by Jenni Moen
I nodded. Apparently, Ryan wasn’t the only one who could read someone like a book. I already knew what was at our local hardware store, and there wasn’t anything I wanted there. The fact that Quinn was already getting a feel for what I liked and disliked warmed me in all the right places. “You could have texted them to me.”
“Well, I thought about it, but unbelievably, I don’t have your phone number.”
“Yeah, you do,” I said, sheepishly. “I put it in your phone when you left it here by accident.” So much had changed in the course of a few weeks.
“Really?”
I shrugged. “I thought you might want to talk sometime.”
“You’re kind of sneaky, aren’t you?”
“I can be.” I leaned forward, my forearms on the countertop. “When I want something.” I looked up at him and blinked innocently.
He arched an eyebrow at me. His green eyes seemed to sparkle brighter than they should in the fluorescent lighting of the diner. He pressed his hands on the countertop on either side of me and leaned forward slightly. “And you wanted something from me?”
The air between us thrummed with sexual tension. The image of him naked flitted through my mind again. “Just all of you,” I said, throwing caution to the wind.
He studied me for a second, his expression suddenly serious. “I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Please do.” I looked down, suddenly nervous. What was I doing? Was I pushing too hard to make this into something more than it was? I didn’t want to spoil what seemed to be developing organically between us, but this seemed natural too. “We could go to Louisville,” I blurted.
“Louisville?” he asked, confused again.
“For the downstairs bathrooms, I drove to Louisville and bought everything there.”
“Support local businesses,” Ryan called out from behind me. “They support you.”
I whipped around and practically growled at him. I was serious about not wanting him listening to every single thing that was said or thought between Quinn and me. “Mind your own business,” I hollered at him. “Or better yet, get your own.”
He laughed. “You need me here.”
I couldn’t argue with him. I was already worried about how I would handle the diner without him if he found a better job, but I was in no mood to concede anything to him. I waved him off and returned my attention to Quinn.
“Why not Cincinnati?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I found what I wanted in Louisville. Why go any further?”
“We could go this afternoon. You don’t have school, right?”
“I can’t. I can go tomorrow after I get done here, but I’m interviewing a girl this afternoon.”
Quinn was suddenly very happy. The entire diner glowed pink. “Someone to help out here?”
“Yes. Some girl Ryan found.”
“Another waitress is a great idea. Maybe this will work out and you’ll be able to take a day off now and then.”
A laugh came from the kitchen. I waved it off. “Ignore him. He’s trying to stay on my nerves today. We could make a day of it. Well, an afternoon of it. I can’t leave until after I close up tomorrow.” The excitement in my voice was unmistakable. The prospect of getting out of town for an afternoon made me almost giddy.
His face fell. “Oh, I can’t go tomorrow. I already told the boys …” He paused and a rainbow of emotion hit me in the gut. “I told Bryson and the guys,” he continued, “that I’d go out with them tomorrow afternoon. There are only a few weeks of bow season left, and they’ve been after me since it started.”
A new kind of tension pulsed in waves around me, causing my stomach to flip and tumble. I walked around the bar to where he stood and sat myself down on the closest stool. I waited for the orange and blue waves to recede. When they didn’t immediately, I realized he had more on his mind than clearing his calendar for our trip to Louisville.
My position on hunting would never waver, but for the first time in my life, I felt obligated to remain silent. I didn’t want to discourage Quinn from spending time with his friends. I didn’t know what he was going through exactly, but they had known him longer than I had. They’d been better friends with him and spent more time with him. There was a chance they could reach him and help him before I could.
I watched guiltily as Ryan walked by with two plates to deliver them to a table I was ignoring. Everybody needs friends. I might never be able to support Quinn’s hobby, but I could still support him. “We could go Sunday instead,” I offered.
Quinn studied the floor as if he still wasn’t sure what to do.
“Or next week. There’s no rush,” I added.
