Chapter 6
“You don’t have to do this,” Landry said, as I tied on an apron and took an order pad from the stack near the register.
I motioned to his bandaged hand. “You’re hurt because of me. The least I can do is help you out. Besides, what the heck else am I going to do? I’m waiting for closing on the house, and the contractors are supposed to start next week on the store. There is only so much quality time with my dad I can take. Don’t even get me started on Samson.”
He grinned.
I grabbed a coffee mug for myself. “You don’t mind, do you?”
“Nope.” He winked. “Pour me one, too.”
I did and held his cup out for him. “Here, black. Just the way you like it.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
He reached over and ran his finger between the apron I wore and my side. “You look good in one of these.”
I grinned. “You should see me in my French maid outfit.”
He choked on his coffee, his eyes wide. “Tell me you’re joking.”
“Why? Don’t want to imagine me in a tiny, barely there outfit, ready and willing to serve your every need?” I expected a laugh or a smart-assed comment, not to see Landry blush. “What did you do before this?”
“Hmm?”
“Before moving to Paxton Falls and buying the diner, what did you do? You know what I did before I moved back because you already met my boss, erm, ex-boss. I’m curious about you and what you did.”
He suddenly appeared uneasy. “Guess.”
“Ooo, fun,” I said as I took a sip of my coffee. “You were a fireman.”
Landry lifted a brow. “A fireman?”
I sighed dreamily. “I think firemen have starred in more erotic dreams of mine than any other profession. I was being hopeful.”
“Jeremiah know about this hose fetish?”
I couldn’t hide my giggles. “Totally. Since he’s the fire chief, he tells his men to run when they see me coming. He’s afraid I’ll offer to swing on all their poles.”
“Like swinging on poles, do you?”
“What woman doesn’t?”
Our innuendos lightened my mood even more.
He licked his lower lip. “Damn. Now I’m going to be sorry that I wasn’t a fireman. Try again.”
Tapping my chin, I went over the top with the dramatics. “Hmm, you were a steamboat captain.”
“And you—” he clanked his cup to mine “—are the strangest woman I’ve ever met.”
“Aww, thank you.”
“Question.” He leaned closer. “How does one get from fireman to steamboat captain?”
I put my face close to his and noticed his gaze going to my lips. “How do I get from one thing to anything?”
“Good point. Any more guesses?” he asked.
“I’d say you were an eccentric billionaire, but that doesn’t really seem to be your thing. The steamboat captain fits you better.”
He stilled. “Can’t see me as a man of wealth, huh?”
“Nope, and you know what?”
“What?”
I gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “That makes you even more perfect in my eyes, Landry.”
“Wanna tell me why? Most women would love the chance to snag a rich guy.” He put his weight against the counter and drank his coffee. “I’ll admit to being surprised when you didn’t fall for your ex-boss’s attempts to get something more from you. I’m not sure a lot of women would have stayed out of his bed, considering his position and his wealth.”
“You really need to meet more women if the ones you know jump into bed with a guy for his money.”
“Evidently,” he said. “But, Mer, seriously. Tell me what makes you shy away from men with money.”
“Maybe I shy from all men, regardless of their money.”
He stared at me from over the rim of his cup. “You don’t shy away from me.”
“Nope, but that’s because it’s just playful banter between us. It’s not like you and I would ever act on it.” Unable to help it, I laughed to the point I bent forward.
Landry cleared his throat. “Something funny with the idea of sleeping with me?”
I had to take several deep breaths before I could answer. “Nope. I won’t lie. I’ve pictured you naked more than once, but there is the whole ‘you’re off women thing’ and, well, I’ve pretty much been off men for years now.”
“What?” he asked, shaking his head. “Years? Nope. Not buying it.”
“That is your prerogative.”
“I refuse to believe a woman who looks like you hasn’t dated anyone in years.”
I grinned. “A woman who looks like me?”
“Meredith, please, you have to know you’re easy on the eyes.”
Heat flared through my cheeks. “Moving off that part of the subject, I’d like to announce that I might very well be going on a date soon.”
Landry looked at me oddly. “With who and when?”
I squared my shoulders. “I went antiquing the other day and ended up about two hours south of here. It’s a favorite spot of mine. Anyway, I stopped by an estate sale and there was a guy there who was amusing. I’d like a pat on the back for breaking down and giving a guy my number. I gave it to you, but you don’t count. Because, well, you’re you, and somehow it feels like I’ve known you a lot longer than I have. Must be because you know my family and all my friends.”
