“Picking you up for the day. I hope you haven’t eaten breakfast.” If she had, he’d have to alter his plans.
“So far, I’ve only had coffee. Do you want some?”
He’d already had half a pot. He’d needed it when he climbed out of bed after only four hours of sleep. “Nope. I want you to grab a jacket and your boots. Probably your hat and gloves too.” The forecast called for a gorgeous early spring day with temps in the high fifties. He’d rather play it safe, though.
“Uh, okay. But don’t you have to work today?”
“Between last night after you left and this morning, I took care of everything.”
“If you say so. I’ll be right back.”
True to her word, she didn’t keep him waiting.
“Are you going to tell me where we are going, or should I guess?” she asked once they were on their way.
“The best breakfast place in New Hampshire. Possibly in New England.” His favorite breakfast spot was only their first stop of the day.
“And that would be where?”
“Polly’s Pancake Parlor.” He’d never eaten better pancakes anywhere, and that included the ones his mom made. “I already called and had our name added to the waitlist.”
“A waitlist for breakfast.”
“The restaurant isn’t large. Today it shouldn’t be as busy, but in the summer, especially on the weekends, there is a two-hour wait to get a table.”
Opened during the Great Depression, the popular restaurant had undergone some renovations a few years earlier, but it still resembled the place he’d started coming to before he could walk. While the owners served a full menu of breakfast foods and lunch options, Aaron couldn’t imagine coming and ordering anything but their pancakes.
“I love the horse.” Juliette gestured toward the red wooden horse outside the entrance, where two children sat while their mom snapped a picture.
“My mom must have at least a dozen photos of my sisters and me on its predecessor.”
“Really?”
“Yep, every year she’d insist on taking a yearly picture of us on Trot Trot.”
“I might have to ask her to see them. I bet you were an adorable five-year-old.”
If a restaurant could be the embodiment of New England, it would be this place. When they’d walked in, they’d entered a small store that sold everything from pancake mix and real maple syrup to T-shirts and postcards. The store led directly into the dining room. Pictures of the family that started the business along with old New Hampshire license plates and farming tools from a bygone era decorated the wood-paneled walls.
Taking her seat, Juliette watched a server leave another table and enter the most unusual kitchen setup she’d ever seen. And she’d been in a lot of restaurants. As she watched, the server checked his pad and then reached for a metal funnel-shaped apparatus. The individual standing next to him did the same.
“What are they doing?” Polite or not, she pointed toward the employees.
He didn’t even look over his shoulder. “Cooking pancakes.”
Talk about an inefficient setup. No wonder there was a two-hour wait for a table on the weekends. “The servers cook the food?”
“Just the pancakes.”
Interesting. Juliette switched her attention away from the kitchen to her menu. As Aaron promised, the restaurant had a variety of options. Since the place was called a pancake parlor, pancakes seemed the logical choice. “How does this work?” Several different pancake batters were listed along with numerous things you could have added to them.
Aaron added milk and sugar to the coffee their server set down along with a tray containing several maple products. “You can pick three different pancake batters or just one. Up to you. Then you choose up to three different add-ins. Our server will cook three pancakes and bring them out. When you’re just about done with the first three, she’ll bring out the rest. It’s why the servers make the pancakes instead of the back kitchen.”
“What are you having?”
“Gingerbread with walnuts, cornmeal with blueberries, and oatmeal with coconut. I’m also getting a side of bacon and roasted potatoes. The pancakes aren’t huge.”
Yeah, she’d never finish six pancakes and two sides.
In the end, Juliette ordered four buttermilk pancakes, two with blueberries and two with walnuts, and the special pancake of the day, which consisted of bananas added to an oatmeal batter. She ordered a side of potatoes as well after Aaron promised to finish whatever food she couldn’t.
She watched Brandy, their server, as she walked away and stopped at another table before going to the kitchen. Rather than start cooking like her counterparts around her, Brandy looked in Aaron’s direction again. While talking their order, the woman hadn’t been able to keep her eyes off him.
Look all you want, but he’s with me. “What time did you get up this morning?”
“Three.”
No wonder he’d had a travel mug of coffee with him in the truck. “And how long did you work after I left last night?” She’d kissed him goodnight and driven back to her cottage around nine.
“For about two hours.”
“Four hours of sleep. Why would you do that? We could’ve come here some weekend.”
Reaching across the table, he took her hands. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“You could have surprised me on Saturday and got a few more hours of sleep.”
Moving his thumbs across her palms, Aaron met her eyes as the rest of the room disappeared. “I couldn’t wait until then to have a whole day alone with you.”
If people didn’t surround them, she would have leaned across the table and kissed him. With kissing off the table for the moment, she smiled.
When Brandy set down their order, he released her hands.
“Can I bring you anything else?” the server asked after she refilled Aaron’s coffee.
Although Brandy spoke to him, he held Juliette’s gaze. “I have everything I need here, thanks.”
The words shot past her heart and plunged into her soul.