He answered without looking up. “No, let’s go Sunday. That will work.”
“Hey, Quinn?” His head snapped up, and he finally met my eyes. “Are you okay?” If he kept this up, I was going to need to take a gallon jug of Janice’s tea with us just to get through the trip. Or sit on his lap the whole time. Sitting on his lap sounded better.
“Yeah, why?”
“Seemed like I lost you there for a second.”
“Oh … yeah. I’m sorry.” He cocked his head and really looked at me. “Wait. Are you okay?”
Just like that, a whole new buffet of emotions were laid out for me. These I could handle. Unsurprisingly, his concern for me felt good reflecting back at me. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
He looked unconvinced. “Is it your stomach again? How’s your head?”
“I’m fine. Promise.” Ryan walked by again on his way back to the kitchen and gave me a disapproving look. What did he want me to do? Tell Quinn about the mysterious Dearborn Effect? Not going to happen. “I do need to get back to work, though.”
I started to get up, but Quinn’s hands on my shoulders pushed me back down onto the stool. “Okay, but will you please think about going to the doctor. This stomach virus seems to be hanging around.”
“I’ll think about it.” He huffed quietly and then leaned down and gave me a chaste though tender kiss on the lips. “Would you look at that? I feel better already,” I said.
“If that’s all you need, I’ve got plenty more where that came from.”
“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Man to the rescue.”
He laughed hard. “Oh, my God, no. Don’t ever make that joke again.”
“It was pretty awful, wasn’t it?”
“The worst.”
We were stalling. He was not ready to go, and I was not ready for him to leave.
The bell over the door rang again. “I better get back to work,” I said reluctantly, turning to greet the new customer.
The man was tall with dark exotic looking skin. He breezed through the diner with a gracefulness that didn’t match his size, stopping directly in front of Quinn and me. He stuck his hand out in greeting. “You must be Willow. Ryan told me all about you.”
I stuck my hand in his. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I don’t know who you are.” I searched his face, wondering if I should know him from somewhere. Gorgeous amber eyes sparkled back at me. They were second to only one.
“I’m Les. I’m early. I hope it’s okay.”
“Oh!” I said, laughing awkwardly. “You’re Leslie! I’m sorry if I seem thrown. I wasn’t expecting you until later.” And I was expecting you to be a woman. I looked down at our still clasped hands as the room turned a murderous red. Quinn did not like this man touching me. I retracted my hand and smiled at Quinn.
“Leslie, this is Quinn. Quinn, this is Leslie. He’s the new hire I was telling you about.”
“My friends call me Les.”
Quinn’s eyes narrowed, but he took Leslie’s hand, shook it once, and then dropped it as if it was hot. “It’s nice to meet you, Leslie. I guess I assumed a woman was applying for the job.”
Les eyed Quinn and some unspoken threats and silent chest beating were lobbed back and forth before he finally turned to me, dismissing Quinn. “I’ve waited tables in Columbus for the past six years. Like I said, I
know I’m early, but I thought the best kind of interview for this job is a working interview. If you’re game, I can help you out with the lunch rush and then we can do the interview afterward if you like what you see.”
Despite Quinn bristling beside me, I thought this was a great plan. “Works for me.”
Ryan was laughing under his breath again when he strolled around the counter. Unexpectedly, he threw a bottle of syrup at Les, who caught it easily. Ryan clasped Les on the shoulder in the male version of a hug. “Glad you’re here, man. We sure can use the help.” He turned to Quinn and me. “Les is an old friend of mine, and as you can see, Willow, he has cat-like reflexes—something that will surely come in handy if he’s going to keep up with you.”
I nodded in response to his hidden message and wondered if Les was a panther or some other big cat. I’d never met one before and had to admit I was a little enamored with the idea.
“He’s also an artist,” Ryan continued, “and moved here because of the beautiful landscape.”
Les smiled at me. “There’s certainly no shortage of beautiful sites around here.”
