Chapter Nine

A day had never been longer. We were busy enough, but I kept wondering where Pike was and what he was doing. Oliver Creek had become a real mecca for visitors, especially foodies, and the bell rang constantly, the bell that used to have me rushing forward every time. I spent most of the day in front anyway, but the whole time my mind was on Pike. Had I been wrong to let him go instead of taking the rest of the day off and shutting the shop down?

My bear thought I should have done that, but my bear wasn’t very practical about things like paying the mortgage and the suppliers. He didn’t care if we paid for electricity or water or natural gas. As far as he was concerned, all we needed for happiness was our mate and a cozy place to den up with him. A cave would be great.

I’d known from day one that my mate would come here. Toward the end, I’d nearly lost faith, but turned out, he did show up and in fact rescued me from a near disaster. Just the kind of romantic “cute meet” they put in movies, although as the alpha I would have preferred to fill the heroic role.

I made coffee and wiped tables and rang up sales, grateful for the flow of customers who made it possible for me to pay the bills and keep the lights on, but my mind was elsewhere. Was Pike window-shopping? We’d had a big lunch, but was he getting hungry? Did he feel like he had to stay away until six or be underfoot? I should have made it clear he could come back anytime and just chill.

Finally, Glen left and I was doing the last bit of cleanup. I kept looking up at the clock over the espresso machine. The hands crept toward six when I could finally lock the door. It had been a good ten minutes since our last customer, but I still wouldn’t shut down early. I could see how having a mate could make that attractive. Until now, I’d been a virtual workaholic, a necessity while getting a business going, but it was definitely time to reassess.

The bell chimed, and I spoke before looking up. “Can I…” And then I saw his face, and my heart rate sped up. “Pike. Did you have a good day?”

“I did.”

“Ready to go home?” I asked. “I mean, to my house?”

“Why don’t I check out the dishwasher first. While you’re closed and it’s quiet?”

“Aren’t you tired?” My bear did not like the idea of our omega overdoing it. He wanted to take him home and feed him dinner, tuck him in bed, and join him there. “You’ve done enough for one day.”

“I have just been wandering around enjoying your fine town, and of course I spent a few minutes wrangling that hose.”

“And a while mopping.”

“True. But I’m not tired, and I only need maybe a half hour to do what I need to. That way, if any parts should be replaced, you’ll be able to order them online right away.”

“There’s a plumbing store in—”

He raised one brow in the ultimate skeptical look.

“I am not going to find parts for this in a store, am I?”

“No. But I know some sites we can check for after-market parts, and worst-case scenario, the manufacturer actually has replacement parts for most of their older models, just at a premium price.”

“You are clearly the smarter of us because I would have assumed the manufacturer had long since stopped serving these models and that if they did, they’d be my best source.”

Pike went out to his truck and came back with a toolbox, which he carried into the kitchen area. “If you have something to do, you don’t need to sit and watch me.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble.” Quite the opposite. I planted my butt on a stool at the prep counter. “Let me know if I can help.”

He had that skeptical stare down pat. No words needed.

“Okay, just watching, then.”

And well worth the price of a ticket because this omega made crawling around a dishwasher look like a dance. Well, maybe that was excessive, but the bending, reaching, stretching…poetry in motion. At least to me.

“Well that’s it.” He turned to face me, dusting his hands together. “You all right?”

I blinked. “Yeah, I was just spacing out a little, I guess. Nice to sit and relax.”

“I’ll bet. Well here’s the news. Nothing is broken or about to break, but some hoses and other parts should be replaced. I’ll make you a list and give you the site info for ordering, okay?”

“I guess you’ll have to stick around until they come,” I joked—not really kidding. “Ready to head for home?”

“Sure am.”

“Then let’s go.” I turned off the last of the lights.

“I’m on the street. You?”

“In back. Would you like to follow me home or maybe just leave your vehicle in our lot overnight?” I really wanted him in my car, sitting close to me.

“If you don’t mind, I’d rather follow you. Everything I own is in the truck.” He shrugged. “I feel better if it’s close to me.”

“Of course.” I opened the front door for him and said, “Wait in your truck and I will be right around. On second thought, give me your phone?”

He had my number already, but I input my address. “Just in case we get separated.” At nearly seven o’clock in Oliver Creek, there was not the kind of traffic that would let that happen, but I wasn’t taking chances. “See you there.”

I locked the front, went out the back, and locked that door then hopped in my car and drove around the front. As I’d predicted, we did not get separated, and Pike followed me up my driveway, coming to a stop behind me.

He hopped to the ground. “Nice place.”

I looked past him at my house, wondering what it looked like to a guy who was on the road all the time. Homey, I hoped. “It came on the market at a good time. Not too big, not too small. Just enough to make me feel comfortable.”

We went inside, and I gave him the tour, showing him the ground-floor living room, kitchen, dining room, and powder room.. On some level, I’d imagined we’d fall into one another’s arms and into bed, but despite our comfortable talking, having moved inside my home, Pike went quiet, looking around and nodding as I told him where to find things. Finally I took him upstairs to the guest room and left him to settle in while I got dinner started.