Following breakfast, they headed into the town of Lincoln and visited first the Basin located in Franconia Notch State Park. They stayed there watching the Pemigewasset River rush into the giant pothole-like formation that had existed for more than ten thousand years. Only when others joined them did they leave and drive to the next location on Aaron’s itinerary.
Curt had mentioned the Flume Gorge, located in the same state park, while telling her about a day trip he’d taken with Taylor and her niece in the fall. She’d never considered taking the time to visit herself. The attraction itself didn’t open until May, however, individuals could hike along the Ridge Path regardless of the month. And that was what they did. While more challenging than the walks she’d been taking through the campground, she loved every minute of it and looked forward to more hikes in the future.
Even after their hike, Aaron hadn’t been done with surprises. After a leisurely drive along the Kancamagus Highway, they stopped at his favorite spot, a small parking area with a covered gazebo and an unobstructed view of the mountains. While she enjoyed her surroundings, Aaron covered the bed of his truck with blankets and laid out a late-afternoon picnic. Usually, when she ate outside, she did so on the deck of her cousin’s beach house or under a tent with cloth napkins on the table. And those meals often consisted of filet mignon, not turkey and cheese sandwiches and potato chips. Even still, she’d never enjoyed a meal outside more. And it was all due to the man sitting next to her and, not surprisingly, yawning.
“Tomorrow, I’ll call and make reservations for the three of us at Adventure Park this weekend,” Aaron said, opening a thermos of coffee he’d packed. “Would you rather go on Saturday or Sunday?”
Although she’d suggested they take Tiegan to the indoor skydiving and surfing place weeks ago, they hadn’t gotten around to it yet. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“I’ll—” A yawn interrupted hi
m, and he rubbed his eyes. “—try for Saturday.”
“I think we should go.”
“You’re probably right. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? For what? Being tired?” Leaning into him, she touched her lips to his. “I don’t blame you for being tired. I would be too. And while I had a fantastic day, next time don’t get up so early just for me.”
“As long as you enjoyed yourself, the missed sleep was worth it.”
Words were great when you could find the appropriate ones. At the moment, she couldn’t. With words off the table, she pressed her mouth against Aaron’s again while she lost yet another piece of her heart to him. At the rate she was going, the whole thing would belong to him soon.
Chapter 15
After picking up the various paint color cards, Aaron shuffled through them Friday night while waiting for Juliette to finish her phone call. He’d never realized there were so many shades of white, and to be honest, many of them looked the same to him. The same was true of the various purple cards. On the sofa next to him, Juliette thumbed through the catalog of light fixtures on the coffee table while she talked on the phone.
Although she didn’t close on the property until the end of the month, ever since Merry accepted her offer three weeks ago, Juliette had been focused on her dance school. When she wasn’t looking at paint colors or furniture for the office and waiting areas, she worked on a tentative class schedule with his sister. As he’d anticipated, Candace had signed on as soon as Juliette offered her a teaching position. Sandy had too. Only Lucy, another former teacher from Dance Dynamics, had turned down Juliette’s offer. Not that it mattered in the long run.
Like he’d warned Juliette, much of the town knew not only that they were together but also that Juliette had looked at the building and was thinking about opening a new dance school even before Juliette made an offer on the property. Once word got out that she’d hired Sandy and Candace but needed a third teacher, his sister had received a call from one of her former dance students. The young woman, who worked as an X-ray technician at the immediate care in Danielson, missed dancing and wanted to teach. After talking to Candace and then meeting with the woman, Juliette hired her on the spot.
“Thanks, Addie. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
Aaron knew she’d mentioned the name to him at some point, along with several others, but he didn’t remember if the woman Juliette spoke to now was a friend or a cousin. The woman had more cousins than anyone else he knew.
Setting aside the cell phone, she snagged a raw pepper from the platter and dragged it through the hummus. They’d both eaten late lunches, so they’d opted for snacks rather than a full meal when he arrived earlier.
“That was my cousin Trent’s wife, Addie,” she explained.
“The interior designer?” It was as good a guess as any.
“Mmm,” she replied while she chewed.
While she’d called and made an offer on the dance school the day after they looked at the building, she’d checked out two other homes and some undeveloped land for sale before making an offer on the Victorian. When she did, they’d both expected the current owners to accept immediately. After all, Caryn claimed the owners were eager to sell, and according to her, it was the first offer they’d received since the house went on the market. They hadn’t.
Instead, they came back with a ridiculous counteroffer. It’d taken about a week of going back and forth before they’d reached an agreement.
“Caryn arranged for us to go over to the house so Addie can see what she has to work with and start doing up some plans. Addie called to warn me that Trent is coming along. Since they’re staying at my cousin Curt’s house tonight and tomorrow, Curt’s decided to come too. He’s bringing his fiancée and Taylor’s niece.”
“Curt’s the one who lives in New Hampshire?” He hadn’t met the man, but he remembered one of her cousins lived to the south of Avon and had come to visit her at least once.
“Yes. He came up not long after I arrived.” She marked the catalog page with a sticky note and closed it.
