Chapter 3
three
. . .
On Wednesday when we worked together again, he also came to the door.
He had a chocolate chip cookie for me that his Aunt Mel had made.
He said he remembered me mentioning that I liked chocolate chip cookies best, so he brought me the last one instead of eating it himself.
He asked lots of questions about me but never talked about his own life too much.
I found out that his parents are both older and retired, living in Grand Rapids, which is where he grew up.
They had him late in life and so he came to spend the spring and summer with his aunt Mel.
He said he just needed a change and when he quickly diverted the subject, I didn’t push it.
The only way I got to know any information about him was when customers would ask him where he was from.
He was attending Michigan Tech and majoring in Electrical Engineering.
He left the day he finished his finals and drove here.
He doesn’t have a girlfriend (thank you, Monica, for being the town gossip).
His favorite color is yellow, and he doesn't have any siblings.
The people in this town are very nosey.
I love them.
Now it’s Friday afternoon and before he even steps out of his truck, I'm already running out towards the passenger door. He doesn't get the chance to open it for me and when he gets back into the car, he's frowning.
“Hey, grumpy pants.” I flash him my biggest smile. I had a feeling he wouldn’t like me stepping on his chivalrous toes much.
“Are you in a hurry?” His face softens as he takes in my smiling face and I hand him an oatmeal cookie—his favorite, which I remember him mentioning Wednesday at the diner when Shelley asked him what he liked to eat.
“Nope. I just like to get there a little early on Fridays to make sure everything is in order. It’ll get busy with high school kids and locals out on dates and whatnot.” I put my seatbelt on and wipe the goofy smile off my face. I notice he's still holding on to the cookie and staring at me.
“This is for me?” His brows do that cute thing where they both furrow inwards and upwards and I sit on my hands to keep from smoothing out the lines with my fingertips.
“Yeah. You said it’s your favorite, so I made some last night.
Sorry, I only have one. My mom ended up taking them all to school to share with the other teachers.
I pretty much had to wrestle her for this one!
” I wince a little and look down at my lap, suddenly feeling lame for handing him a cookie, even though it was so sweet when he did it for me.
“No. No. This is… this is really nice, Elaina. Thank you.” He flashes me that gosh darn dimple as I look up at him again and he places the cookie in the glove compartment as if it’s made of delicate crystal.
As he reaches over my lap, I can smell his aftershave.
I take a deep breath in and hope he doesn’t notice me blatantly sniffing him. Again.
Before he sits back in his seat, he reaches out and touches my knee. His eyes hold me captive and he says, “Thank you again. No one other than my family has ever baked me anything before.” He squeezes lightly before placing his hand on the steering wheel.
I can’t hide my look of shock—both at the fact that he just touched me, something he so rarely does, and that he just said no one has ever baked for him.
What about birthday cakes? Maybe he just didn’t count those.
All I manage to say is, “Oh. Well, you’re welcome.”
He backs out of the driveway, and we drive in comfortable silence to the diner, listening to Kings of Leon. A smile never leaves my face because I know he put it on for me. I told him they were one of my favorite bands on Monday.
The whole town is quickly falling in love with Andy, and instead of us never seeing one another after those first few shifts together, we see each other almost every day.
Andy picks me up when our schedules match and he’s started doing it when he has the day off, too.
Sometimes he’ll sit at the diner when it isn't busy to keep me company.
It’s always nice having him nearby; I didn’t know I was missing this kind of friendship in my life, but he makes everything feel fun and easy. Even if I hope almost every day that he saw me as more than his only friend in this tiny town.