Landry set his mug down. “I don’t count?”
I eyed him closely. “Um, you do recall you’re off women, right?”
“Yes,” he said, not sounding very sure of his choice. “Who is this new guy? What does he do for a living? And where the hell do you think you’re going with him?”
I snorted. “Wow, you’ve been taking lessons from Samson and my dad.”
When he didn’t laugh, I gave in and answered his questions as best I could. “His name is Pastor and no, he’s not the head of a church, I asked the minute he told me his name.”
Landry didn’t comment.
“I’m not a hundred percent sure what he does for a living. I know he’s British. That he lives in the States now and that he’d like to take me to dinner this weekend. Oh, and that he’s not bad lookin’ at all.” I crossed one ankle over the other. “Landry, can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“Men today, do they expect something to happen on a first date?” I was embarrassed by my question.
“Depends on the man. Generally speaking, yes. Most do.” He was quiet a moment. “Planning on putting out on the first date?”
“Ouch,” I said, giving him a hard look. “Aren’t you adorably sweet? And no. I don’t plan on fucking a guy I’ve known for like an hour, but thanks for the deep concern.”
He sighed. “Shit, Meredith, I didn’t mean it the way it came out.”
“I think you did.”
He moved closer to me. “You kind of confuse me. You look like a woman who can pretty much seduce a guy with nothing more than crooking your finger, but there is this strange innocence about you. Like, while you come off as being worldly and jaded in some respects, you’re incredibly tender and childlike in others.”
I laughed. “Childlike? It’s because I tried to get you to let me wrap your hand in blue and pink wraps, isn’t it?”
“I’m not doing a very good job explaining this to you.”
“I come off as the type of woman who throws a man down and takes what I want from him, but the more you get to know me, the more you realize that really isn’t me?”
“Harsher than I was aiming at, but that is the gist of it,” he said.
“The diner opens soon. I should let you get back to whatever it is you do in the morning,” I commented, wanting off the subject of dating. “I need to be ready to be your amazing waitress for the day.”
He grinned. “All right, but I’m not expecting you to know the ropes here. It’s kind of chaotic. Certainly more than I’d been thinking when I took it on.”
I held my tongue, letting him walk me through how things ran at the diner. The first customer of the day walked in and I recognized him right away. I wrote his order on the pad, tore off the sheet, handed it to Landry and filled the man a cup of orange juice.
Landry looked from the order to me. “Um, Meredith, you need to ask them what they want. You can’t just decide for them.”
“Okay.” I took the sheet with me and asked the man what he wanted.
He rubbed his jaw. “It’s Wednesday, so that means I’ll be having two eggs over easy, a side of wheat toast, no butter and a cup of oatmeal. Oh, and orange juice sounds good.”
Setting the glass of juice before him, I smiled and then returned to the counter and handed Landry the slip I’d written before.
He blinked. “How the hell did you know exactly what he’d want?”
Peggy entered next and spotted me in the apron. She beamed. “Oh, Lord, child, it’s like the old days. How long did you help Old Man Henry up here? Five or six years, wasn’t it? I remember when he realized you weren’t going to be coming back, no matter how much begging he did, it was about the time he decided to sell the place.”
“Henry was great.”
“He was cranky and yelled at everyone,” Peggy said. “Everyone but you, Meredith. The man thought of you as a granddaughter.”
“I have that effect on people,” I replied. “You want a cheese omelet this morning or did your hubby hold true to his Tuesday night rock your world session and you’ll be requiring ham in that as well? You know, extra protein.”
Clapping her hands, she came to me and hugged me. “Oh, we missed you, Meredith.”
I glanced at Landry. “Go for the ham. Trust me. She had a good night.”
He laughed and I followed him toward the kitchen. “You could have told me you know the place better than me.”
“Yes, but you were so adorable when you were walking me through it all that I couldn’t help myself.” I motioned for him to lean closer. “Word to the wise. Do not let me work the toaster. Take my word for it, bad things happen. Really bad things. Henry banned me from small appliances.”
A group of men I knew were big on donuts and coffee came in. They all had their morning papers under their arms, just like they used to. I patted Landry’s abs and moved past him to the coffee pot. I grabbed the decaf and filled a regular pot with it. He arched a brow. I sighed. “All of them have been told more than once by the doctor to avoid caffeine. It’s really bad for two of them. They’ll fight ya tooth and nail, though, to be honest, they can’t tell it’s not regular unless they notice what pot you’re pouring from.”
