Chapter 5
Chapter Five
LEVI
“Are we ready to head back to the B&B for an afternoon nap?” I asked the group of grannies who’d signed up for a town tour with me.
I’d never been so happy when they agreed and shuffled back into my car. These ladies might be nearing eighty, but I couldn’t keep up, especially after the night I had.
I still felt like shit even after heading home for a shower hot enough to burn last night’s funky alcohol sweat from my skin. Even some food and painkillers hadn’t helped with my headache, though it didn’t hurt as much as this morning.
Thank goodness for small miracles.
On the drive back, the four of them chatted animatedly about all the cute things our little town had to offer.
First, I took them to the historic area right at the edge of town. It was said to be the place where our town’s founders first met and fell in love. A large statue of our signature doves kissing stood tall there, and it was a popular spot for tourists to take pictures.
The surrounding land was absolutely breathtaking, especially this time of the year when the leaves were starting to turn the beautiful yellows, reds, and everything in between. They had put my photography skills to the test as I snapped probably hundreds of pictures of the four of them.
After that, we walked around town for a few hours, visiting all the specialty stores and stalls set up on the main square. They shopped until my trunk was stuffed full of their purchases. I’d never seen Old Man Red so happy as these ladies practically cleared him out of his overpriced tourist trinkets.
It was a good thing they agreed to head back when they had, considering I wouldn’t have had any space left if they kept shopping. How they were going to take all their purchases with them when they checked out of the B&B was beyond me.
They were a fun bunch, chatting and laughing during our entire tour. The four of them had been longtime friends and decided to travel the states together now that they’d retired. Wintertown was their third stop so far, with their first being New York.
That reminded me our new chef was supposedly from New York too. My dads told me he’d arrived last night, but I hadn’t met him yet. He was supposed to stay at my place since we’d need every room at the B&B soon.
Was I worried about a stranger living with me?
Not really. Growing up in a small town like ours, there was no such thing as a stranger. Plus, I wasn’t a small dude.
Working at the B&B had kept me in shape, so if this guy had any strange ideas, I wasn’t an easy target.
It also helped that we background-checked the hell out of him, so no, I wasn’t really worried about him in my space.
I usually loved the company, and maybe that was a side-effect of growing up at Fated Encounters. Our B&B wasn’t large, and with ten guest rooms, you didn’t really get a whole lot of alone time .
That was probably one of the reasons why I liked being surrounded by people so much. Hell, I would have stayed living with my parents at the B&B if that hadn’t cramped my dating life.
And that led me to the reason why I wasn’t as excited about this arrangement as I usually would have been. This was now, what, the third, fourth time I’d been dumped? And that was only counting this year!
Sure, I wasn’t in love with every single one of them, but I’d been committed to seeing where the relationship would take us. Apparently, I wasn’t even worth the chance since they all broke it off using the same excuses. It was time for them to settle down with someone…who wasn’t me.
What a way to bruise a guy’s ego.
So I couldn’t really be blamed if I wanted some time alone to sulk at my house and lick my wounds, could I?
After I parked in the B&B’s parking lot, the ladies scurried off to the dining room for a quick lunch before they settled down for a nap. Meanwhile, I ran the first batch of shopping bags to their rooms, with their permission, of course.
“Holy moly.” My dad whistled when he saw the sheer number of bags that were hanging off my arms.
“There’s more in the car if you wanna help,” I said and shuffled up the stairs to the guest’s room. Dad came up not long after with the last load of shopping bags.
“Wow, those ladies sure can shop,” he commented.
“Yep. Imagine being their pack mule for the day too,” I said, rubbing my poor, sore arms. They weren’t made to carry around shopping bags all day.
Dad laughed, then clapped me on the shoulder. He studied my face as if trying to find something. “You okay?”
I shifted on my feet. I’d stopped telling my parents about my dates years ago when I’d had my heart broken for the first time.
My dads weren’t a huge fan of the fact that I liked men much older than I was and had been even more pissed when they learned most of them were just playing around with me. And that was a conversation I never wanted to have with them again, so I stopped talking about my dating life.
“Yeah, just had one too many beers with Jim and Austin last night,” I replied, hoping that was answer enough for him to drop it.
He watched me for another few seconds before squeezing my shoulder again. “Well, let me know if there’s anything you want to talk about. Your pops is worried about you.”
“I’ll check in with Pops later. Thanks, Dad,” I said, which only made him frown. “Okay, Bàba ,” I corrected. Dad beamed.
A few years ago, he’d decided he was tired of the boring title of Dad . And since his husband got the title of Pops , he insisted on being called Bàba , which meant dad in Mandarin. But after years of calling him Dad , I’d sometimes forget to use the new title. He didn’t mind when I referred to him as Dad, he just wanted me to call him Bàba.
