Chapter 7
SEVEN
“There was nothing like a hug from my father. He came home from work after a long day and the first thing he did was give all his girls a hug.”
—excerpt from the unpublished memoir,
Darling, I Must Say by Gloria Hayes
The next day, the Sit-n-Eat was slammed.
It seemed a whole herd of people were driving through from Houston.
That meant I’d spent most of my day explaining that no, we did not have any gluten-free, dairy-free options like organic oat milk and smoothies made with spinach.
On top of that, someone with an unknown number had been calling me all morning.
I kept sending it to voicemail only to have the number call again.
By eleven, things had settled down enough for me to spend ten minutes listening to a random woman complain about our lack of vegan bacon. (Did I even want to know what that was made of?) So, when the unknown number called again, I happily excused myself to answer.
I ripped my phone from my back pocket and answered. “What?”
“Is this Iris?” The voice on the other end was high-pitched and…
chipper, like a Disney princess. The kind of voice that would make me want to strangle the owner of it after listening to it for more than five minutes.
The little hairs on the back of my neck rose as I realized why the voice sounded familiar.
“Who is this?”
“It’s Missy, silly.” She giggled.
Aidan’s Missy. The blushing bride. The same woman I was pretty sure hated me.
“Missy. Hi.” Even though she couldn’t see me, I straightened my apron and ran my fingers through my hair.
“I hope it’s okay to call,” she said. “Aidan gave me your number. Thank you for being in the wedding so last minute. I told Aidan my brother would be happy to step in. I said it might be… uncomfortable for everyone given your history. But Aidan insisted.” There was a hint of sharpness in her tone.
“If your brother would rather do it, I would understand,” I said quickly. I’d still have to go to the wedding but at least I wouldn’t have to stand up next to Aidan and pretend everything was okay.
She laughed in that high-pitched, shrill way people did when nothing was funny. “No, no. Aidan would be so disappointed if you backed out.”
“Are you sure?”
“It’s already settled.” Again, with the tone. “Anyway, I wanted to make sure you were kept in the loop about all the wedding details.”
“Wedding details, yeah.”
“Of course, I’ll add you to the group text.”
“A group text. Great.”
“Plus we have to find you an outfit for the wedding. Let’s arrange a day that would work.
I’ll be driving from Austin to see family in Houston in a couple of weeks.
We’ll need to find something off the rack because of the time crunch.
It has to fit the vision. What size are you?
Oh, never mind. We’ll figure all that out.
It might take all day, so clear your schedule. ”
“I’ll… do that.”
“It’ll be so fun.”
Not even a little bit. “Yeah.”
She sighed. “I can’t wait to get married. I know you’ve never been engaged, but one day, you’ll understand.”
I didn’t know why I thought Missy didn’t like me. Not a passive aggressive bone in her bird-like body. “That must be it.”
“Anyway, I’ve got to go. We’re doing a cake tasting in an hour. I’ll text you with deets about shopping. I want to tell you all about my wedding colors. I found the perfect shade of pink.”
She hung up before I could reply. I sat down heavily at the counter and stared down at the phone, feeling a little dazed by the whole conversation. I started when a text came through seconds later.
MISSY: I forgot to tell you. The rehearsal dinner is Western-themed. All the ladies are wearing pink cowboy hats and boots.
With a groan, I planted my forehead on the counter. Really, there was no one else to blame but myself.
“You doing okay there?” someone asked.
“Sure, everything’s great.” I sat up and tried to smile at Abe, but my mouth wouldn’t cooperate. “You’re back again. Can’t stay away from this place, can you?”
“Maybe I can’t stay away from you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I’m a real charmer.”
He grinned. A few strands of his hair had escaped his messy attempt to tie it back. With his hair like this, the gauges in his ears were impossible to miss.
In Two Harts, nobody missed anything.
For example, the three people sitting at the counter were staring at him and not bothering to hide it.
