Chapter 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

DUSTY

Thursday morning, I got off my shift at the firehouse feeling like someone had held my eyelids open and poured fine sand into them. I needed a tub of eye drops and forty hours of sleep. But Grandpa was waiting to see me, so I settled for breakfast at Gigi’s and some extra strong coffee. I could practically taste her buttery eggs and crisp bacon as I pulled my truck into a spot on Main Street.

The bell jangled above the door as I pushed it open. Gigi stood behind the counter, holding a coffee pot and chatting with Flora. The only other tables were a group of older women having brunch in the center of the dining room and a booth in the corner holding Chad and Travis in their police gear. Was it too late to spin around and leave the way I’d come?

No. I would show no fear. Travis had glanced up and noticed me, but quickly went back to eating. Chad hadn’t even looked my way, thank heavens. My jaw ached at the sight of him, the skin still tender. The bruise was already fading to an unattractive yellow color, but at least it was going away.

“Get that shirt out of here,” Gigi said, lifting her eyebrows.

I glanced down. The burnt orange UT Austin shirt I wore had nothing but a white longhorn symbol in the center. Sometimes I liked to wear my old alumni gear just to get on Gigi’s nerves—mostly because it meant some sparring, naturally—but today I hadn’t even thought about it. I had thrown on some clothes because I was going straight to Pleasant Gardens after this.

My mouth curved into a grin. “What, you mean the best team in the state? I can take it off, but that would be breaking the no shirt, no service rule, and I would kill for a stack of pancakes right now.”

Gigi fought a smile. I could see it hidden there beneath her fake grumpy frown. “For you, I’d make an exception. I don’t want to see that color in my establishment.”

Was she serious? It was sometimes hard to tell.

There was really only one way to find out.

I reached down and pulled my shirt off by the hem. When the fabric cleared my face, I found myself staring at Nova. She stood frozen with a tray of mugs, the kitchen door swinging shut behind her. My whole cocky bravado thing was mostly an act, because now I sort of wanted to pull my shirt back on and hide in a corner booth with a plate of hot breakfast. But I did what I do best and sent her a dazzling smile instead.

She wasn’t looking at my face, though. Too bad there wasn’t a box for me to lift right now. If I flexed, she’d notice, because her eyes were running all over my chest. When she lifted her brown eyes, they were full of some emotion I couldn’t place. Something full and heavy.

“Put that away,” Gigi said, laughing and gesturing to my chest. “It’s indecent. I have customers.”

I flashed her a smile and tossed my shirt over my shoulder. “I wouldn’t want to offend anyone with my longhorns, though.”

“It’s okay,” she said, hand on her hip. “I’ll just charge you double today. Longhorns tax.”

I laughed, shaking out my shirt to put it back on. When I moved to a booth near the window, I found Chad glaring at me. Well, let him.

“Can you take over for a minute, sugar?” Gigi was saying to Nova. “I need to check in with Phoebe.”

“Of course.” Nova followed her aunt into the kitchen and came out a minute later with a notepad and pencil. She worked her way around the tables, refilling coffees and taking orders, checking in with Chad and Travis and bringing them a side of syrup before she made it all the way to me and my grumbling stomach.

Which, as it happened, decided to growl the moment she approached.

Pink spots appeared on her cheeks. She posed the pencil on her notepad. “What can I get for you?”

“Coffee with the pancake breakfast. Sausage and bacon both, please.”

She nodded, writing. “How do you want your eggs?”

“Over-easy.”

“Toast?”

“Wheat.”

She scribbled it down, the redness growing on her face. When Nova finished writing her notes, she turned away. “I’ll have it right out.”

Was she…embarrassed? The woman wouldn’t meet my eye. I hadn’t taken my shirt off for her—how would I have known she was here? It was only a joke.

By the time Nova returned with the pot of coffee and a clean mug, I was at a total loss. I leaned back in the booth, running my arm along the bench. “Have I done something to offend you?”

Her eyes dipped to my shirt. “Besides your obscene little show back there?”

“My obscene —wow, Nova.”

She put the coffee pot on the table with a thud and leaned forward on both hands, lowering her voice. “You’re going to send that table of grandmas to the hospital with heart attacks. Don’t you think about anyone but yourself?”

“I was thinking of you, actually.”

She saw right through that little tease. “Oh? Not something stupid like football rivalries?”

“No, of course not.” I grinned, loving how easily she could see through me. “I was wishing you were here, and then bam: wish granted.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Heart attacks?” I asked, eyebrows up, my gaze flicking to the older women. “ That was ridiculous.”

“Do you own a mirror? I’m not the one exaggerating here.”

A slow smile curved over my lips. She’d leaned so close, our faces were only inches apart. I wasn’t even hungry anymore. I could live off banter with Nova. The rich aroma of coffee wafted up from the hot mug in front of me, making my stomach rumble again.

Comfort between us had been restored. I hadn’t seen her since the Battle of the Badges. I’d backed off, leaving the ball in her court. I didn’t know how she felt about violence or if seeing me and Chad fighting was a dealbreaker. She hadn’t blamed me at the time, but she had kids, so I wouldn’t fault her for being cautious.

“Do they not feed you over there?” she asked.

“At work? I’m the one who does the feeding. We had back-to-back calls all night, so I didn’t have time to grab anything.”

“I’ll bring out your food as soon as it’s ready.” She hesitated, and I liked that she didn’t seem to want to leave right away. “You doing anything fun today?”

“Puzzle shopping.”

“Huh.” She nodded. “That sounds like a fake excuse you’d use to let someone down gently. On par with cat feeding. ”

“Are you asking to hang out with me? Because the puzzles can definitely wait.” I cringed. “But my grandpa can’t.”

