Chapter 4
FOUR
“Most people would assume I was a precocious child.
I was but I was very good at getting away with it.”
—excerpt from the unpublished memoir,
Darling, I Must Say by Gloria Hayes
“I ordered bacon,” Mr. Gossett said. He glared at the offending food on his plate.
“Yes, I know,” I said, sliding a hand into my apron pocket. It was just after nine in the morning the day after my party. I was where I could be found most any Wednesday morning—at the Sit-n-Eat Café, arguing with old men.
This place was a Two Harts’ institution, having been around for decades.
It was a little worn around the edges, but the new owners were slowly bringing it back to life.
When I started college five years ago in Houston, I’d been able to live at home and work here around my school schedule.
These days, I worked Monday through Friday from six a.m. to closing time at two in the afternoon.
The Sit-n-Eat was not open for dinner. Up until a few years ago, it hadn’t even been open on Saturdays.
Mr. Gossett pushed away the plate that held two scrambled egg whites with a side of wheat toast and a fruit cup. “Then where’s my bacon?”
I pulled a note from my apron pocket, snapped it open, and read it aloud. “To everyone at the Sit-n-Eat, my idiot husband has high cholesterol.”
“Now wait a dang minute,” Mr. Gossett said. The other men at the table chuckled.
I ignored him and kept reading. “So bad, the doctor was worried he’d have himself a stroke any minute. Told him to watch what he eats. So don’t let him order anything that’s not heart healthy. No whole eggs or butter. No bacon or sausage.”
“She’s not the boss of me,” he sputtered in outrage.
One of the guys snorted. Another turned his head away to hide a laugh.
These men, all retired, had made the Sit-n-Eat their daily hangout.
They’d set up shop in the back corner, sometimes up to ten of them, sipping coffee and gossiping like church ladies at a prayer circle.
Half the time, they brought games like cards, dominoes, or chess.
They took up space, didn’t order much more than refills on their coffees, and gave me a hard time.
I loved them.
“If he throws a fit,” I continued to read, “you tell him to come on home, and I’ll cook for him. Thank you, Pam Gossett.”
Mr. Gossett’s face paled. Someone sucked in an audible breath.
“She means business,” one of the men muttered, his face turning an alarming shade of green. It was a well-known fact that Pam Gossett was not only a terrible cook, but she could render any food completely inedible.
“That woman will be the death of me way before the bacon.” Shoulders sagging in defeat, Mr. Gossett pulled his plate back toward him and stabbed at the eggs.
I chuckled as I made my way to the folks at the counter.
I liked working at the Sit-n-Eat. Although I would never call myself a people person, I did like the routine of it, the ease of taking orders and giving people what they asked for.
I liked seeing the regulars come in every day.
I’d had this job long enough that I didn't have to think too much about what I was doing. It was second nature now.
My phone vibrated with a text message. I whipped it out and saw Aidan’s name. My heart rate jumped and anticipation pooled in my stomach.
I was pathetic.
Aidan: We’re working on wedding stuff. Missy wants to know who your plus one is.
“The look on your face says you’re either going to be sick or you’re planning someone’s imminent demise.
” Ellie, part owner of the café, nudged me with her shoulder, her long blonde hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun.
She had flour and something wet on her apron and one of her shoes looked like it might have melted chocolate on it.
“I haven’t decided yet,” I said.
“I just hope I’m not the one whose demise you’re planning.” She shivered dramatically. “Have mercy on me. I have a kid. And a husband. And two cats. They need me.”
“Like I would tell you,” I said with a sneer. “Must keep the element of surprise on my side.”
“So”—she rocked back on her heels—“are we gonna talk about you disappearing into that supply closet? Or the fact that Abe Ramos joined you?”
“Nope.” Ellie was a friend, as well as my boss. Not only that, her brother was married to my sister so we were kind of related. I liked her a lot, but she was also very good friends with Mae. Anything I told her would be sent via text in less than fifteen seconds.
Ellie grinned. “You know, I think you would have made a good pirate back in the day.”
“What?” Her train of thought really needed to come with a map.
She shrugged. “I just think you’d have been an awesome lady pirate.”
“You’ve been reading those books again, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” she said excitedly. “They’re so good. I don’t know why I waited so long to read them. That Alicia Knight knows how to write.”
