Chapter 12
Twelve
HEIDI
It had been almost a week of constant, self-inflicted torture.
Every morning, Heidi woke at the crack of dawn, checked on Mimi, and then went to work.
She scrubbed the entire café from top to bottom, side to side, and then began painting, staining, and sanding – which was stupid because sanding the old rough spots on the furniture meant that she had to wash everything again.
There was the menu to create, setting up a bank account, the till, and trying to figure out how to advertise the café.
She wasn’t a professional restaurateur, but even she knew you didn’t fling open the front door and hope to sell out on the first day.
“I wish,” she muttered, pushing her hair out of her face for the fifteenth time today as she finished touching up the paint on the bottom of the decorative crown molding that ran along the baseboards.
A few moments later, the chime on the front door tinkled lightly, indicating someone had walked in.
“We’re not open yet…” she hollered automatically and then paused, looking over her shoulder only to lock eyes with Jack. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, hello to you too…” he chuckled and then held up a bag – a McDonald’s bag – and shook it in a teasing manner. Her lips parted as she stared at him in shock.
“Did you bring me lunch?”
“I could try to eat both Big Macs, but I don’t think that…”
Heidi was already on her feet, reaching for the bag when he held it aloft immediately, playing keep-away.
“Let’s try this again,” he said playfully in a teasing manner, whispering to her. “It’s nice to see you,” he prompted.
“Hello – did you bring me lunch?”
“I did,” he smiled and then lowered his arm. “I thought I’d come by, see how things were going, and check on my favorite girl…”
“I thought that was Mimi,” she shot back, taking the bag from him, and he removed a few chairs from on top of a nearby table so they could sit down.
“Are you fishing for compliments?”
“Nope,” she replied curtly, shoving a French fry in her mouth. “So good. Where’s the nearest McDonald’s?”
“They opened one a few miles up the road in Yonder last year,” he began, handing her a burger as he looped a leg over the chair and then sat down beside her. “I’ve got about forty minutes for my lunch break and…”
“You’re good,” she interrupted, opening the wrapper. “I can shove this down in five minutes flat. I’m freakin’ starving and…”
“Heidi,” he stopped her, putting a hand over hers.
It was enough to cause her to look up into his eyes and hesitate.
Those hazel eyes were so warm, so full of kindness and emotion, that she swallowed audibly…
and his smile widened. “I thought we could spend my lunch break together. While it’s not exactly romantic, I do have a surprise for you. ”
“Besides the burger?”
“Yes.”
“Can I have my burger – because I don’t want to bite one of your fingers off and I’m that hungry,” she said bluntly, feeling a little nervous and unsure of what this was between them.
He was so sweet, so polite, and thoughtful to do something like this, but after a week of not much communication or talking between them, she thought he’d changed his mind about dating.
Except he leaned forward, his eyes molten.
“You can nibble on me anytime you feel like it,” he murmured, his lip curling slightly on one side. “But eat your burger while it’s hot, and then the surprise.”
“So you’re going to flirt with me – and then make me wait for whatever surprise you’ve dreamed up?
” she asked skeptically, taking a bite of her burger and nearly moaning aloud at the taste.
When was the last time she’d had McDonald’s before arriving here?
Two weeks ago – longer? It wasn’t her normal go-to, so this felt like a treat.
“Foreplay,” he replied and took a bite of his own burger, watching her as she nearly choked.
“You’re ridiculous,” she strangled out despite her full mouth as he made a laughing sound halfway between a snort and a choking cough. He covered his mouth with his hand while chewing and spoke despite his full mouth.
“I’m utterly charming, and you love it.”
“You’re a turd,” she replied, rolling her eyes, and took another bite as he swallowed his own, smile widening – and for a moment, she wished he had something green in his teeth or anything to make him remotely unappealing.
Instead, he was even more handsome, charming, and affectionate as he winked at her before stealing a fry.
“Tsk, Tsk… we’ve really got to work on that pillow talk, Heidi.”
“Would you just hush and eat?” she ordered, but the anger wasn’t there in the slightest. He was playful, outgoing, and thought enough to bring her a hot meal while she was working – and maybe the way to a woman’s heart was through her stomach.
Picking up her burger again, she moved to take another bite and met his eyes once more.
