Chapter 2
Maeve fidgeted with her apron and watched in disbelief as her tall dark fire hunk opened the door for Mrs. Waverly.
Like clockwork every Tuesday, the woman came in for a Turkey BLT on rye, heavy on the mayo with extra bacon.
She loved the regulars and this one walked three blocks every week just for that sandwich and a little conversation.
At least now she wouldn’t be alone with him. She had no clue what she’d even say.
“Hello Hazel, how are you today?” The woman had insisted some time ago they were friends so she wouldn’t tolerate being called anything but her first name.
“My dear Maeve, I am superb today. It is so beautiful out, perfect day for a walk.”
Maeve nodded her agreement as she glanced behind Mrs. Waverly to the newcomer. As luck would have it, the librarian never missed a beat, including Maeve’s interest in the man and abruptly turned to face him.
“Goodness, where are my manners, please, would you like to go first young man?”
“Oh, no ma’am, I’m in no hurry, you go right ahead. I’m quite enjoying the air conditioning. It’s a hot one out there today.”
“Well, if you’re sure young man? What’s your name?” Mrs. Waverly was either being friendly or extremely nosey. Regardless, it was keeping Maeve from having to talk to him just yet.
“Name’s Cole ma’am, I’m a firefighter from across the street.” Maeve was impressed; he seemed to show a genuine interest and didn’t hesitate in speaking with the librarian.
“Oh, how nice. You’re a very brave man to do what you do.”
As the two chatted, Maeve took the opportunity to step into her kitchen to scream under hear breath and grab the Turkey BLT out of the frig that she’d made up earlier.
Of course, she also had a hidden agenda; she was hoping to eavesdrop on their conversation without being obvious.
At least thanks to Mrs. Waverly she knew his name was Cole.
She liked it, a lot. Cole and Maeve. Hmm, has a nice ring to it.
Oh lord, don’t be ridiculous; time to come back to this planet Maeve.
She hated to interrupt them, but she knew Mrs. Waverly would need to get back to the library, so as she emerged from the kitchen, she spoke a little loud.
“Okay Hazel, can I get you anything else? Maybe a piece of my homemade cheesecake?” The woman always said no so Maeve had started putting one in the sack anyway, just to be nice.
“Oh goodness, look at the time, no thank you dear, I must be going.” She snatched the paper sack and spoke once more as she went out the door.
“Maeve, that is a nice young man, you should go out with him. Good-bye now.” The last part faded as she disappeared from their sight.
Maeve’s face turned several shades of red. What in the world would possess her to say that? She glanced from the door to Cole as he did the same, then he smiled mischievously.
***
“Well now,” Cole could hardly contain his enthusiasm, “I don’t remember the last time I heard such a great idea Maeve. You should go out with me.”
No way was this happening. He couldn’t have predicted that series of events in a million years.
From now on he’d make sure to buy Mrs. Waverly her lunch if he ever ran into her again.
The door jingled announcing another customer.
Dang it, not another little old lady either.
He wanted to do this right, so he let the geeky young guy go ahead and order first.
“Are you sure?” The wheezily voice grated on his nerves. He definitely didn’t want this guy hanging around while he was trying to set up a date.
“Yeah man I’m sure, go ahead. I don’t know what I want yet.” Would also give Cole some time to sit back and watch her work.
The nerdy guy walked up to the counter where Maeve greeted him, however her tone seemed a tad cold.
The man’s response was a bit more familiar than Cole thought it should be.
He called her by name and asked how her partner was, even asked if she had plans for the weekend.
What the heck was that about? She was a friendly person, as he’d witnessed with Mrs. Waverly but he gave off a weird vibe.
Thank goodness, she didn’t seem receptive to his line of questioning.
She only told the guy she was busy all weekend.
Was that a bad thing for him or did she pick up the weird vibes off this guy too and was trying to dissuade him?
The man had placed his order and Maeve disappeared to the back. Then the guy turned on him.
“So, what brings you to the Sand Bucket?”
Is this guy for real?
“Um getting lunch?”
“Oh yeah? Don’t you have a kitchen in the fire station? That is where you’re from right?”
“Not really sure that’s any of your business; why does it matter anyway?” Seriously? Is this guy gonna start something over lunch?
“If you’re bugging my friend, it is my business so why don’t you…”
“Excuse me sir, this is a public café open to the public and no one harasses my customers no matter why they’re here. Now here’s your sandwich, please have a good day.”
Good thing Maeve walked out of the kitchen when she did or that guy might have seen a bad side of Cole and very likely a fist or two.
“I’m sorry Maeve; I just don’t want guys in here bugging you just because they can.”
“Well thanks for your concern uh, what’s your name?”
“It’s Ralph, we met a few weeks ago remember?”
“Right, Ralph, well I think I can take care of myself and my business, okay? I put a free muffin in there for your trouble, thanks for stopping in. Have a great day.”
After the creepy guy looked back at them several times before he begrudgingly left, Cole made for the counter pretty quickly.
“Are you okay?” She looked a little rattled after that confrontation.
“Oh, uh, yes, I’m fine. Well, no, not really. That was really uncalled for, I’m so sorry he acted that way toward you.”
“Don’t worry about me. He’s probably pretty lucky you walked through the doorway when you did.” I would have taken that guy down in a heartbeat.
“Truthfully, I’m glad you were here, I’d hate to be alone with him.”
“Is he really a friend of yours?”
“Absolutely not. I know he said he met me a few weeks ago but I definitely don’t remember him.”
“Yeah, he had some stalker traits going on that we should probably be concerned about, but I’m glad I was here too. Hopefully he won’t come back anytime soon. So, Maeve, where were we?”