“Why don’t you take him that one we did of the States? It’ll keep you both occupied for a while.”

“Until he throws the whole thing off the table.”

“Has he done that before?”

“No, but I almost did when we were putting it together at your house.”

She threw her head back and laughed, pouring the sound into me like a funnel directly into my heart. “If you want the puzzle, it’s yours.”

“Maybe I do.” I smiled at her. It wasn’t really the puzzle I wanted.

At some point, I needed to figure out where she was at. At some point, I could ask her on a date. My pulse increased at the thought. “Are your cookies ready for Saturday?”

“No. I won’t finish them until tomorrow. But they’re almost there.”

“What shapes did you choose?”

“You’ll have to wait and see.” She flashed me a smile, then looked over her shoulder, ostensibly to check the other tables.

“Are you planning to stick around for the auction Saturday night?” I asked lightly, rotating my coffee cup slowly.

Nova’s eyes fell on my face and held. They seemed a darker brown than usual, more direct and questioning. She nodded. “I thought about it. Gigi is taking my kids for a sleepover so I can have a night off. She spoils me, but I couldn’t help accepting her offer.” She rolled her eyes. “Ben cut the arms off Alice’s pink monkey the other day as payback for the melted Chewbacca, and it’s been World War Three in our home ever since. But they seem to get along great when Gigi’s in charge. Her house is Switzerland.”

“Poor Peaches,” I said, pulling a tired smile from her lips .

“Nova, dear,” Flora called from the counter, her greedy eyes soaking us both in. “Can I get a refill?”

“Of course.” She shot me a smile before leaving.

Nova had the night off on Saturday. She had a babysitter already and was considering staying at the fundraiser. I didn’t know if she’d told me that as a hint or just to make conversation, but if ever there was a time to ask her on a real date, this was it.

I would need to set up and take down in the school gym, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t bring a date.

Chad and Travis got up to leave the diner, making my entire body tense and my jaw throb from muscle memory. Chad didn’t scare me, but I’d been sucker punched once already, and I wouldn’t put it past him to do it again.

“Keep walking,” Travis muttered when Chad slowed at my table.

“I’m good,” Chad said, his hand up. “Just wondered if you’ve had any jaw pain this week?” He gave me a falsely sympathetic look, like we were twelve in the cafeteria at school.

“I feel great,” I said, sipping my coffee and offering him a wide grin. The yellow bruise blended into my skin okay, but I guessed the fluorescent lighting made it look worse. “Might want to practice fair fighting for our rematch, though. You can’t steal a win in a boxing ring.”

“Let’s go,” Travis said, forcefully pushing Chad toward the door before he had time to react.

Chad looked furious.

I didn’t feel any better, though.

Nova watched them leave, approaching with my plate of steaming food. “Everything good here?”

“He’s just a sore loser,” I muttered. I really should have kept my mouth shut.

“Didn’t he win?” she asked.

“Not really, and he knows it.” A cheater wouldn’t ever be truly satisfied with his trophy. Maybe he’d fake it around town, but when it was me and him, I could see how it rankled. I breathed in bacon and eggs and syrup. “Smells amazing.”

“You should be glad Dal is back there this morning,” she muttered. “I’m not really cut out for this whole diner cook thing.”

“I thought you liked to cook?”

“Baking is different,” she said, looking at me like she expected me to understand. I did, sort of. Baking and decorating desserts wasn’t the same as cooking eggs and fried chicken on command. Diner cooking was probably even more monotonous.

“Hey,” I said, gathering her attention right before she turned away. It was all or nothing now. She wasn’t immune to me, obviously—which didn’t mean she wanted to date me, of course, but I wouldn’t know for sure until I tried.

“Yeah?” She tilted her head to the side, her ponytail swishing with the movement. I wanted to run my hands through her silky hair.

Focus, man. “Want to go to the fundraiser with me Saturday?”

Nova went still, her body straightening like a soldier and holding there.

Which meant, for some stupid reason, I felt the need to keep talking. “Low key, I promise. We can grab dinner and go to the fundraiser as friends. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

But it would mean something to me, and I was pretty sure she could sense that.

“Can I…actually…” She drew in a breath and let it out. “Sure.”

My body exploded, fireworks going off in my head, but I tried to look cool and nodded. “Great. I’ll text you later and we can work out the details.”

“Sounds good.” She hovered for a second, turning the wrong way and then spinning back the right direction, a smile playing on her lips and her cheeks going rosy .

I felt like I’d scored a million bucks. I shoved a bite of pancakes in my mouth to hide my grin, but when I looked up and found Gigi watching me, the food turned to sludge. Her mouth was in a flat line, her worried eyes shifting to her niece, and I tried to give her a reassuring nod.

To my utter surprise, she returned it with a subtle nod of her own. Did I have Gigi’s approval? It sure seemed like it.

My chest glowed with warmth and anticipation, and I had a hard time finishing my meal because of the excessive smiling. This was a huge step for Nova and a turning point for us. I’d never lacked for dates when I wanted them, but I also never kept one girlfriend for long. It was hard to commit when I battled the reality that some people left for good without a backwards glance. With Nova, I knew it could be different.

After I paid my check and made it back to my truck to head to Pleasant Gardens, I found the puzzle of the United States leaning against my windshield with a note taped to the box.

I’m going to assume the puzzle shopping wasn’t a gentle letdown and save you the trouble of shopping for a new one. Looking forward to Saturday.

—N

I drove to Beeler with a sappy grin. Pretty sure I was going to marry this woman.