“Tell me about it. I’d forgotten how wired a dinner shift leaves you. I’ve been running on about four hours of sleep a night. It’s not a sustainable model.”
“Ouch. No, it isn’t. What are you going to do?”
Jonah passed through the kitchen and stretched out on the sofa in the living room. “I don’t know yet. When Micah’s in town, he can get started with the baking on his own, but the bread is really more my specialty. And it needs time to rise. I could maybe get it mixed and started rising after I leave the restaurant, but that might be too long, and it still puts more bread work on Micah’s shoulders than he wants. We’ll figure something out.”
“I don’t suppose you can make it the day before?”
“Nope. Fresh bread is our thing. I don’t mind so much the muffins and cookies if we’re in a pinch—and we’ve had to do that a couple of times when Micah disappeared to visit Serena—but not the bread. Day old bread simply isn’t the same. We’ll figure it out.” Jonah tugged the throw off the back of the couch and pulled it over him. Should he mention the love thing? How was he supposed to work that into a conversation? Even if he could, wasn’t it better done in person? “Thanks for coming by tonight.”
“I’m glad I got to see you. It’s not the same with you away from the bakery. I miss you.”
Warmth that had nothing to do with the blanket washed over him. “I miss you, too. I’m off Sunday. And Monday. Any chance I could see you? Like a date?”
“I’d like that. A lot. I think I’m working Sunday. I traded shifts a few weeks ago and I think it’s catching up with me this weekend. Monday for sure I’m off. What do you want to do?”
He hadn’t gotten much past asking her out before his thoughts leapt down paths that were probably better left unexplored. “Um. I haven’t looked to see what the weather’s like. We could go for a hike down by the Snake River? Take a picnic maybe?”
“That sounds perfect.”
Jonah yawned, his jaw cracking as it stretched wide. “Sorry. Maybe I should try to sleep after all. If you can swing by in the morning, I should still be at the bakery. I know it’s a shift in your routine, but—”
“Worth it. I’ll see what I can do. Not sure why that didn’t occur to me.” Gloria chuckled. “Maybe I’m more tired than I thought.”
“Go to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow, hopefully.” He shifted, getting more comfortable on the couch. He’d just doze here until the washer was finished. “’Night.”
“Good night.” She drew in a breath and hesitated, as if she had more she wanted to say. Jonah waited, chastising himself for not having brought up their conversation at the restaurant. Maybe she would?
The phone went dead.
Jonah sighed and ended the call. Coulda, shoulda, woulda. He’d see her tomorrow. Maybe that was soon enough.
* * *
“Why don’t you go home and take a nap?” Micah slid the stack of sheet trays onto the shelf where they were stored and looked around the kitchen. “The baking is done and it’s only nine thirty. You could get two, maybe three hours of sleep before you have to be at L’Aubergine. You look like you’re dead on your feet.”
That was an accurate description. Jonah leaned against the counter and rubbed his gritty eyes. He’d fallen asleep on the couch after talking with Gloria and hadn’t awoken when the washing machine buzzed. The alarm on his phone had barely caused him to stir. “Yeah. Maybe. It’s just—”
“Hold that thought.” Micah grinned and darted out into the public area of the bakery.
Had the door chimed? Jonah hadn’t heard it if it did. He should take his brother up on the nap. Exhaustion, sharp knives, and hot stoves were a bad combination. He crossed to the little office and waved at Mal, signing, “I’m heading out. You okay?”
Malachi nodded. “All good. Get some sleep. You look like death.”
Great. Jonah made a face and waved. He’d go out through the front and maybe he’d bump into Gloria, or at least see her. She hadn’t said it was for sure that she’d be by, just that she’d try. And as much as he wanted to see her again, spend even five minutes with her holding her hand, he could use the sleep more.
He pushed the door open and strode into the bakery proper. He clapped Micah on the shoulder. “I’m gonna take your advice and head home. If—if Gloria comes by, would you explain?”
“Sure. But she hasn’t been by all week. She knows you’re at the restaurant.”