One of them clutched her purse to her chest, her expression somewhere between fear and curiosity.
I recognized her as the mother of a couple of kids I’d gone to school with.
She was one of those stay-at-home, PTA mom types who volunteered at every opportunity, never forgot a holiday party or spirit week, and upon discovering a kid had a working mom said things like, “You poor thing. You know she’d be here if she could. ”
She was so busy staring at Abe, she didn’t see me round the counter and slam down a coffee mug in front of her. With a squeak, she pressed a hand to her chest.
“Coffee?” I asked sweetly.
“No, thank you.” Her voice was not so sweet. “Water is fine.”
I quickly poured her a glass and slid it in front of her. “Seriously, Ilene, put your purse down. He’s not going to steal your lipstick and cough drops.”
Ilene had the decency to blush. With a huff, she set her purse on the counter next to her glass of water and the fruit bowl she’d ordered. Why a person would come to a diner that served pancakes any way you could imagine only to order fruit was beyond me.
“I didn’t think that at all.” She dug into her purse, her eyes fastened on me. “I was just looking for…” From the depths of her bag, she pulled out a curling iron. “This.”
I rolled my eyes. “Right.”
Two Harts was one of those towns you’d picture in a Hallmark movie with the shop-lined Main Street and quirky town folk, except we never got snowed in and no lawyers had given up big city life to run a failing bed and breakfast only to butt heads with the local lumberjack.
Most people made just enough money to survive and every now and then get a beer with friends.
There were good people here, but they were sheltered.
Sometimes in small towns, different wasn’t better, it was something to be kept at arm’s length and examined from every angle before deciding if it was accepted.
Abe was different.
“Hey.” I turned back to Abe. “Can I get you something?”
He nodded at Ilene and she hastily looked away. “No, I’m good. I wanted to let you know I checked out your car.”
“It’s not good news, is it?” I rubbed my forehead. I really needed some chocolate right now. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure how that car was still running, to be honest.”
“Spite.” I caught Ilene staring again and shot her a dirty look.
A corner of his mouth curled into a lopsided grin. “I could fix it.”
“Do that. Just tell me how much.” I’d have to dip in my savings, but it had to be done. I could only stand the barely working air conditioner in Mae’s car for so long. I wanted to keep as much money in my savings account for… well, I wasn’t sure yet, but I’m sure it involved money.
“Maybe more than the car is worth.”
I groaned.
“But I think I can find some refurbished parts and make it work.”
“Really?”
“It shouldn’t be too hard, and it will save a little. I’ll even discount the labor.” He leaned a hip on the edge of counter.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I don’t mind.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “There was something I wanted to ask you. You know that favor you owe me?”
“Yeah?” I eyed him suspiciously.
“I am looking for someone to watch Hallie and I thought…”
I held my hands in the air. “Oh, no. Look, I haven’t spent a lot of time with kids.”
“Hallie’s a great kid,” Abe said.
“I’m sure she is but I already have a job. And I have things to do this summer. Like prepare for that wedding and deep clean my bedroom carpet, maybe organize my sock drawer.”
“Okay. You don’t have to lie to me.”
“I’m not lying.”
He smirked. “And there’s another one.”
“How do you do that?” I asked in astonishment.
With a shrug, he held my gaze, that smirk still firmly in place. He didn’t say a word.
“Are you doing that thing where you remain silent so long, the other person breaks?”
Of course, he didn’t answer, just kept staring with that stupid smirk. I narrowed my eyes. His smirk grew into a smile. The dimple made an appearance and, I don’t know, I broke. I’m weak, I guess.
“Fine. I’m not agreeing to anything, but what’s in the job description?”
“Pick her up from day camp and keep her alive for a couple of hours until I get home. That’s it.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Ilene staring yet again. I whipped my head toward her and said, “Would you like us to talk louder? Just to make sure you hear every word.”
