All of Me

by Leeanna Morgan

  ***

  The next morning, Tess looked up when the kitchen door opened.

  “Are you ready to be our tour guide?” Dylan stood in the doorway looking all outdoorsy in his khaki pants, white T-shirt, and cotton shirt.

  “Logan must have forgotten to tell you that I’m not going.” Tess flicked her gaze to the clock on the wall. “I thought you would have left by now.”

  “I’ve been waiting in the truck with Logan’s mom. He must have forgotten to tell you we’d be waiting out front.”

  The gleam in Dylan’s eyes told her he found her stubbornness amusing. The rest of his face hadn’t moved from commando cool. It was scary to think she was getting used to his non-existent body language.

  Tess frowned. “Logan didn’t forget to tell me you’d be out front. I chose to ignore it. Annie went outside ten minutes ago and told you to go without me.”

  “So she did.” Dylan didn’t move. “Seems like we’re at one of those impasses.”

  Tess threw a handful of mixed herbs in the pie filling she was making. “No, we’re not. I know exactly what I’m going to do. I’m staying here.”

  “Logan asked me to look after you, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

  “I’d suggest you get Logan’s mom out of the truck then. I can make you a cup of coffee and you can enjoy the ambiance of the café for the rest of the day.”

  Dylan shook his head. At least she thought he had, but that could have been her imagination. “Not happening. You’re coming with us.”

  Tess lifted her brow. She could be equally as expressive as Dylan.

  He didn’t look impressed. “I want to see Yellowstone National Park. If I have to look after you, I can at least get a free tour out of the deal.”

  Annie pushed past Dylan. “Sorry, but I need to get the mop. Oliver Tanner just spilled his chocolate milkshake all over his little sister.”

  As soon as Annie’s body connected with Dylan, he did the unthinkable. He actually moved. Fast. He looked so befuddled that Tess wouldn’t have believed it unless she’d seen it with her own eyes.

  Annie hadn’t noticed that something out of the ordinary had just happened. She zoomed into their storage room and came out wheeling their cleaning cart.

  Dylan made sure he was out of harm’s way when she ran back into the café.

  A woman with short black hair and worried blue eyes joined Dylan in the kitchen. “Do you have another cloth you could give me? The chocolate milkshake has gone everywhere.” She glanced at Tess and smiled. “You must be my son’s almost girlfriend.”

  Tess forced herself to smile. It wasn’t Logan’s mom’s fault that her son was an idiot.

  “Almost?” Dylan had suddenly decided to become interested in the conversation going on around him. “I thought Logan told you it was all a misunderstanding.”

  Mrs. Allen sent a dazzling smile toward Dylan. “I live in hope.” She glanced around the kitchen and saw the paper towels on the wall. “These will do.” She dribbled water on them, then headed into the café.

  Tess washed the scone dough off her hands and followed Mrs. Allen. It was bad enough that her son helped out in the kitchen. Mrs. Allen didn’t need to clean up spilled milkshake as well. When she saw the mess Oliver had made she understood Annie and Mrs. Allen’s need to get things clean.

  Oliver Tanner’s little sister was sitting in a highchair licking chocolate milkshake off her arm. Oliver’s dad was using every napkin he could find to wipe the milkshake off the rest of her. The floor and checkered tablecloth were coated in the same sticky mess.

  Tess found another highchair and left it beside Mr. Tanner. “Do you want to move Maddy into here?”

  He looked at the highchair, then at Maddy’s dress. “I didn’t bring a spare change of clothes with me.” He looked so upset that Tess knew something else was going on.

  Brian Tanner’s wife had left him six months ago. From what Tess had seen and heard, he was doing a great job of raising his children on his own.

  Tess looked more closely at Maddy. “Wait here.” She walked into the kitchen and took a couple of clean tablecloths off a shelf. By the time she made it back into the cafe, Annie and Mrs. Allen had the table and floor clean. Dylan was holding a giggling Maddy in the air while her dad wiped her dress down.

  Tess flicked one of the tablecloths open and folded it in half. “I helped Sally at their last school Christmas play. We made shepherd costumes out of sheets. If you’re happy for Maddy to wear a tablecloth toga style, we can get her cleaned up in no time.