Jonah nodded. “I talked to her last night. She was going to see if she could make it in the morning.”
“Ah. Sorry, man. You have to be at the restaurant at what, one?”
“About that, yeah. Why?”
“Need me to call around twelve thirty and make sure you’re up?”
Jonah blew out a breath. He’d set an alarm but... “That’s not a bad idea. Thanks.”
“You got it.” Micah made a shooing motion. “Go. Get that nap.”
“I might make a stop along the way. Could you box up a half-dozen cookies?”
Micah raised his eyebrows but dug out a small box and started filling it. “What kind of stop?”
“At some point over the past two weeks, once I started to see that things with Gloria actually had a chance of working out, I realized I probably owed Kenia an apology.”
“Um. You sure? It’s not like you purposefully led her on.”
“No. I know that. I think she probably knows that. But the fact remains that it wasn’t fair to her to try and start something when my heart belonged to someone else. I’m grateful she recognized it before we wasted too much time.” Jonah shrugged. “It’s a small town. I can’t avoid her forever—don’t even want to, if I’m honest. She’s a great girl. And Page Turners is a great shop.”
Micah laughed and handed Jonah the cookies. “Tired of shopping online?”
“That’s not the only reason.”
“Relax. I’m teasing you. I’m not sure there’s anyone who’d say you had to apologize to her, but I think it says a lot about you that you want to. Mom’d be proud.”
Jonah smiled. Mom absolutely would be proud. Of course, she’d have kicked his butt for dating Kenia in the first place when he’d known his heart was still tied up with Gloria. But he’d been trying to move on.
“Go. Make your amends and then get some sleep before you fall over in the middle of walking somewhere.”
Jonah laughed, offered his brother a sketchy salute with the box of cookies, and headed toward his car. He wanted to wait for Gloria. On the other hand, when was he going to find time to apologize to Kenia if he didn’t take it now? This was the smarter choice. He needed sleep more than he needed to see Gloria.
Monday.
If he could make it through the weekend, they had a date on Monday. That would have to be enough.
18
Gloria pulled the cruiser into Jonah’s driveway and cut the engine before reaching for the brown paper sack she’d carefully belted into the passenger seat. She strode quickly up the front steps, pausing to rub Spock’s ears, and pushed the doorbell. She counted to ten and pushed it again, then knocked on the door. That last was Micah’s suggestion. Jonah, apparently, slept like the dead. She could hear a phone ringing inside and grinned. That was Micah’s contribution to the plan. She pushed the doorbell a third time.
“Hang on.”
Gloria held back a laugh. He sounded like a petulant toddler.
The door swung open. “Wha—oh. Hi.”
“Grumpy when you wake up. That’s an interesting little fact to have possession of.” Gloria held up the bag. “I brought lunch.”
“Yeah?” He scrubbed a hand over his face and stepped back. “Come on in. Maybe head to the kitchen, I should go change.”
Gloria nodded, filing away the image of Jonah in a snug black T-shirt and pajama pants covered with space ships for later. In the kitchen, she rummaged through the cabinets until she had bowls and plates, then poured soup from its insulated container and arranged sandwich halves. It
wasn’t a presentation worth of L’Aubergine, but it was better than letting him eat out of takeout boxes.
He was back before too much time had passed, dressed for the restaurant, his hair wet where he’d slicked down the cowlick that his bed-head had revealed. “This is nice. Thanks.”
“I stopped by the bakery—but it was nearly noon. Micah explained that you’d gone home to sleep, so I figured lunch might not go amiss. Gotta eat, right?”
He nodded and reached for her hand. “Right. But this is above and beyond. Thanks. You have time to eat with me?”
Gloria pulled out a chair but kept a hold of his hand, enjoying the shivers it sent up her arm. “Unless my radio goes off, yeah. It’s slow today. It’s slow most days, that’s why I love it here.”
“This smells amazing. Where’s it from?”
“I didn’t want to take a lot of time, so I buzzed into Benita’s. They have a little deli area at the back of the store. I’ve always liked their soup.”