“How long do you think they’ll stay?” Over the past several weeks, he’d grown accustomed to spending his weekends with her. He’d prefer not to go all day tomorrow without seeing her.
Juliette picked up the paint cards displaying the various shades of purple available and shuffled through them. “Probably most of the day. Why?”
Although comfortable for two people, the cottage wasn’t designed for entertaining. Not to mention she’d met some of his family. He wouldn’t mind getting to know some of hers, and he might not get another opportunity anytime soon, considering all except Curt lived out of state.
“You don’t have a lot of room here. If you’re interested, you can all hang out at my house after you go over to Oak Ridge. Or even before, depending on when Caryn’s expecting you. And it’s supposed to be a nice day, so I can cook outside on the grill.”
When she didn’t answer right away, he wondered if she wasn’t ready to introduce him to her family. They spent so much time together over the past month that it often felt like they’d known each other a lot longer than they really had. If he stood in her position, perhaps he’d want to wait longer and see where things went before introducing her to his family.
Yep, maybe it’d been a dumb idea on his part. “If you’d rather not, it’s okay. I won’t be upset.”
“It’s not that.” She wrapped her fingers around his wrist and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I was trying to decide whether or not it’s fair to subject you to my cousins already. I adore them both, and we often treat each other more like siblings. Unfortunately, that also means they sometimes like to take on the role of overprotective older brothers, especially when my brother Scott’s not around to do the honors. Trent and Jake are probably the worst about doing it. I think it’s because they’re the oldest of all the cousins. If they were the two coming tomorrow, you’d want some reinforcements around.” She paused and then patted the top of his hand. “Even though Curt’s not as bad as Jake, you’ll still have Trent to deal with, so you might want some around anyway.”
She looked serious, but the hint of humor in her voice made it hard for him to gauge how worried he should be about meeting some of the male members of her family. “I can make sure Candace and Tiegan join us. I think my mom has plans.”
“As long as you’re positive, I love the idea. And if Tiegan’s there, it’ll give Reese someone to hang around with. Taylor’s niece is around Tiegan’s age.”
“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t. There’s a great butcher shop in Ashford. I’ll head over there in the morning and pick stuff up. What time do you expect them?”
She set aside two of the paint cards and then went back to shuffling through the rest. She’d decided to go with a purple and white theme throughout the school. She’d already ordered a new purple awning to replace the pink one, although she hadn’t actually called it purple. She’d referred to it as Majestic Plum. Whatever Juliette and the company making the awning wanted to label it, at the end of the day, he called it purple.
“They’re planning to be here around noon. And we’re meeting Caryn at the house around one o’clock.” She plucked another card from her stack and set it off to the side.
“Maybe you should stick with the pink. It might grow on you.” Aaron selected a fat cherry tomato from the plate. “Who knows, after a few months of looking at it, you might even want to paint your bedroom a nice shade of bubble gum pink.”
“Don’t see that happening. I also don’t feel like looking at this stuff anymore today.” She set the cards down on top of the catalog and closed her laptop. Before he could do anything with the cards he held, she plucked them from his hand and set them aside too.
He’d spent the entire day sitting at his computer working. He’d be more than happy to hang around and do nothing for the rest of the evening. But if Juliette wanted to go out, he’d go. “You name it, and I’ll do anything you want except fo
r indoor surfing. There’s no way I’m up for that tonight.”
The previous weekend they’d taken Tiegan up to North Conway and spent the day at Adventure Park. He’d enjoyed the skydiving portion of the day. The jury was still out on the surfing part. He considered himself an athletic guy who picked up new things quickly. On Saturday, he’d spent far more time in the water than on his surfboard. Maybe he would have done better if his instructor had paid more attention to him than Juliette. It had pissed him off at the time, but he couldn’t blame the guy for staring at her the whole time. Hell, he’d even had a difficult time keeping his eyes on the water and his brain off removing the plain one-piece bathing suit she wore. Naturally, by the time they left, Tiegan looked as though she’d been surfing for years and couldn’t wait to go back.
“Next time we go, I’ll be your instructor. You’ll be surfing as well as Tiegan by the time we leave.”
Not a chance. Forget about staring at her while in the water, he’d be too busy trying to keep his hands off her to pay attention to anything she said. Even now, with her sitting there dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, he found it difficult to keep his hands off her.
“I’m where I want to be tonight.” Earlier in the week, her nails had been painted a peachy color. The fingernails going across his arm now were light pink with bright white tips. She didn’t pause when she reached his shoulder. “Well, more or less.” The pads of her fingers lightly brushed across only the side of his neck, yet somehow he felt it everywhere.
More or less? What did she mean by that? Did she want to go back to his house? He certainly didn’t at the moment. Tiegan had three of her closest friends from school over for the night. Unless he waited until two in the morning to go home, he’d find them awake in the living room watching television and eating every snack in the house.
The Billionaire's Kiss (The Sherbrookes of Newport Book 14) Page 17