Mandarin was Pops’ mother language, and he’d tried to teach me it growing up, but I never really got the hang of it. I knew some vocabulary and a few very important phrases like I’m hungry and I want ice cream , but I couldn’t hold up my end of a conversation.
“All right, you should head down and get some lunch first. Your pops and I just ate, and let me tell you, our new chef is the real deal,” Dad said, rubbing his protruding belly.
As if on cue, a loud growl came from my stomach. “I can’t wait to dig in,” I replied and rubbed my own belly. I hadn’t even noticed how hungry I was until Dad mentioned it.
Dad laughed as we headed down the stairs back into the receptionist area. He returned to his seat behind the counter and fiddled with something on the table.
When I looked around, I saw it was the new camera Pops had gotten him for his birthday.
Ever since I could remember, Dad had loved taking pictures. In the upstairs living quarters, the walls were filled with photos Dad had taken throughout the years. They were mostly of our family on different occasions and outings we’d gone to, but also of the beautiful landscape that surrounded us.
Wintertown was in the middle of nowhere, and while some claimed that to be one of the negatives of our small town, I thought the opposite.
The town was surrounded by vast fields, perfect for picnics in the spring, and gorgeous mountains, where I did all my snowboarding. The tiny slopes behind our B&B was also perfect for offering snow tubing to our guests in the winter.
Sure, the nearest city was over an hour away, but I wouldn’t trade our quaint little town for any modern convenience.
The dining room was empty save for the four besties sitting at a table by the window. They were almost done with their meal and had consumed more than a couple glasses of wine if their flushed cheeks and loud laughter were anything to go by.
Berta, one of the more outgoing ladies in the group, waved at me when she saw me. I ignored my growling stomach and walked to their table with a smile.
Customers were king.
“Dear, we were just talking about you,” Berta said. “We were just saying how Etta’s grandson would be a fine match with you.”
“Yeah! Etta, show him a picture,” Anita added, handing Etta her phone.
“You know she can barely use that thing when she’s sober. It’ll be faster if I do it,” Marta said, snatching the phone from her friend. Etta was all smiles, looking a little out of it as she watched this all happen.
Yes, all four ladies’ names ended with -ta. I was shocked when they first introduced themselves, and apparently, that was a normal reaction since it had the four besties giggling. I joked if their criteria for joining their group was to have a -ta name, but they claimed their similar names were just a coincidence.
“I…” I started, but before I could get another word in, Marta was shoving the phone into my face with a huge grin.
The guy staring back at me on the screen was handsome, sure, but he couldn’t have been a few years older than me. Besides, I wasn’t interested in doing long distance or moving away from town.
“Isn’t he just a handsome boy? You two would make a fine couple,” Berta stated and took another sip of her wine. “Etta, go ahead and give him your grandson’s number.”
Etta nodded but didn’t make a move.
“Here, I’ll do it,” Marta said and fiddled on the phone before pointing the screen to me again.
I was having whiplash with how fast the conversation was going. Sure, I’d told them about my recent breakup—or it was more like they practically forced out my entire life’s story—but I hadn’t expected them to try to set me up with someone.
“While he is handsome, I’ll have to decline,” I said with both hands up, palms facing them like that would make them calm down a bit.
“Don’t think too much about it, sonny! Just take the number and do a little flirting. It doesn’t hurt!” Berta wiggled her eyebrows, then added, “Back in my day?—”
“Oh, don’t even start, or else we’ll be here all night,” Anita interrupted, then turned to me with a hand up as if she was telling me a secret. “Marta here is very well known in our town, if you get what I mean.”
“Hear, hear!” Marta seemed proud of the fact and lifted her glass for another drink.
Just as I hoped would happen, they’d moved on with the conversation, and Marta turned back to me. She placed her wineglass on the table and fixed her determined eyes on me.
“Take this from someone who’s been around the block a time or two. Don’t ever get hung up over a man. They’re like shoes. Use them until they get worn out, then in the trash they go,” she said with a wink, which had the other ladies cackling.
I smiled too. I loved how confident these women were. Did that confidence grow with age? I sure hoped so.
“Sounds like we’re having a party over here. Good thing I brought the desserts,” a voice sounded from behind me. The group of women cheered as a man served the dessert to them.
It was some type of ice cream with berries and sauce on top and looked absolutely mouthwatering. I wasn’t surprised when the four women immediately picked up their spoons and started digging in, completely forgetting about me.
I breathed a sigh of relief now that I could make my escape from their matchmaking. I turned around to thank my savior but froze when I saw who it was.
The world was playing around with coincidences today.