Quinn made a choking sound. The room was full of purple rage, and he looked like he might spontaneously combust at any moment. I was glad I’d had a healthy helping of the nasty tea this morning but reached for his hand because it was the best medicine.
“Well, we should probably get to work then,” I said, cutting the conversation off. “Ryan, can you get Les an extra apron from the back and an order pad from the office?” I turned to Quinn. “What are you going to do this afternoon?” I asked a little more softly.
His shoulders were back, his chest out. All of this He-man posturing was incredibly sexy and endearing and touched some instinctual need I had inside. “I almost have two rooms ready for paint, so I’ll finish them and wait for you to come home.” I didn’t think his emphasis on the last word was for my benefit.
With Les watching, I raised on my tiptoes and gave Quinn a quick kiss on the mouth. “I can’t wait. Maybe we can do something fun tonight.”
“I’ll figure something out.” Quinn leaned in and kissed me one more time before heading reluctantly for the door. As I watched him get into his truck through the window, I grinned. There was never a dull moment when Quinn was around. Either I felt the best I ever had—as if there was nothing in the world I couldn’t handle—or the worst I ever had. It was like throwing a dart with your eyes closed. You never knew which you were going to get.
“All right, let’s get started,” I said to Les. “Almost all of our customers are regulars, so you’ll be familiar with everyone in no time.” I grabbed the full coffee pot from the counter and handed it to him. “I’ve been a bit neglectful this morning, so if you wouldn’t mind making a spin through the room to freshen up mugs, that would be great. Save the old man in the corner for me. I’ll deal with him myself.”
Les needed no further instruction. I watched him for a moment before taking another pot for myself. I made a beeline for Clive. “I’m sorry about nearly tossing your food in your lap earlier,” I said as I refilled his cup. “Breakfast is on me today.”
“That’s not necessary,” he grumbled. “Are you feeling better now? That boy certainly has an effect on you.”
I laughed. “Yes, Ryan definitely knows how to push my buttons, but I shouldn’t take it out on one of my best customers.”
Clive’s eyebrows knitted together. “Not that boy. The other one.”
“Oh, you mean Quinn?” I couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across my face.
“One’s never stood up for what he believes in and the other’s never done anything else. I’m talking about the one who knocks you off your feet and makes you see stars.”
My eyes widened, and my jaw went slack. I was torn between wanting to defend my best friend’s honor and being flat speechless. Clive had never spoken more than his breakfast order to me.
Before I could make up my mind, he stood up and pushed his chair in. “That’s contrived love for you. It’s fire and ice. Leaves your head spinning so you don’t know which way is up or what’s right from wrong. Then again, sometimes love is pure magic and doesn’t need any help at all. I guess it remains to be seen what yours is.”
He shuffled toward the door, mumbling Janice’s name under his breath like it was a curse word. I immediately walked to the kitchen and reversed everything I’d said before. “I changed my mind. I want you to pick someone’s brain for me.”
I recounted the exceptionally strange conversation I’d had with Clive in case he’d missed it. “So what do you think his connection is to Janice?” I asked. “Do you think they had an affair? She never said anything about him.”
Ryan sighed heavily and shook his head. “I don’t know. Clive’s a tough one for me. He’s like Nessie. I only get what he wants me to get, and I’m pretty sure he knows it too. This morning when he came in, he spoke directly to me as if he knew I was listening. Then he went radio silent until just before he walked out the door.”
“What did he say?”
“Earlier, he told me thanks again for the hash browns and let me know that Aristotle died yesterday. Then when he was leaving, he said, ‘just read the damn books,’ but I’m not sure who the message was for.”
“He was mumbling Janice’s name on the way out the door. I wonder what it means?”
“Who knows?”
“What if he was madly in love with her and ate here every day because he couldn’t stay away from her? How romantic is that? I should ask him when he comes in tomorrow. Or maybe we should go see him.” My mind raced with the made-up romance I’d already conjured up in my head. Janice had been a widow all of the years I’d known her.