I buzzed past him, and the men all smiled when they spotted me behind the counter. I filled their mugs and waited as they began drinking. The man to the right sighed gently. “Oh, Meredith, you always make the best coffee. It’s good to have you back.”
I did my best not to laugh. “Glad you like it, Buck. Help yourself to a donut, but only one. I’ll grab you a bran muffin after that.” I pointed to them all. “That goes for all of you.”
They nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Landry had to step into the back to hide his laughter. I followed behind him and broke into a fit of the giggles. The next thing I knew, his arms were around me, tugging me to him.
My breath caught, and I stepped back just as Marsha entered the diner. She saw me in the kitchen doorway and perked when Landry stepped out too. “Ooo, they’re a couple now! Oh, Peggy, isn’t this great? Look how cute they are together. Can you see it now, Landry and Meredith here, their little ones running around?”
Landry touched my hip. “Do they ever stop?”
“Nope. Knock me up now or risk hearing this every day for the rest of your life.”
He chuckled and patted my backside. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Marsha caught his action. “He’s spanking her, Peggy. Kinky.”
I yelped and twisted, burying my head in Landry’s shoulder. “Tell me she did not just say that.”
“Afraid so,” he said. “I should toy with your apron string. I bet she starts talking about bondage.”
I laughed. “Okay, but only if you’re the dom. As independent as I am, I like my man to be a man in the bedroom. Mmm, yes, master, I live to serve.”
He choked and touched his chest, his eyes wide.
“Was it something I said?” I batted my lashes.
The morning rush came and went, calming slightly before lunch hour hit full force. At some point, someone turned on the radio and it really did feel like the old days. I danced around the diner, serving people and handling everything. Landry kept trying to help, but I chased him off each time, making him go stay behind the counter.
My brother stopped in, and when he saw me in the apron, he smiled. “There is a sight I never thought I’d see again.”
I turned in a circle for him. “Admit it. I’m a total babe in an apron.”
He snorted and took a seat at the counter.
I put my elbows on the counter and my face close to his. “BLT, fries, and a soda?”
“I hate that you know what I eat still even better than I do.”
A young couple entered. I’d never seen them before. They had a little boy, around the age of four or so with them. He darted forward and the mother went after him. “Matthew, no.”
Unable to tear my gaze from the scene, I simply stared.
Suddenly, my brother was there, around the counter, pulling me into a hug. “Mer, come on. Let’s go for a walk or something.”
I hid my emotions. “I’m good.”
He glanced at the little boy, who had a head of dark hair and big, blue eyes. “Mer, please.”
Landry slid up by us. “Everything all right?”
“It’s fine.”
Samson shook his head. “Not hardly.”
The little boy raced away from his mother again, and I moved quickly, bending and smiling, blocking his path. “Hey there.”
“Hi,” he said, tipping his head. “You’re tall.”
“I know.”
His mother came over. “I’m sorry. He has so much energy and we’ve been in the car for hours.”
Standing, I grinned. “Not a problem. You know, there is a P-A-R-K just across the way from here that might be nice to help him burn some energy off before you have to head out again.”
“Oh, yes, thank you.” She ran her hand through his dark, shaggy hair. “Matthew, go have a seat by Daddy.”
He did and she followed.
My brother came around and took my hand. “Can I have this dance?”
I gave him an odd look.
He grinned. “What?”
“We can’t dance in here. It’s packed and, uh, you don’t dance so much as you sway. I’m so not swaying with my big brother.”
“Oh, come on. You know you get sick pleasure out of me making an ass of myself in public,” he replied.
I knew what he was doing and loved him for it. I wrapped my arms around his neck and bear-hugged him before kissing his cheek. “I’ll get your lunch. Thank you, Samson.”
He gave me a good squeeze. “If I beg, will you take a little time from here, just until…well…” His gaze went to the table with the little boy named Matthew and his parents. My brother motioned to Landry. “Can you handle that one? Please?”
“Sure. I’d handle them all, but she’s pushy and she scares me.” He stopped as he neared me. “Head on into the kitchen and have the cook make you something for lunch. Whatever you’re going to have him fix, tell him to do two. You and I can go out and find a shady spot and eat lunch together, okay?”
“Can we call it a date?” I asked with a wink.
“Sure. But will you consider putting out?”
Samson growled.
I laughed and headed into the kitchen. The high school boy Landry had helping out with tables came in and stared at me funny as he spotted me in an apron. I grinned. “Your job is safe, buddy.”