She gasped, dug around in her purse, slapped a twenty-dollar bill on the counter, and stood in a huff. “The rudeness.”
“You have a great day, too.”
Ellie’s head popped out from the kitchen. “Is everything okay?”
Ilene, whose face was now almost purple, yanked her purse on her shoulder. She sailed by me in a cloud of righteous anger and too much perfume. “You need to do something about your employees.”
“A raise would be great.” I batted my eyes at Ellie. “For my outstanding customer service.”
I pointed at the corkboard hanging on the wall behind the cash register.
Across the top in big letters, it said EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH.
Underneath was an old photo of me. My hair was longer with pink streaks and bangs.
It had taken forever for those bangs to grow out.
Don’t judge. We all do crazy things after a break-up.
“That would be more effective if you weren’t the one who put your photo there,” Ellie said drily. An oven dinged in the back, and she scurried back to the kitchen mumbling something about muffins.
Abe crossed his arms, amused. That t-shirt of his was filthy but it fit him perfectly, molding to his shoulders and chest in a way that made it hard to ignore. Messy and disheveled looked good on him. If you were into that sort of thing.
I, unfortunately, seemed to be into buttoned-up, clean-shaven guys. Aidan never looked messy or disheveled, and he was not a guy who enjoyed working with his hands. He was a pure white collar, office job, pay-someone-to-fix-his-car kind of man.
“I’m sorry to bring bad news,” Abe said.
“Thanks. It’s been a rough week.” Not even a week. It had been all of three days. Between the party, Aidan, the wedding, my car, it was clear I needed reinforcements to survive the day. I knelt and dug through the cabinet under the cash register where I’d hidden one of my many stashes of chocolate.
“So, this wedding thing…” he said.
“What about it? You’re bowing out, aren’t you?” There was that package of chocolate eggs from Easter. “I understand. No hard feelings. I’m sure I can find someone else if—”
“No. I said I was going and I meant it. I was wondering when it was and if this is a weekend thing? You’ll probably have to be there for the rehearsal.”
I stood slowly. “I will?”
“You are the best woman.”
“I am the best woman,” I whispered. I hadn’t even given much thought to a rehearsal and a rehearsal dinner. What if there was a bachelorette party? I shivered at the thought. I really, really needed chocolate.
I gave the bag a good yank to open it. Nothing. I yanked again. Still nothing. I frowned and put more force behind it. Foil-wrapped eggs erupted from the bag, landing on the floor and rolling in all directions. Like a pinball machine.
Or my life.
“Seriously?” I dropped to my knees and scrambled to gather all the eggs. Abe knelt beside me to help. After a couple of minutes, we’d grouped most of the eggs into a pile between us. I picked one out, unwrapped it and stuffed it in my mouth with a sigh.
“Chocolate at nine in the morning?”
“Chocolate is the most important meal of the day.”
This close to him, I took in the little things that I’d not noticed before.
His soft brown eyes had a black ring around the irises.
Thick black eyelashes more straight than curly.
The hint of lines at the corners of his eyes.
The barest trace of gray mixed into his scruff.
A tiny white scar on the side of his nose.
I was surprised to realize how much I wanted to know how he’d gotten it.
A small smile curved his mouth. The sort of smile that made a woman want to know what he was thinking and if it was about her. The sort of smile that said he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Well, this has been awkward,” I said, reaching for the pile of chocolate.
He put a hand on the back of mine. I froze and met his eyes.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay, you know,” he said in a quiet, steady voice, his eyes impossibly kind.
I wanted to believe him, to know with conviction that I’d figure out my life in the next couple of months, make all the right decisions, find security in knowing what came next. Lately, it felt like I was on a road trip without a map.
He sat back, taking the warmth of his hand with him. “I need to get back to the shop. It might take me a few weeks to get your car fixed up but I’ll take care of it.”
“Does this mean I owe you another favor?”
He grinned. “Don’t worry. I’m keeping track.”