understood the man’s reluctance to engage her.
His dad co-owned the shop, and I’d seen Red join them on his own ride.
“Order’s ready, Pam,” I called out to the white-haired woman before moving to take my spot at the register. No tip meant I wasn’t giving her any more of my time. Yep, that was the reason.
Red gave me a half smile and I felt my body light up when he spoke in his deep, gravely voice, “Hi, Cam.”
“Hi Rowen,” I replied, using his first name instead of the nickname. It was so much more, him. Strong yet flowing. He fidgeted with a button on his shirt and looked up at the menu I’d recently updated. “You want your usual or are you feeling adventurous?”
“Hmm,” he grunted and I saw his lips twitch. Getting reactions out of Red was one of my favorite pastimes. “I’ll get a salted caramel mocha with no whip this time, and I’ll try a pumpkin loaf.”
“Got it,” I grinned and tapped his selections into the point of sale system so he could pay while I fixed his drink. Eddy had wanted an oldschool cash register, but I was glad we got the advanced version. He thanked me when it came time to do inventory and orders.
“How is business going?” Red asked, surprising me.
“Business is perking right up,” I giggled at my pun and gave Rowen a wink over the display case. “How about yours? You fix boats, right?”
“Uh, yeah. I can’t complain.” Rowen rubbed the back of his neck where a blush was rising. I thought he was done, but then he added more. “It’s slower for lake tours from October to April, but busier with fixing boats to be stored.”
“How interesting! Sounds like a good model to do both so you don’t have too much of an off-season,” I commented, drawing a boat in his mocha with the cream. Setting his cup on the counter, I sprinkled salt from up high like the salt bae guy. “Your masterpiece is ready!”
Rowen stared at me for a couple seconds with his mouth parted before letting out a bark of laughter. “You’re amazing,” he whispered, and I wondered if I was supposed to hear him. When I saw Rowen was looking at the drink and not me, I realized he was referring to my skills.
Placing his food on a plate and his drink in a mug instead of to-go containers was my hint for him to stay longer. Rowen didn’t look confused by this choice, but he didn’t move to sit at a table. There were only a few, and aloof them would be near Pam. Or maybe he wanted to stay near me?
One could dream, right?
Wiping the counter off for something to do, I gave him a minute of nibbling his food and then decided to take matters into my own hands.
“I heard the Firehouse is actually a pizza place, but I haven’t gone to dinner there yet.”
“Yeah, the Firehouse has good pizza,” Rowen confirmed what I already knew. Did the man who showed people around a lake really not see I was fishing? “I usually get it to go.”
“Oh.” Apparently he was that oblivious. Still, I enjoyed talking to him. “Why is it called the Firehouse? Doesn’t that get confused with the actual firehouse?”
“No, the firemen are at the Lodge.”
His answer only confused me more. “Why do they call it the lodge?”
“I guess the firemen went to the pizza place so much, they renamed it, but that was before I moved to Blue Lake,” Rowen explained around sips of his mocha. “Then, the firehouse burned down and they needed a new location. The Elks Lodge was sitting empty, so…”
“So the firehouse is the Lodge, and the pizza place is the Firehouse,” I finished for him and I noticed he was matching my grin. There was hope for him yet. “But the old firehouse really burned down?”
“A few years ago, yeah. They were saving the school and houses.”
“That was brave of them.”
“My friend Rel is a fireman. He was there,” Rowen added with a shrug, stuffing the last of his pastry into his mouth.
Wanting to change the subject, I decided to lay it all out there. “Maybe you could take me to the Firehouse sometime.”
“To meet Rel?” Rowen asked, his forehead scrunching adorably. “I’m pretty sure you’ve met him when he gets coffee. He works long shifts and has a slight caffeine addiction. But he’s a nice guy.”
Well, shit. Did Rowen think I wanted a date with his brave firefighter buddy? I had met Rel, who was a very handsome and charming man, but he wasn’t Rowen.
“No, I meant the pizza place,” I explained patiently. “You could take me when you have an evening free.”
“You don’t need to wait for me. I mostly eat at home and only have pizza there when my pack—family—drags me out.”
“Right,” I sighed and took the empty plate from in front of Rowen. This man was as oblivious as a brick wall. I still wanted him.
“I’ve got to get back to the engine I didn’t finish yesterday,” Rowen told me before gulping down the rest of his drink. “Thanks, Cam.”
The bell rang as Rowen hustled out and I was startled when a wrinkled hand patted mine. “That boy wouldn’t know someone was asking him out if they spelled it out for him in icing on a cake.”
“I think you’re right,” I returned Pam’s pitying smile with an eyeroll. I hated that she was a witness to Rowen’s embarrassment. Knowing her it would be all around town by dinnertime. I had a strong urge to defend him, in some small way. “Oh well, he still tips well.”
Instead of storming off, Pam smirked, pulling a five from her purse and tucking it into my hand. “Never settle for just the tip.”
With a saucy wink, Pam was out of the door before I started laughing. The old woman was more than complaints and gossip, and I was here for it.