The books in question belonged to Mae, who was a not-so-secret lover of romance novels.
She thought it was a secret. It was just a very poorly kept one.
They’d been passed on to Ellie about the same time her now-husband, Gil, moved to town (and by town, I mean, he moved directly into her house where the two of them had to live together for six months even though he was a stranger.
It was complicated. It would take a book to explain it all).
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“I’ll bring you one.” She waved at a customer who’d just walked in.
“I don’t want to read—” She walked off before I could even finish the sentence.
My phone vibrated again. With a grimace, I sat down at the counter and read the message.
Aidan: No rush but we need to know soon. Unless you don’t have a plus one? Which is fine.
I started to reply and then hesitated. I did have a plus one… unless last night in the closet had all been a fever dream. Maybe I just imagined Abe offering. After all, I’d been upset and wielding a jar of pickles. He could have volunteered just to get out of that closet in one piece.
But it wasn’t just that. As much as I wanted to show up to the wedding with a hot date, I didn’t know how to tell Aidan.
When it came to our friendship, I’d never spoken about the guys I dated; it hadn’t felt right.
As far as he knew, I spent my weekends putting together cat puzzles and knitting clothes for Grammie’s stone porch goose.
Of course, I went on a date here or there.
But there had been no serious relationships since Aidan.
The thought of giving someone that kind of control over my heart again was terrifying.
Biting my lip, I stared down at his message.
“You okay there?”
I turned slowly to find Abe beside me. He had on a pale blue t-shirt that had seen many, many wash cycles and a pair of equally worn jeans.
A smudge of black marked the sleeve of his shirt.
He was very… sweaty. It glistened on his forehead and his cheeks were flushed.
He’d probably walked over from his shop in the heat.
One would think that the morning sun couldn’t be as bad as afternoon sun in Texas, but one would be super wrong.
Al’s Auto Shop was situated a street over from the Sit-n-Eat.
Keith, who’d once owned Al’s, had closed it up and retired to Florida a couple of years ago.
Through the Two Harts gossip mafia, I’d heard that once Abe decided to move back so his daughter Hallie could spend time with her grandparents, the opportunity to buy Al’s had fallen into his lap.
Abe already had two successful shops in Colorado, so he contacted Keith.
The two had struck a deal and Abe was now the proud owner of Al’s.
Incidentally, no one named Al had ever owned the place.
“You look deep in thought.” He slid onto a stool next to me.
“You look like you’re just out of a Bikram yoga class. I did not take you for a downward dog sort of guy.”
He chuckled. “Hey, now, I lived in California for a while. I’ve taken a yoga class or two. Sometimes I even wear my hair in bun.”
I gasped. “A manbun? What will the neighbors say when they see that?”
He smirked. “Oh, they have. Mostly, they stared.”
Then he lifted the bottom of his shirt and wiped off his forehead. It was quick but still plenty of time for me to catch a glimpse of tanned, tattooed stomach. If he mowed the lawn without his shirt on, I could see why the neighbors stared.
He wasn’t ripped exactly. Don’t get me wrong, it was a very nice view, just not a twelve-pack made of protein powder and a thousand daily crunches.
There was enough meat on him to say he enjoyed eating, but he was lean enough to show he stayed active.
Unlike Aidan, who was all sharp edges and long limbs.
I bet Abe would be nice to cuddle with…
Where had that come from? I swallowed and averted my eyes, praying he couldn’t read that thought on my face.
“Sorry.” His knee brushed me as he turned toward me on the stool. “I’ve been working around the shop all morning.”
I jumped up from my seat and rounded the counter to put a little distance between us. After filling up a glass with ice water, I set it in front of him. “How’s that going?”
He took a long swallow. “The place is a disaster. It’s like a rodent crime syndicate moved in. The roof is falling apart. The garage bay doors are broken along with every window in the place. It’s going to take a lot more time than I planned on to get it up and running.”
That place should probably be condemned. From the outside, it looked like a sad shell. Broken windows, graffiti, and trash strewn around. I knew for a fact that some high school kids had busted the backdoor lock and used it as a hangout. I couldn’t even imagine what it looked like inside.
“Didn’t you see it before you bought it?”