“Huh. Who knew?” Jonah squeezed her fingers. “Can I pray?”
“Of course.”
“Father, thank You for this meal. But mostly, I just want to say thank You for Gloria and for letting us spend some time together today. You know how much I wanted this—thanks for the blessing. Amen.”
Her cheeks heated. Had anyone ever thanked God for her while she was sitting there? Certainly not that she could remember. She cleared her throat. “How are you feeling? Did the nap help?”
“You know what? It did.” Jonah dipped his spoon into the soup. “Mm, this is pretty good. It needs cheese though. You want some?”
“Cheese?” Gloria tasted the soup. What would cheese do to it? On the other hand, she wasn’t a chef. And cheese...was it ever a bad idea? She shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
He stood and dug through a drawer before opening the fridge and emerging with a small container. He sat down and pried up the lid to remove a white chunk. “Parmesan.”
Who kept real Parmesan in their fridge? She had a bottle of powdery stuff that claimed it was Parm. It tasted fine on spaghetti, and really that was all that mattered. She smiled as he ran the block over the microplane, shaving flecks of cheese into both bowls of soup. “You really are a foodie, aren’t you?”
He laughed. “Guilty. But I don’t consider it a bad thing. Give that a stir and see if you don’t think it’s better.”
Gloria did as instructed, blinking when she took another taste. “Wow. All that from a little cheese.”
“To be fair, this is amazing cheese. And it’s salty, so it’s doing double duty.” Jonah took another bite and nodded. “Much better. From Benita’s, you said? Maybe I’ll pop in if I get a chance and suggest it. Benita and I are friendly enough I think she’d take it okay.”
“The sandwiches probably aren’t up to your exacting requirements. I usually dunk them in the soup.” Gloria hunched her shoulders. Maybe bringing lunch was a bad idea. She was no cook. Sure, she could throw together a meal, but she’d always considered Benita’s a step up from anything she managed.
“I’m sure they’re fine. And I appreciate not having to make my own lunch. If you hadn’t come by, it would’ve been PB&J in the car on the way to the restaurant, if anything.” He reached for her hand again.
“Are you sure?” Serena was likely to have something pointed to say about the flop of her first attempt to do something like this. Just another check mark in the “unfeminine” column. “I’m not what anyone would call skilled in the kitchen. This is at least as good—probably better—than anything I’d be able to make on my own.”
“That’s okay. I like to cook. Even when I’m not working. And not every meal has to be fancy. Soup and a sandwich is great.” He cocked his head to the side. “I’m sorry if you felt I was criticizing you. That’s not how I meant it.”
“Okay. I’m not girly. It’s always been a bit of a problem for people.”
Jonah shrugged. “Not for me. I love you the way God made you.”
She smiled, her pulse racing. Maybe he had been listening. Not that she’d been quite that straightforward. “Yeah?”
He nodded.
Gloria cleared her throat and dragged her thoughts away from the little flashes of future possibilities that zinged through her mind. “We should probably eat before the soup’s cold.”
Jonah chuckled and reached for his sandwich. “What’s the rest of your day hold?”
“I’m heading back to the high school again. They’re really trying to crack down on the speeding problems there. I hate it, but I drew the short straw.”
“Sorry. On the positive side, school will be out in what, two months?”
“About that, yeah. Think it’ll ease up then?” Gloria grinned and scraped up the last bite of her soup. “What’s the special tonight?”
“I don’t even know. I’ve been finding out when I get there each day. Morgan probably has a list somewhere—some kind of plan. I was thinking I’d try and stop by tomorrow morning and see how’s she’s doing. Drop off some casseroles I threw together.”
When did he have time? “You’re amazing.”
Red crept up his neck. “It’s what friends and neighbors do, isn’t it? One of the best parts of being in a small town. Plus, the guys at the restaurant all helped, so it didn’t take any time. We just figured it was better to have one person go rather than a whole delegation.”
“When does she start chemo? Any idea?”
Jonah shook his head. “All I know is she’s expecting treatment to take a year.”
