10. Totally Biased

10

TOTALLY BIASED

LIVVIE

A tiny, warm body snuck under the covers with me on the couch. “Morning, Mommy.” This had become our thing, watching his favorite cartoon on Saturdays. Chilly and Tilly kept him occupied so I could doze longer.

I needed the rest, too, after my worries about everything resulted in a less than fitful sleep. I tightened my hold around him, wrapping his body in the safety of my cocoon. He would never know everything I went through to protect him, to get to this point and the life we had now. I only hoped it wasn’t for nothing.

His familiar little boy scent of last night’s bath bubbles filled my nostrils, and I committed it to memory. He’d be another year older this spring, and every spring after that. How much longer would he spend mornings like this snuggling with me?

“Mom, your phone is ringing.” He said and reached for it from the table in front of me. I’d had it on silence for the night, but he could see the glass light up.

“Put it on speaker, baby,” I mumbled, grateful he had a basic working knowledge of how to use the phone at this early age. I figured in case of emergency, I should teach him. He learned how to dial emergency services and basic usage, for now. Otherwise, I usually kept it from him. He was too young and there were too many weirdos out there who could take advantage of a kid.

“Hello? This is my mommy’s phone.”

“Oh, uh, River? Hi, it’s Tori from the pie shop. Is your mother there?”

I forced one eye open. “Yep. Here. Is everything okay?”

“I wondered if you could come in and help? Porsche must have a flu bug. She’s vomiting and Nate is out all day on a security detail—anyway, Meadow said she could help out this afternoon and close. I need someone now and to cover through lunch. Connor and Beverly are there, too.”

“Oh sure. I’d be happy to. Let me figure out who can watch River.” Nancy appeared before us, apparently hearing the conversation. Between a quick round of mouthed words, nods of heads, and pointing fingers, we communicated and worked out that she’d be able to watch him today. “Never mind. Nancy will do it.”

“Oh, thank you. Nancy, you’ll get a free slice of pie from me next time you drop by,” Tori offered.

“I won’t turn that down,” she said, and I ended the call.

After quickly getting ready, and promising River I’d play with him tonight, I arrived at the shop a half hour later. I jumped right in, working in tandem with Connor and Beverly. The traffic at Aunt Minnie’s trickled in steadily until midmorning, when it finally quieted down.

Over the past two weeks of on-the-job training, I’d learned the flow of things. The in-between time occurred when the breakfast rush of to-go coffees, breakfast sandwiches, and cinnamon roll orders calmed and we prepared for the lunch crowd, where the main order often was the Half-n-Half-Plus: a half bacon club sandwich, soup of the day in a cup, plus a slice of pie.

Recognition of the regulars and their favorite orders came faster to me now, while almost everyone offered up gossip from every angle and about a variety of people. Without me even asking for it, as if they embraced me into their hometown enough to share its secrets. Like the old feud between the Boyd and the Montgomery families someone told me about, and how when Mayor Meadow Boyd married Dillon Montgomery, most people believed the feud vanished like a broken curse.

It was safe to say that Aunt Minnie’s was the heart and soul of downtown Kissing Springs. I thrived in this environment, so much better than I ever did in my family bar back home amongst all the bikers and gang members, where I was bullied by my own flesh and blood.

Today, though, the bells at the door gave warning as the Purple Hat Club ladies dropped in unexpectedly for an early lunch, taking up half the tables and chairs. Then in walked Blake.

“Hi. I didn’t expect to see you here.” He came right up to greet me at the counter with a grin, even though I’d put him off last night on the phone. No matter what happened so far, he didn’t seem to give up, yet. Always there for me.

In faded denims and cowboy boots, with a black KSFD sweatshirt identical to the one he gave me which I still had at home, I couldn’t hide a warm smile back. Not to mention, he wore a ball cap backwards, adding to a certain boyish appeal, and I was a sucker for it. The attraction undeniable, futile to resist. Why was I trying to, when inevitably we were bound to be together, tied by the bond of love for our son?

“Porsche is sick with a flu bug, so Tori called me in. Nancy is watching River,” I explained.

He made a face. “You could have called me to watch him. Lucky makes a great sitter.” The thought had crossed my mind, but Nancy was there and had offered.

Before I could explain, the door bells rang again. In walked about a dozen strapping men.

My jaw dropped as the group shoved together all the remaining tables and multiple chairs and made themselves at home. The store divided in half, between purple hats on one side, and flannels and black KSFD sweatshirts on the other. Then my eyes about fell out when the door opened again and in walked two different couples, each taking up the remaining booths.

We were packed. “So much for the quiet time before lunch.”

“The guys from the fire department are meeting here today to discuss our annual hunting trip at Thanksgiving. We can go somewhere else, though,” he offered.

While Minnie was away, she praised Tori for the increase in sales. A busy day like this would a the bonus. “No, stay, I don’t want to let Tori down. I’ve just gotten used to balancing five tables by myself at a time. Somehow I’ll figure this out. Trial by fire, right?”

Of all things for me to make fun of…

“Hey, sweet pea? Look at me. You can handle this, okay?” Blake jumped up and grabbed an apron, then tied it around his waist.