My stomach was in a knot, and I wasn’t very hungry. Grabbing an apple, I thought about the family who had come into the diner. Specifically, I thought of the name and age of the little boy.
A strong hand found its way to my hip. “Hey,” Landry said. “You’re having more than an apple for lunch, Mer.”
“I’m good.”
He gave me a stern look. “Don’t make me force-feed you. I’ll do it. Better yet, I’ll call Peggy and Marsha. They’ll do it for me.”
Yelping, I ran for the back kitchen door, making Landry laugh. I hurried out into the back parking area that only employees used.
He followed me out. “Where would you like to have lunch?”
I eyed the fire escape, put the apple in my mouth, bit it, holding it there before jumping and catching the metal bar. I swung myself up and shimmied over it before standing and looking down at Landry. “It’s almost two.”
“What are you doing?”
I motioned to him. “Grab your lunch and join me.”
He gave me a puzzled look, but went in, grabbed an apple and fixed himself the world’s fastest sandwiches and bottles of water. He held them up for me and I took them, holding them as he, and repeated the steps I’d used to get onto the fire escape. We climbed the steps to the roof, and once we were there, I went to a tiny spot with a narrow opening. Sure enough, my lawn chairs were still there. I pulled them out and set them up on the shady side of the roof. I took a seat and pointed to the other one. “Pull up a chair. You now have a front-row seat to this town.” I bit into my apple and laughed as I spotted the librarian walking past the barbershop.
Landry took a seat and ate his apple as well, laughing as the townsfolk did the same exact thing they always did at two. “I had no idea chairs were up here.”
“Yep. I used to keep a radio in a covered box, but when I went off to college, I took that down. I’d take my breaks up here, listen to music, do schoolwork or read. It’s quiet and no one bothers you.”
“But you have two chairs. Someone must have bothered you at least once.”
I was surprised at the fact he’d caught onto that. “Sometimes, depending on if he was home from college, Phillip would show up to spend time with me.” I let out a slow breath. “It’s funny. He’d insist on coming up here with me, and then he’d be really quiet and just watch me as I read or did schoolwork. A lot of times I’d forget he was sitting there. I tend to get lost in my own little world, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“No,” he said, feigning shock.
I laughed. “He was so mad that I worked here because it took up so much of my time. I really liked it though. I loved seeing everyone, and I liked making a lot of the older people here smile. Quite a few of them talk to no one else. I’m sure that makes them lonely.”
Landry stared at me.
“What?”
“You keep surprising me. That’s all.”
“Sorry,” I said, biting my lower lip.
He handed me a bottle of water and a sandwich. “Eat.”
“Yes, sir.” I noticed how he kept glancing toward the edge of the roof nervously. “Not a fan of heights, are you?”
“Uh, no.”
“Landry, we can get down and find somewhere you feel more comfortable.”
He reached out and put his hand on mine. “Here is good. I like being here with you.”
I eyed the adjacent roof. “You know. We could so meet up here for afternoon quickies when I open my shop.”
His laughter was infectious. It died instantly. “Wait, did you and Phillip have sex up here?”
“Believe it or not, no, this is one of the few places in this town we did not do the deed.” I sipped my water. “Though, once, I worked late and Henry closed up. I wanted to look at the stars and unwind, it had been a long day. Phil came looking for me and when he found me, I talked him into looking at the stars with me. He grabbed a blanket from his car and we laid up here, just star gazing until we accidently fell asleep. My dad found us at like four in the morning and he was livid. I thought he was going to toss Phillip over the edge.”
“When you talk about him, you get this strange look on your face. It’s not a look of hate or disdain like a lot of women get when they talk about their exes.”
“I don’t mean to talk about him. Sorry.”
“I asked. You didn’t exactly volunteer the information.”
I took a bite of the sandwich he’d made me. For a fast job, it was delicious. I covered my mouth with my fingers as I spoke. “Ohmygod, marry me. Seriously. I can’t put lunch meat on bread and make it taste like this.”
Landry smiled wide, and I took a deep breath as I found myself staring into his chocolate eyes. He tipped his head and sipped his water. The action looked like soft-core porn to me.
I gasped and sat up straight. “That’s it. I’m so going out tonight, finding a hot stranger and having hot, wild monkey sex with him.”
Landry spit his water. “W-what?”
“It’s either do that, or throw you down and lick every inch of muscle on your body. I think we can both agree that would be bad.” I fanned myself. “I never really understood the term sex-crazed. I get it now.”