“Cancer stinks.”
“It really does.” He reached for her bowl and stacked it inside his. “Thanks again for lunch. It’s really good to see you. Would you be weirded out if I said I missed you?”
Gloria chuckled. “No. ‘Cause I missed you, too. We’re still on for Monday, right?”
“Barring catastrophe, absolutely. Can you swing lunch on Sunday? Ruth and Corban and the baby should get home tomorrow, and they’re planning to have everyone over at the B&B. I’ll cook, obviously, but they’ve missed the big family dinner.”
“I should at least be able to stop by, yeah. I’m glad they’re finally getting home. Right about his due date?”
“Yeah.” Jonah stood and carried the dishes to the sink, Gloria followed. He turned and nearly bumped into her. After a moment’s hesitation, he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her close, lowering his forehead to hers. “Have a good rest of the day. Be safe.”
Gloria’s heart hammered against her ribs. Would he finally kiss her? For a moment, she considered Serena’s advice, and then discarded it. That wasn’t her style. At all. With her luck, he’d think she was about to sneeze, or something equally ridiculous. She wrapped her arms around him and snuggled closer, basking in the warmth and electricity of the contact. “I love you, Jonah.”
“I love you, too.” He pressed his lips to her forehead before he stepped back “I should run.”
Gloria fought a stab of disappointment. “Text me when you get home tonight? I can’t promise I’ll still be up, but if I am, I’d love to hear from you.”
“You sure? It’s Friday so it’ll probably be a little later than—well, it’ll be more like last night when we ended up open later than usual.”
“I’m sure. I don’t keep my phone in the bedroom, so if I’m asleep, I won’t hear you. If I’m not, well, then I’ll get to chat.”
He chuckled. “Deal. Thanks again for the food.”
“Anytime.” Gloria squeezed his hand, reluctant to let go. She stepped backward, still holding his hand, until she had to let go or drag him with her. Her hand fell to her side and she lifted it in a wave before turning and forcing her feet to take her back out to the cruiser. Duty called. Love would have to wait.
* * *
Apparently their frequent speed traps by the high school were working.
Gloria checked the clock in the dash and sighed. Two hours of sitting here, watching kids drive safely and slowly past her. Som
e of the braver had offered a jaunty wave as they went by. Maybe they were getting started on their Friday afternoon plans with less speed than they wanted, but at least they, and the pedestrians that flooded this area, were all safe. Which was exactly the point.
She shifted in her seat and listened to dispatch sending a unit out to Retro Village. Someone was visiting the retirement home at least once a day. Usually a wrong number, but the police still had to respond. Last week, Felipe had been called out to investigate some stolen dentures. They’d been found in the old man’s glasses case. No one had found the missing glasses yet to her knowledge.
She smiled. Small town cop wasn’t dramatic or fast-paced, but it was a solid living. She liked the people and the town. It was good to feel like she was doing her part to keep her home safe.
A car zoomed past, rocking the cruiser. She checked the readout from the radar gun mounted on the back of the cruiser and flipped on the lights and sirens, as she called it in. Someone, it seemed, hadn’t gotten the memo.
She chased the low-slung red sports car for three blocks until it finally pulled to the shoulder.
Gloria shook her head as she pushed open her door and headed toward the car. Why hadn’t they stopped sooner? It wasn’t as if Arcadia Valley was somewhere high-speed chases took place. She tapped on the window and waited while it lowered. “Afternoon. Can I see your license and registration, please?”
The young man inside swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Nerves pumped off him, his hands shaking as he offered the requested items. “Sure. Of course.”
“You know how fast you were going?” Gloria glanced from the nervous driver to the two teenage girls in the back seat, both of whom were studiously avoiding eye contact. Something was off here. Cops made people nervous. She got that. But generally the folks in Arcadia Valley were ready with a smile. Even when she was pulling them over.
“No, ma’am. I wasn’t paying attention. We’re late for an orthodontist appointment. I didn’t want to end up getting bumped and having to pay the seventy-five dollar fee.”
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