Although she tried, Riley couldn’t stop feeling uncomfortable. It had started when she first saw Hayden staring at her when she came from the back of the shop. All the confidence she’d had in the bathroom evaporated when he kept gaping at her, not saying a word. That was what made her nervous—Hayden was rarely silent. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Did he think her new outfit was ugly or that she’d overdressed? She couldn’t read his expression, and when he didn’t say a word about her clothing, she figured she’d made a mistake wearing it. She should have stuck with her original jeans and T-shirt plan, although she noticed that Hayden not only looked nice but smelled amazing. She probably smelled like old yarn and cardboard boxes.
She had to admit that she was disappointed. Hayden was straightforward, and she liked that about him. If he liked her outfit, he would have said something.
Then there was the moment she tripped over the rug. She’d meant to get rid of that old thing already, but it kept slipping her mind. And while she might have caught her toe on the corner while wearing the sandals, it only made things worse that she had new shoes on—shoes Hayden didn’t seem to notice, either, until she pointed them out.
The waitress came by with glasses of water, and as she set them on the table, Riley tried to relax. She quickly picked up the glass and took a big gulp, only to spill half of it on her shirt. She was mortified. She couldn’t even do a friendly supper right. She put the glass down and picked up her cloth napkin, dabbing it at her neckline. Then she saw Hayden was staring at her again, only to clear his throat and take a sip of his own water. Of course he didn’t spill a drop.
She sat back in her chair. This was ridiculous. She refused to spend another minute ill at ease. This was Hayden, and they were here to discuss their ideas for Maple Falls, and they couldn’t do that if they weren’t speaking to each other.
“Let’s talk about Maple Falls,” she said, getting to the point. She never thought she’d ever say those words out loud.
He shifted his gaze for a split second, then looked at her again. “Okay, well, my first plan is to convince my parents to sell me the store.”
Her brow lifted. “You want to buy it?”
“Yes. I can’t accept that it won’t be our family business anymore. The only way to make sure that happens is if I own it outright.”
It didn’t escape Riley that they had very different opinions on the value of family businesses. “What about your house? Isn’t it going to be expensive to fix up?”
He shook his head. “Not if I do the work myself. I crunched some numbers, and although it will take more time than if I contract out some of the work, if I do as much as I can, I’ll save a good chunk of money, and I’ll put that toward the hardware store. Money isn’t the issue. Talking to my folks will be.”
“Why?” She took another sip of her water, this time making sure she didn’t spill it. “You have a good relationship with your family.” Something she was a bit envious of.
“I’m still irritated that they didn’t tell me about the sale.” He frowned. “I understand their reasons, at least the ones Henry told me. But they left me out of a family decision and didn’t give me a chance to put in my two cents.”
Riley was acquainted with that feeling, at least in other parts of her life. To be fair, Mimi had always tried to include her in Knots and Tangles, only to meet resistance.
The waitress brought their order—a rib eye, baked potato, and vegetable medley for Hayden, and a filet, mashed potatoes, and salad for Riley. The filet was a bit on the pricey side, but she was paying for her part of the supper, and thanks to Mimi’s generosity, she could afford to splurge a little.
After they started eating, they continued to talk. Riley suggested telling his parents what his plans were for the hardware store, and they brainstormed ideas to get more customers into the shop. Then they switched to discussing Knots and Tangles, and Riley explained her plans concerning the shop and Mimi’s house in more detail. She pulled out the budget with the estimates she’d worked on and gave it to Hayden, who perused it before tucking it into his pocket.
“Would you two like to look at the dessert menu?” the waitress asked as she cleared their empty plates.
Riley started to shake her head, but Hayden said, “Do you still have hot fudge sundaes?” When she nodded, he told the waitress, “One sundae, two spoons.”
After the waitress left, he looked at Riley, “Just in case you want a bite or two.”
She was nearly full after the wonderful meal but wasn’t sure she could resist a sundae. “Maybe one bite,” she conceded.
As they waited on dessert, Hayden brought up his ideas for revitalizing Maple Falls. “Eventually I want to get the Too Dang Hot Parade back on track, but I know that’s going to take time. Until then I want to visit with the Main Street business owners and talk about sprucing up their storefronts. I thought we could also get the school kids involved to clean up the park and ball field. I’m going to contact the vocational school in Hot Springs, too, and ask about commissioning some new benches for the park.”
“Wow, that all sounds great.” So great that for a moment she wished she would be here to see it all come to fruition. But she couldn’t let his enthusiasm sway her into staying in Maple Falls longer than she had to.
The sundae arrived and was large enough to serve two people. Hayden moved it to the center of the table and dug his spoon into the mound of vanilla ice cream, which was melting under a puddle of thick hot fudge.
When he took a bite, he smirked. “Delicious. Bet you can’t stop at one bite.”
She took it as a challenge and lifted her brow at him, then scooped up a huge bite of the sundae. When she tried to fit it in her mouth, she had to laugh as whipped cream landed on her nose.
“Here,” he said, reaching over and wiping it off with his napkin before settling back in his chair. “That counts as two bites, by the way.”
“Oh no it doesn’t.” She grinned. “You never specified the size of the one bite.”
He lifted another spoonful. “Good point.” Then he waved the spoon a little closer to her. “Sure you don’t want another bite?”
For the first time in her life, she didn’t glance around to see if anyone was watching her. Somehow Hayden inspired her to let go of her self-consciousness, even if it took a while to get there. She shook her head, then snatched the cherry that was sliding off the top of the sundae.
“I’m done.”