Neither said a word, but that look seemed to say so much.
Jack took another bite of his burger, sat there chewing pensively, and then spoke… mouth full, words muffled again.
“This is gonna be really nice.”
“You shouldn’t talk with your mouth full.”
“I know,” he shrugged and then glanced at his watch. “I’m in a hurry – and I want to talk.”
“You could choke.”
“You could give me CPR.”
“Not certified,” she tossed sweetly, giving him a smile bordering on a grimace… causing him to throw back his head as he laughed aloud.
“I don’t care. You locking lips with me sounds like the best way to die.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“Does that mean ‘sexy’?”
“No. It means ‘infuriating’.”
“Ohhh – but that means ‘sexy’, right?”
“Not in the slightest,” she chuckled, shaking her head at him as she got ready to take another bite, and paused. “Are you trying to get me to refer to you as sexy?”
“I knew you liked me…”
“I didn’t say you were ‘sexy’.”
“You should be chewing instead of spouting things you don’t mean.”
“What if I do mean them?”
“I’m sitting too close for lightning to strike,” he quipped, picking up four french fries at once. “And you’re lucky… but not that lucky.”
Heidi paused, hesitating, and looked at him.
Sure enough, mock innocence was plastered all over his tanned face, and she tried not to admire how his dark hair had a slight curl in places that made her itch to trace them.
Yeah, he was sexy all right, but it would be galling to admit such a thing aloud.
The man’s ego had to be as big as the state – there was no reason to make it any larger.
“What did you mean by that comment?”
“Oh, you know…” he tossed loftily and reached for another handful of fries to silence himself – and she yanked them away, scattering a few on the polished wooden floor.
“No – I don’t know, so why don’t you tell me.”
“It’s a secret.”
“No one is here to hear you.”
“I don’t know…” he dragged out, his eyes dancing.
“I do,” she shot back through gritted teeth – and saw his whole demeanor change. His eyes closed, his jaw clenched, and he sat there as if someone had just personally offended him. “Helloooo?”
“Someday,” he began in a low, terse, emotional voice. “Someday you’re gonna say those words to me again in a whole different context. I’m a patient man, but I think I just discovered my limit.”
“Because I said ‘I do’… oh ho! Wait a second, buster – hold up – I am not saying that kind of ‘I do’ to anyone until I’m good and ready.
I was talking about your supposed secret that you are holding out on me,” she sputtered in a rush, feeling her cheeks heat at the immediate thought of them holding hands before a pastor or a justice of the peace.
Marriage felt like a pipe dream. It was something other people got to have – not her.
When she pushed and pushed, finally finding someone to agree to marrying her…
it was the wrong guy – in so many, many ways.
My Own Personal Nightmare, Part Deux… no thank you, she thought painfully as Jack’s fingers brushed hers, lacing their hands together. They sat there, hands clasped, and his eyes were on them like it was some sort of invisible tether between them… and she understood.
Her own eyes were marveling at the differences between them, something so innocent yet startling.
She had always thought he was thin, kind of on the scrawny side, yet tall – except sitting here beside him, she was realizing that he wasn’t scrawny at all.
He was muscled, wiry, his forearms had ropes of sinew with an occasional lifted vein that was probably some I.V. nurse's dream… and his hands?
His hands were warm, calloused, and strong – enveloping her own.
She had never felt like a small woman around Joe.
Her ex used to make cracks about her needing to ‘tone up’ or ‘wear things that fit her a little better’, but Jack never said any of that.
No, Jack teased her, he baited her, he… he cared for her like she was important, she realized with that simple touch.
She kept comparing him to Joe in her mind, but that was a horrible comparison – and so unfair to Jack. He deserved so much better… and she?
Heidi swallowed and looked up at him, meeting his eyes that were now focused solely on her.
Oh mercy, she thought brokenly, drawing in a breath. I deserve someone like him…
“I am so proud of you taking this on,” he said hoarsely, staring at her, his eyes searching and full of emotion. “Someday you’re going to believe in yourself and see that wonderful woman that I see before me…”
Heidi’s eyes instantly blurred at his tender words and the chords they struck within her, like he was playing a personal tune that only she knew or recognized. He was saying all the things that she needed to hear, things she craved and had pushed back for so long.