Chapter 16 #2
“Where’s your ring?” It’s the same voice that’s been irritating me for the last six minutes or so, but it lacks some of the heaped-on sweetness it had before.
Thank fuck for that because I was getting a tooth ache. “What?” I give her a grimace as I unlock my truck.
She crosses her arms but otherwise softens her tone as she approaches. “You said you were married, but I don’t see a ring.”
I’m pretty close to losing my shit now. Why is my marital status and whether or not I wear a wedding band so important to this woman? “We just had the wedding, and it didn’t fit,” I rattle off my cuff. “It’s being resized.”
“Ooh! You know, I have a ring that I need sized down,” she exclaims just a little too excitedly. “Where did you take yours?”
“A buddy of mine is doing it for me as a favor.” I yank open my driver-side door. “He doesn’t take customers anymore. Sorry.”
Blondie narrows her eyes at me with suspicion before seeming to remember to slap her smile back in place. “You’re not really married, are you?” The question slides out from between her lips with more fake sweetness than a Diet Coke.
I’m about to blow off the whole conversation altogether and haul myself up into the truck when the bell jingles again and Darcie comes hustling out of the diner, carrying a small to-go box.
“Wolf!” she calls out with a wave.
Very unlike her, so she’s got my attention. Darcie is one of the few people in this town I like being around because she doesn’t push me to socialize or make meaningless small talk.
“Your wife just called, asking for one of our cinnamon rolls,” she finishes as she reaches me.
I can’t help but notice how loud and clear she emphasized the word wife and how that word seems to make the blood in my veins illuminate. I reach my hand out to receive the take-out box and search her face for some kind of hidden message.
She gives a friendly smile, but her eyes seem to pin with me a knowing stare. “Would you take it to her?”
Molly requesting a cinnamon roll seems odd to me after all the baking she did this week, but the look in Darcie’s eyes tells me not to question it. “You bet.” I nod
Darcie promptly turns to whoever the hell my new stalker is. “Ma’am, your spinach salad is up.” She gives her an entirely different look behind her pleasant service with a smile before turning back toward the diner with confident steps.
Blondie is now staring at the dirt and twisting the corner of her mouth. “Thanks,” she mutters before turning and trailing reluctantly behind her.
Did Darcie just bail me out? She knows I married Molly over the weekend after the whole surprise reception, but she doesn’t know the whole story behind it. She just clearly didn’t like whatever this new woman was playing at any more than I did.
I’m antisocial, not stupid. I know the difference between acting interested and digging like a dog with a bone. And after Riley had the nerve to show up at the reception, I can’t help but speculate that Blondie’s behavior is because he’s sniffing around in the shadows somewhere.
Grabbing the to-go box off the passenger seat, I slam my truck door and let myself into the veterinary clinic.
Behind the desk sits a stout woman with her black hair up in a bun wearing bright neon scrubs with loud flowers all over them.
“Hi!” She smiles and immediately looks to the floor near my boots.
Her smile remains in place but her wide eyes cloud over with a look of confusion.
“Can I help you?” She must be wondering where my pet is.
“Uh yeah, I’m just here to talk to Molly real quick.”
She tilts her head along with her curious smirk. “Who should I say is here?”
“I’m…” Do I say husband? It feels so awkward and strange. I’ve been married for hardly five minutes, and it didn’t exactly happen the old-fashioned way. And what if Molly’s coworkers don’t know?
“I’m Wolf,” I end up telling her without even a trace of smoothness—seems my acting skills haven’t improved since the reception.
The receptionist gives a slow nod then swivels her chair to the side before rising to head down the hall. When she returns, her smile is still curious but a bit brighter. “She’s just finishing up some stitches. She’ll be right out.”
Nodding my thanks, I pace restlessly for several moments until Molly appears from one of the corridors, wiping her hands off with a paper towel.
“Hey.” Her eyebrows lift in surprise, and several strands of her light chocolate hair have fallen loose from her messy bun.
One hangs long enough to tickle her neck, which gives me the most unexpected urge to walk up to her and place a kiss on the smooth span of skin there, like a husband would do to a wife.
“Hey,” I say back instead as her hazel eyes bounce between my face and the box in my hand.
“What’s that?” she asks.
“So you didn’t call the diner for a cinnamon roll,” I say as an affirming statement rather than a question.
“Uh-uh.” She shakes her head, her mouth lifting in what looks like amusement. “What’s going on? What are you doing here?”
Darcie truly was helping me out back there… I’m going to have to give her one hell of a tip on Monday.
I let out a cleansing sigh then say, “Kind of a lot is going on, actually. Can you come outside and talk for a minute?”
“Yeah.” She chucks the rolled-up paper towel in the trash can by the door and follows me outside. Once we’re in the brisk morning air, she starts probing for a little info. “You seem flustered. Did someone try to talk to you today?”
As I swing the passenger side door of the truck open, I falter in my movements, and a chuckle erupts out of me.
I legitimately feel the corners of my mouth curl upward and my chest shakes with an enjoyable rumble.
It’s so unexpected, it makes me cough a little, and I thump my chest as I collect myself and gesture toward the seat. “Have a seat, smart ass.”
Molly makes a graceful little leap and tucks a leg beneath herself. She looks cute, like she belongs in the shotgun seat of my truck.
I give a quick glance around as I step in close, using the open door as a privacy curtain of sorts, and tell her what happened.
Molly shakes her head down at the gravel. “I should’ve known he wouldn’t give up that easy. Fuck!”
“Yeah,” I agree quietly and hold up the to-go box. “I think this was Darcie’s way of helping me out.” I reach into the truck to set the roll on the dash?—
“Give me that.”
I hand it off to her before I lose an appendage. “Fine.”
“So wait a minute… Does Darcie know?” Molly’s hands hover over the gooey pastry like she’s trying to think of how best to pick it up.
“I’m pretty sure she believes this is real and didn’t like seeing someone hitting on me.”
I think I hear Molly grumble good under her breath, her mouth full of cinnamon sugar. I let it go.
“Anyway, seems like we need to up our game and find us some rings too.”
Molly licks her lips and nods. “So do you think Riley is still hanging around? Where did that woman go?” She moves to take another bite of roll and then stops. “And most importantly, what else do you think he’s going to throw at us?