“What are you doing?” I protested, while trying not to eyeball how damn cute he was pitching in.

“Helping. See, one thing you St. Louis people don’t understand… This here is a small town and we take care of each other when needed.”

“I’ll be fine.” I scoffed, knowing full-well he referenced all our previous conversations, where I refused handouts or help from him as a first course, always. In my defense, I hadn’t come to terms yet with the idea of suddenly having Blake in our lives to lean on after having no one to rely on for so long.

“I worked here a little after school in the good old days. A coffee bar barista was my second career choice if the first responder gig didn’t pan out. We got this.” He winked and there went the fluttering of my insides. Considering he saved River on my first day in town, I considered myself lucky the first responder choice suited him well.

Beverly sidled up to me then, and Connor, too.

“Did Tori think Porsche would get better soon?” Ignoring the crowd, his question posed with concern didn’t surprise me. We’d become friendly after I’d caught him with Porsche, hugging and kissing earlier this week in the storage room. They quickly parted upon seeing me. Later, Connor had taken me aside and asked me not to say anything to Tori, because he didn’t think she approved of his interest in her; he was nineteen, she was only sixteen. He swore to me he really liked her and would wait for her, that it was just hard to resist holding her sometimes.

I held off telling Tori, because the more I got to know him, the more I liked him. He really was a sweet young man. He mainly worked at Minnie’s, but he also helped out around Wild Horses Music, one of Dillon’s businesses here. He also showed me a song he was writing for Porsche. She usually stopped by the shop after school to visit Tori, but I couldn’t miss the looks she shared with Connor, like they were in total puppy love. For now, I tried not to get involved.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to see her in a few days.” I assured him.

“I know this rowdy fire crew. We’re about to run out of pies and sweet breads before lunch.” Beverly took charge, fine by me. “Connor, go grab a bunch more from the cooler and freezer. Blake, can you keep up with the coffee orders from your friends? These big guys sure do love their prissy cinnamon cappuccinos. And Livvie, can you handle taking all the orders and keeping mugs filled?”

“Yes, I sure can.” Considering I was more comfortable with that than with cooking… If the past was any indication. So far, I’d convinced Tori to keep me away from anything prone to cause fires. Although if something were to be set ablaze over lunch today, the entire KSFD was here to save the day. I stifled a snort and swallowed my nerves, leaving the bad jokes behind, and got to work.

The boisterous men weren’t much different from ones I’d had to deal with in the past, just more lawful. I was sure I could handle the teasing. Until one of them said, “Come on over, honey. We won’t bite. We just want a good look at the woman Blake’s had his eyes on the past couple of weeks.”

The man to my left growled and replied, “That’d better be all you do is look, Smith. Keep your eyes on the damn menu.” Then he manhandled the coffee pots back to the kitchen to fill with water. I watched his fine ass shuffle off in his jeans for a little too long, given the situation.

“What was that about?” I whispered to Beverly while I sharpened my pencil. Minnie’s operation wasn’t exactly computerized, but there was something grounding about taking orders by hand with a freshly sharpened leaded number two.

“Honey, if you can’t see how bad that man is taken with you...” She chuckled and walked away to assume her position at the prep counter.

Taken with me? After I did nothing but push him away, keeping him at arm’s length?

I couldn’t dwell on this now. I scurried over to the purple hat ladies to take their orders, starting with the woman at the head of the table, Cheryl. She’d been in a few times before, and always ordered lemon meringue. “Hello. Lemon again today?”

“Yes, I’ll have that and—oh my. Ladies, look who it is behind the coffee counter.” Cheryl lowered her voice for only the table occupants. “The Playboy of Nelson County.”

A dozen pairs of eyes beneath silver wigs and funny hats shifted toward Blake as he reappeared with the coffee pots. Oblivious, he sent me a wide grin and a wink catching me staring at him. The ladies went crazy.

“The grump smiled.” One of them hissed.

“Always an adorable rebel.” Another whispered and sighed.

“A heartbreaker. And he’s looking at her. ” Cheryl pointed at me. With one appraising look up and down my body, she gushed. “Ladies, I think the odds have just changed in favor of our new waitress.”

“The odds? Wh-what are you talking about?” I was at a complete loss. Were they here to eat or judge me?

“We’re talking about Blake Wilson, one of the most eligible bachelors of the county, a man we’ve been watching for years. Someone we considered a dark horse, until now.” She wiggled her brows. He might have normally overheard her in the tiny diner, but due to the noise and laughter coming from the men on the other side of the room, we were safe from him hearing anything. “My dear, he’s been with so many women, we’ve lost count. But you might very well be the one. Who wants to change their bet?”

The ladies went crazy calling out their wagers, changing their gambles, hazarding their guesses, while a petite woman in the middle with red framed eyeglasses wrote them all down in pencil in a thick ledger she produced from her bag. I slowly backed away and let them be, and took the men’s orders first instead.

By comparison, the men were tame instead of teasing, apparently under Blake’s scrutiny. Each one pleasantly introduced himself to me and told me about their wives and kids, and by the end of lunch I knew the names of all the proud men making up the Kissing Springs Fire Department.

Good thing they didn’t know my history with fires.