Chapter 6
6
MIKA
I hoped when I left the inn in the early morning hours that the ache would go away.
It didn’t.
It lingered in my chest as I got ready for my shift at the diner. The subtle pulse of it flared as I worked through the morning breakfast rush. Each heart beat felt small and incomplete. Cold and unsatisfied.
Carter was gone.
By now, he’d be checked out and well on his way to Big City.
Too bad Lottie and Tish never got that memo.
I try not to listen to their gossip as I unpack today’s shipment. As I set countless bags of sugar and sweetener onto the shelves, the two of them go on and on.
He stayed at the inn, right?
Did you get a peek at his luggage?
Did he order room service?
Please, please, please tell us you shared a long, lingering kiss after taking a walk around town and staring at the moon above the lake!
Okay, they never asked that last one, but they sure as hell would have if they thought of it.
“He checked in after lunch yesterday, went to his room, and I never saw him again,” I tell them.
As they visibly and audibly mope over my lack of gossip, I exit the back room to go check on my tables.
My pulse skips twice.
Carter.
He’s sitting at the same table he sat at yesterday, right in the middle of my section.
I pinch my eyes closed. I shake my head, making sure I’m not seeing things, but he’s still there when I open them again.
He looks up and smiles as I approach his table. “Hey,” he greets.
“Hi,” I say. “Welcome back.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“When do you sleep?”
“When I’m dead.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, I thought so.”
“Are you... grabbing some breakfast before hitting the road?” I ask, playing it cool.
“Actually, I just talked to the mechanic, and it looks like I am stuck in Small Town for another day.”
I adjust my expression, hoping it doesn’t look as thrilled about this news as I secretly — and surprisingly — am. “Really?” I ask.
“Something about the replacement part not actually being compatible with the model of my car or...” He turns up his hands. “I don’t know. I’m not a car guy.”
“Neither am I.”
“So, I thought I’d swing by here and let you know I need to book my room for another night.”
“All right,” I say, holding my breath to still my racing heart. “That’s fine. I will call Papa and let him know you’re coming back.”
“Thanks,” he says.
“Did the rich guy in Big City reschedule again?”
“He did, actually.”
“The world of mergers and acquisitions is more forgiving than I expected.”
“So it would seem.”
“Well, we will be happy to host you for another night, Mr. Cartwright.”
“Thank you, Ms. Michaelson.”
“Sorry,” I say, realizing I walked over empty-handed. “Do you need to see a menu?”
“Actually, I think I’ll just take the...” he picks up a small sign sitting on his table, “sausage and pancake plate,” he reads.
“That’s an excellent choice,” I say. “Coming right up.”
“When do you get off?”
I stop, nearly stumbling mid-step. “Huh?”
“Your shift,” he says. “When do you get off?”
“Oh, uh... one-thirty? I think. Then, I need to do some grocery shopping and then I was going to, uh... well, go home and take a nap.”
He nods, his eyes touched with concern. “Please do that.”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, I hoped that you would have dinner with me tonight.”
I say nothing. I couldn’t even if I tried.
Carter holds up a hand. “I want to apologize,” he says. “For last night.”
“Oh, you don’t have to,” I say, shaking my head.
“I assumed too much in the moment and?—”
“I understand. It’s totally okay. It happens all the time.”
“It does?”
“No, I don’t know why I said that.”
Carter smiles. I lock my knees to prevent them from bucking. “Let me make it up to you. And I saw the inn has a restaurant with a full-service kitchen, so I thought we could have dinner there.”
“Oh.” I wince. “Well, yeah. Usually, we do. But not right now.”
“Not right now?”
“Our stove broke a while ago,” I explain. “And we can’t afford to fix it or buy a new one at the moment. And then, the cook quit because they couldn’t cook, and we… also couldn’t... pay them anymore. So...”
Carter nods. “All right.”
“But I could make something!” I offer. “I think. As long as it’s not too complicated and is... sandwich-shaped.”
His smile shuts me up.
“That sounds lovely,” he says. “In the meantime, I think I’ll take another walk around town. See what Small Town has to offer in broad daylight.”
“That sounds nice. Just be sure to stick to?—”
“Brightly lit areas,” he says. “I remember.”
I nod and take a slow step back toward the kitchen. “Okay. Well, have fun. I’ll go put your order in and then I’ll see you again tonight at the inn around… seven?”
“Seven is good. But I’ll also see you… here.”
“Right. Here. Because I’m serving your breakfast. And then tonight, I’m making you dinner.” I pause. “I feel like I’ve been duped somehow.”
He laughs, his smile wide and bright.
“I’ll see you in a minute,” I blurt as I spin on my toes and bolt toward the kitchen.
“Ow!”
I hop back, then slowly push the door open on Lottie and Tish gently massaging their foreheads.
“Sorry, guys,” I say.
“Ugh,” Lottie cringes. “My nose.”
“My eye!” Tish groans.
“Sorry,” I say again.
“Did you see it?”
“See what? Your eye?” I ask in horror as I look at the floor.
“No!” Tish lowers her hand, her long lashes twitching. “Him!”
“Him?”
Lottie pinches the bridge of her nose, testing it for broken cartilage. “Yeah, him!” she says. “The bachelor.”
“What about him?”
They lower their hands and stare at me.
“Didn’t you see the way he looked at you?” Tish asks.
“No,” I say, prompting a wave of rolling eyes.
But that’s an outright lie.
I definitely saw the way Carter looked at me. But it’s nothing. It has to be nothing. He’s just a guy passing through town looking for a hook-up to pass the time and I’m just a Small Town girl with no time for that kind of thing, anyway. We’re the last people in Kiss County who should be falling in love.
Besides, a man like that would never fall for a girl like me.
It was nothing.