  Brian looked so grateful that Tess felt embarrassed. “Thank you. It hasn’t been a good morning.”

  “It’s no problem. Do you want to change her in the kitchen?”

  Brian nodded and Dylan put Maddy on the floor beside her father.

  Maddy wobbled across to Dylan and held out her hand. She wasn’t the least bit intimidated by the big man with the frowning face.

  To Tess’ surprise, Dylan let Maddy clutch one of his fingers and they slowly made their way into the kitchen.

  Annie had a soft smile on her face. “How cute is that.”

  Dylan looked over his shoulder at Annie and blushed. Blushed. The man of steel had a heart made of gooey marshmallow.

  Annie and Mrs. Allen stayed in the café while everyone else traipsed through to the kitchen. It was just as well there weren’t too many people in the café.

  Oliver stood quietly beside his dad while Maddy got changed.

  “I’m really sorry about all of this,” Brian Tanner said. “I don’t know how it happened. One minute we were having a nice family breakfast and the next minute, Oliver’s milkshake was everywhere.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Tess said. She tied the last knot on Maddy’s shoulder. “That should stay there until you get home. Would Oliver like another milkshake?”

  Oliver’s little face lit up like a lightbulb. Brian looked down at his son. “That’s very kind of you. We’ll have a small vanilla milkshake this time.”

  Oliver nodded so hard that Tess smiled. He loved milkshakes. Each time Oliver’s family came into the café for their Saturday morning treat, Annie or Tess made him a special milkshake. They whizzed a tiny scoop of ice cream with a glass of milk in her grandpa’s milkshake machine. Every now and then, Oliver was allowed chocolate flavoring. After this morning, Tess hoped the chocolate option hadn’t been banished.

  The kitchen door opened and Mrs. Allen poked her head around the doorframe. “The café’s nice and clean. I’ll stay out here and help Annie.”

  Tess looked at the door, then at Dylan. Her life had been taken over by the Allen family and their friends.

  Dylan stuck his hands on his hips. “I’ve already filled a cooler with enough lunch for three people.”

  Tess wasn’t going to let him boss her around. She was six-foot tall and cranky, a lethal combination for anyone wanting her to do something that didn’t make sense. “I hope you’re hungry.” She smiled sweetly.

  She washed her hands and went back to her scones. Dylan stood on the other side of the counter, watching her every move. She set the timer on the oven, slid the scones in, then walked into the café. Annie would have a smile on her face and something nice to say. Unlike the silent sentinel in the kitchen.

  Annie was serving a customer. Oliver Tanner and his dad and sister looked as though they were nearly finished. Maddy looked cute in her tablecloth dress. The milkshake spill was long forgotten and everyone looked happy. It would have been a perfect morning, except for Mrs. Allen clearing the tables.

  Tess walked across to her. “I can do that.”

  “Nonsense. I can lend a hand.” She bustled past Tess with an armful of dirty dishes.

  “I tried to tell her I was okay,” Annie said. “But she wouldn’t listen.”

  Tess sighed. “It runs in their family.”

  Annie pointed to three big boxes she’d stacked at the side of the room. “More bridesmaids’ dresses have arrived.�
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  Tess walked across to the boxes. “They’re from San Francisco.” After Logan’s follow-up story about Connie’s wedding, people from all over the country were sending them their dresses. So far they had forty-six gowns and nowhere to put them. “We’re going to have to do something. Otherwise, we’ll end up with hundreds of bridesmaids’ dresses and no bridesmaids to wear them.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. Someone recognized Molly from the photo in Logan’s post-wedding article. They asked if we’re going to help other women.”

  Tess glanced at the boxes. “I hope she said yes?”

  Annie nodded. “Molly told the lady to write to the café and we’d be in touch.”

  “That’s fine.” Tess looked around the room and frowned. “Have you seen the weekend newspaper?”

  Annie’s cheeks flushed bright red. “Logan said to hide it until you left.”

  “He said what?”

  “To hide it. And there’s no point going to the stores beside us. They’ve all hidden their newspapers too.”

  “I’ve got one in the truck.”