As if on cue, my cell rang. I pulled it from my back pocket and shook my head. “Men are so confusing. You read all the time that they have some three-day call back rule, but I’m not seeing it.” I grunted. “Seven times in four days. That seems wrong to me. I think I need new books and magazines.”
Landry grabbed my phone and looked at the screen. “Pastor? The guy who wants to take you out for dinner?”
I nodded. “Yep. He keeps calling, wanting an answer.”
Standing, Landry answered my phone, shocking me. “Hello, who is this? Uh, no, I asked you first, buddy. Pastor? As in a church?”
I tried to get my phone back, but he kept turning back and forth, keeping it from me.
“What’s that? Who am I? You call my fiancée’s cell and demand to know who I am? Oh, that’s good.” Grinning, he turned to face me. “He hung up. Wonder why?”
I slapped his abs. “Landry!”
He caught hold of me and jerked me to him. “What?”
“I cannot believe you just did that.”
He flashed a wolfish smile. “Me either.”
“Jerk.”
“Thanks.”
I huffed and he spun me to face him fully. “We’re not done with our lunch.”
“Oh, we most certainly are done with our…”
His lips skimmed mine, shutting me up almost instantly. My eyes widened and I stood perfectly still.
“Landry?” I asked against his lips. “What are you doing?”
“Not sure,” he replied, keeping his lips there as if he was considering taking the chaste kiss to naughty grounds.
I put my palms to his chest. “Is this where I remind you that you’re off women?”
“Yes.”
“Landry.” I swallowed hard. “You’re off women.”
He pulled back from me, closed his eyes a moment and nodded. “Right.”
Ignoring him, I glanced toward the edge of the roof at a loose brick. It had always been that way. I went to it and pulled it out. Sure enough, there were notes in it.
Landry was suddenly right behind me, appearing nervous about his proximity to the edge. “What’s that?”
“A young girl’s secret hiding spot,” I said, winking. I opened several of them and laughed. “Wow, such drama. Apparently, Lyndi spotted Cora buying a pregnancy test at the drugstore.” I opened another. “And Jeremiah thinks Algebra II sucks major butt.” As I opened another, I paled and tried to fold it again.
“What’s that one?” Landry asked.
I handed it to him and he opened it, reading it as he did. “He wrote you poems?”
“Yes and no,” I said, looking out and over the town. “They’re not original, but rather lines from famous ones, mixed with famous quotes and song lyrics. We’d do stupid things like that, trying to see if the other could guess where each part was from and who said or sang it.”
“That why you can quote lyrics and other things so fast?”
“No. I can do that because I’m strange. The game came out of that oddity, not the other way around.”
He folded the paper and handed it back to me. “Nice little time capsule.”
I stuffed the notes back in and replaced the brick.
“You don’t want to keep them?”
I shook my head. “I’m not that girl anymore. And I’d rather not remember how blindingly trusting I was back then.”
He caught me around the waist.
“Tell me something about yourself, please.”
He broke and offered something more. “Before I moved here and opened the diner, I was an attorney.”
That caught me by surprise. “Really?”
“Yep.”
“Ah, that’s how you understand all the lingo in the contracts for the shop and my house.”
He kneaded my hips and tipped his head.
“Someday, I’ll ask why you walked away from it all, but not today,” I said. “No. Today I’ll be content with you offering that much about yourself.”
“I looked in the mirror and didn’t like the man staring back at me,” he stated. “In fact, I hated him. He was all about power, money, and more power. I didn’t start out wanting to be that man, and I sure the hell didn’t want the rest of my life to be dedicated to him, so I got the hell out of Dodge while the getting was good.”
“You were really good at your job, weren’t you?” I moved closer to him.
“What makes you say that?”
“Just a hunch. I bet you were ruthless.”
“I come off that way?” he asked.
I boldly slipped my arms around his waist and hugged him. “No. You come off as one of the nicest guys I’ve ever known. Nice guys don’t run to tiny towns and up and change their entire lives around in their thirties for no reason. They do it when they realize that they are no longer nice guys.”
“Mer,” he whispered, his arms out wide. “W-what are you doing?”
“Hugging you. I felt like you could use one, whether you knew it or not.”
“Aha.” He wrapped his arms around me.
“We should get back down to the diner.”
He tightened his hold on me. “Or not.”
I smiled against his chest and stayed right where I was. “Landry.”
“Yes?”
“Want me to hang out and help around here tomorrow too?”
He held me to him. “Yes.”
“Okay, but you totally owe me a date since you ruined my one with Pastor.”