“No.” He sighed. “I remembered it from when I was a kid and I guess I just figured it would look about the same.”
I snorted. “You were a kid a long time ago.”
“Wow.” He tried to look offended, but amusement flashed in his eyes. “I’m thirty-six. I’m not an antique.”
“That does make you vintage, though.” I tapped a finger on my chin. “So, when I was in kindergarten, you were a… senior in high school?”
He scowled. “Thanks for putting it that way.”
“You’re welcome.”
Ellie’s head popped out from the kitchen. “Iris, are you yelling at the customers again?”
“Again?” Abe asked.
“Only if they need it,” I said. “And I’ve only had one complaint.”
“In the last week.” Ellie strolled up to the counter. “We won’t talk about last month.”
“Look, you aren’t going to get the kind of quality service I provide without a few naysayers. Haters gonna hate.”
“You dumped coffee on that man’s lap.”
With a smirk, Abe leaned back and crossed his arm, clearly enjoying this exchange.
“Excuse me, my mama always said that no one gets to touch my bathing suit areas without my permission.” I sniffed primly. “A girl has to protect herself.”
“See what I have to put up with?” Ellie said.
“I don’t know,” Abe said. “Sounds like she handled it perfectly.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Just for that, your glass of water is on the house.”
“So generous.”
“That’s because I’m the one paying the water bill,” Ellie said before crossing the diner to help a customer.
His dimples flashed as he stood. “I have to get back. I have a plumber coming at ten. I just came by to see when you got off so I could take a look at your car.”
“Actually, I’m kind of glad you stopped by.
” I glanced around the café. Aside from Ellie and the old guys in the corner, there were only two tables in use.
Still, I did not want what I was about to say to end up on the town group text thread.
I beckoned him to follow and led us straight to the scene of last night’s crime—the supply closet.
To his credit, he didn’t bat an eye when I opened the door and pushed him inside. Darkness surrounded us. I reached out a hand to find the light switch and instead, found an arm.
“Just need to find the light.” I kept searching and finding more body parts—a shoulder, his chest.
“What base is over-the-clothes groping?” Light filled the closet and I found myself face to face with an amused Abe, barely a couple inches between us. “Because I think we’re there now.”
“Sorry.” I scrambled back as much as I could. “About that favor…”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. Shadows fell across his face, making it impossible to see his expression. “Yeah?”
“I know last night was a little… weird.”
“Nah, I meet women in supply closets all the time.”
“About the wedding date… thing… you coming with me… It was very kind of you to offer, but I won’t hold you to that.”
He studied me in a quiet, still way that was both unnerving and calming, like he was thinking about what I’d said instead of pretending he had. “I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it.”
“We barely know each other.”
He shrugged. “We’ve got time. We’ll get to know each other.”
I blew out a breath. “Are you sure?”
“Do you have any other prospects to take you?”
“I could find someone else.” Optimistic at best. “Or go alone.” Please don’t make me go alone.
“Let me ask you a question. What’s the whole point of taking me with you?”
“I mean, no one wants to show up at their ex’s wedding without a date.”
“Fair point. But why me specifically?”
“You offered?”
“You accepted. Why?”
“You’re… you. Aidan is not… you. You’re complete opposites.” I waved a hand. “And I want him and everyone else to see I’m dating someone who is so unlike him, I have obviously moved on. I want them to know I’m not in love with him anymore. Because I’m not. I think.”
There had to be voodoo in this room; my mouth could not stop confessing.
“I know that’s putting a lot on you, a practical stranger, so I’m giving you an out. You don’t have to go. You should take it because this wedding is going to be a disaster, I know it is.”
He shifted forward out of the shadows. With a thoughtful expression, he watched me for a long, silent moment. I steeled myself for the disappointment.
“I’m going.”
I slumped, quite suddenly overcome with relief. I really, really, really wanted Abe to go to this thing with me. “Thank you.”
He rested his hand on the doorknob. “What time are we looking at your car? When are you off?”
“Two, but my ride won’t be here until about three so if you want to meet me at our house at about three thirty then—”
“How about I just pick you up at two?”
“Oh. Um, sure.”
“Great, I’ll see you then.” He flashed a smile. “I guess you’ll owe me two favors now.”