  Tess jumped a mile. Dylan had snuck up behind her and quietly inserted himself into the conversation. “I don’t want your paper,” she growled. “I’ll find my own.”

  Molly came bustling into the café. “I’m sorry I’m late. I slept in.” She walked past the boxes and stopped. “More dresses?”

  Annie nodded.

  “Oh, my. We’re being over-run with people’s kindness. I’ll move them into the storage room once I’ve put my bag away.”

  Tess and Dylan followed Molly into the kitchen. One of them had a subtle grin on their face and it wasn’t Tess.

  “What are you doing here?” Tess’ question seemed irrelevant given that Molly was busy putting a clean apron on.

  “Logan called me last night. You should have told me you needed a day off. I waitressed for three years while I was at college.” She washed her hands and looked through the glass door of the oven. “Scones look as though they’re nearly done. I’ll go and get those boxes.”

  “You don’t need to be here. I’m not…”

  Molly shook her head. “I don’t want to hear any of your excuses for not having a fine day in the sunshine. Go with Dylan and Mrs. Allen. It will do you good.”

  Molly glanced at the timer on the oven. “I’ll be back in five minutes. Sally’s coming in at twelve for the afternoon shift.”

  “I can’t ask you to help. It’s Saturday.”

  “You didn’t ask, Logan did. Now leave the café before his mom thinks you don’t want to go.” Molly opened a cupboard and took out Tess’ jacket and bag. “Enjoy Old Faithful.”

  Dylan held the kitchen door open.

  Tess looked at her bag. “Are you sure you’ll be all right?”

  “Of course I’m sure.” Molly nudged her out the door. “Take plenty of photos. I want to see them when you get back.”

  Mrs. Allen was wiping down the glass food cabinets. She looked at Tess and smiled. “Are you ready to go?”

  Dylan put on a pair of dark sunglasses and Tess sighed. Instead of a babysitter he looked like a bodyguard. “I’m ready to go.”

  “I like your café, Tess.” Mrs. Allen handed Annie the spray bottle and cloth she’d been using. “I can see why Logan likes eating here. Your food looks very tempting.”

  “It tastes even better than it looks,” Molly said. She picked up one of the boxes and Dylan took it out of her hands.

  “Show me where you want it. I’ll get the other boxes too.”

  Molly didn’t hesitate. “Follow me.”

  Dylan moved quickly, coming back for the last two boxes while Logan’s mom straightened the salt and pepper shakers.

  Tess tried to distract Logan’s mom. “We’re really okay, Mrs. Allen. Molly’s here now.”

  “There’s always a speck or two that needs to be taken care of. Especially in such a busy café. You can call me Kathy, Tess. Mrs. Allen sounds far too old.”

  Dylan cleared his throat. “Can we continue this conversation in my truck?”

  Logan’s mom smiled. “Lead the way, Dylan.” She waited for Tess, then walked beside her to the black truck parked in front of the café.

  If Tess was being paranoid, she might have thought Kathy and Dylan were on presidential security. Kathy stayed on her left-hand side and Dylan on her right.

  Dylan waited until they were both in his truck before moving quickly around to the driver’s seat. He looked at Tess and smiled. “Okay, Ms. Tourist Guide. Tell us about the history of Bozeman.”

  Tess adjusted her seatbelt and looked out of the windshield. “I’ve only been living here for three years. I might be a bit fuzzy when it comes to an accurate history of the town.”

  “Just tell us what you know,” Kathy said from behind Dylan’s seat. “Anything is better than nothing.”

  Tess glanced at Kathy’s excited face. She could have asked Dylan for his copy of the newspaper, but she didn’t. What was published could never be taken back, so she might as well enjoy her day before reality set in. “I’ll do my best. Let’s see…there are about 40,000 people living in Bozeman. The city is named after a man called John Bozeman. I think a branch of the Oregon Trail used to run through here.”

  Images of the Wild West suited the mood Tess was in. She could imagine wagon trains hauling new settlers across the plains of Montana. They were heading for what they thought was a better life, a chance to make something of themselves.

  She’d left Bozeman for the same reason ten years ago. But here she was, back where it all began, waiting to see if everything she’d worked hard for was about to come crashing down around her ears.