“Or what if he had some crazy vendetta against her and he’s going to turn us into toads just for gracing his doorstep? I rather like being a bear. I’m masculine and scary.”
I rolled my eyes, but Ryan’s steely gaze told me he wasn’t going to bend. He wanted no part of visiting Clive. If I wanted to go see him, I’d have to go alone.
“No. You will not.”
I huffed in exasperation. “Get out of my head, Ryan.”
“Stop giving me a reason to be there.”
“When I look at Clive, I see sweet.”
“And I see sinister.”
“Speaking of sinister,” I said, leaning in and pointing at him. “You could have warned me about Leslie.”
Ryan chuckled. “I don’t think you were the one who needed the warning. That boy has it bad for you.”
“Did you do that on purpose?” I asked incredulously. “Seriously, don’t poke the bear, Ryan. He has enough problems.”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “Don’t poke the bear. Very funny. More like don’t poke the human.”
“I think the effect is the same in his case.”
“No joke. He was still worked up about Les when he left.”
It was so tempting. A part of me wanted to ask what Quinn had been thinking about when he left, but I thought I had a pretty good idea on my own even without Ryan’s brain-picking skills. I really didn’t want to cross that line with Quinn. It felt wrong. I was keeping enough secrets from him as it was.
“I don’t want to know,” I said, stomping away from him for the second time that day.
“Okay, but dress up tonight,” he called after me.
WILLOW
IT WAS LATER THAN I’D hoped when I pulled up to the house. Not because I’d gone by Clive’s house like I wanted to—I’d skipped that because I made it a life policy never to completely ignore Ryan’s warnings—but because hiring Les meant a ton of paperwork. I’d spent the afternoon filling out tax forms, a reminder of why I preferred to work alone.
Clive’s order ticket was on the entry table inside the door, right next to a small, grocery store variety bouquet of flowers. They were bright and cheerful and perfectly out of season. They made me incredibly happy.
Quinn had erased my yes answer from the time before, but it
was still slightly visible. I checked the time on my phone. While I would have loved to hand deliver my answer, there was no time. If I was going to be ready by 6:30, I needed to get moving. He had to know I was going to accept anyway.
Nearly an hour later, I emerged from my room with a few minutes to spare and not a trace of diner smell or grease anywhere on me. I left my hair loose since it was usually in a ponytail and going out in public with Quinn was definitely a first and a special occasion. My heels tapped across the wood floor of the hallway on the way to the kitchen for a tall glass of magic tea.
I rounded the corner and nearly screamed. Quinn was leaning up against the counter with the recipe book in his hand. My heart skidded to a halt. No.
He snapped it shut and tossed it on the counter before meeting me in the doorway. “Hey, I’m sorry if I scared you. I didn’t mean to.”
I looked at the refrigerator and then back at him, not sure which one I wanted more. “It’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting you yet.” A woodsy aftershave that smelled good enough to make me forget my name and my good sense wafted all around me.
“Want me to go away and come back?”
“Not at all.” Yep. It’s him. I definitely want him more than the tea.
He took a step backward, away from me. “You know what? This is all wrong.” He spun on his heel, and before I could even register what was happening, the back door clicked shut behind him. I listened, shell-shocked, to his feet thunder across the old wood porch. Then there was only silence. I stood, frozen in disbelief, and wondered what had just happened and if I’d run him off. I looked down at my simple black dress. That couldn’t be it. I looked at the recipe book on the counter. That definitely could be it.
I ran across the room and grabbed it. I opened the closest cabinet door and tossed it inside harder than necessary. Frustrated, I slammed the door shut. I looked at the back door again, unsure of what to do. I took a step to go after him, but the doorbell stopped me. I flew through the house, my smile growing wider the closer I got to the front door, which I threw open to a grinning Quinn.
