Cristie, having heard a familiar voice behind her turned with her cup in hand, searching for the owner of the voice that made her stomach drop to her toes. She zoned in on Remi at once. Her mouth opened slightly in surprise and her eyes widened before she managed to recover her control. “Remi?” she asked, the irritation seeping through her voice despite her attempt to hide it. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.
“Morning, Cristie. I’m helping Richie get breakfast under control. I’m handling the store’s needs while he’s taking care of the orders for the restaurant.”
“Yeah, okay, but why are you in my family’s restaurant and store?” she pressed, her voice getting tighter and higher as she grew more aggravated with his presence.
“Richie said he could use the help this morning, so I’m helping. You know how my mom can cook, so I’m no stranger to a kitchen.”
“You know that’s not….” she snapped, but stopped before she got any further, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before breathing it out in slow measured seconds. When she had to take another breath in, she finally opened her eyes and met Remi’s gaze. “Why are you in Missouri?”
“Because you are.”
“That is absolutely no reason to be here; and you know it!”
Remi smiled at her softly. “It’s every reason to be here, and while you might not like it, you do know it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to put these sandwiches under the heat lamps for the customers.” He stepped up next to her and very quickly and efficiently put all the sausage and bacon croissants on the left, and all the sausage and bacon bagels on the right. When he was done, he stepped back and offered her another smile. “Sorry for surprising you. I decided at the last minute to drive up. This, though,” he said, looking around the store and holding out one hand to indicate everything around himself, “was completely unexpected. Richie asked if I could cook, and here I am. I have to get back, though, Richie’s cooking by himself and only one of the waitresses is here at the moment.” He turned and walked away from her.
“But…”
He paused and looked back at her. “It’s real good to see you, Cristie. Have a good day.” He waved at Mrs. Constance as he walked past her, and set off down the hallway toward the back of the store.
Cristie stood where she was, stunned.
“Such a nice boy,” Constance said.
Cristie looked at her like she’d lost her mind then ran toward the hallway. “Remi!” she called out.
Remi had just pushed the door open, but turned and looked at her.
“You can’t be here! This is our territory and you have to request permission to be here if you’re doing more than just passing though.”
“You’re right. That’s why I called your dad yesterday and requested sanctuary. But when I got here it was three in the morning and I didn’t want to wake anybody so I slept in my car. That’s how Richie found me this morning and invited me to help out. I was already up and had no plans yet, so figured I may as well. See you later,” Remi said. He flashed her a smile and a wink, then stepped through the door and allowed it to close behind him.
Cristie’s mouth was hanging fully open and her left eye was twitching as she tried to get her bearings.
“That’s interesting. He just said he got here at three and you said you woke up at three. I wonder if there’s some kind of connection,” Mrs. Constance said thoughtfully.
“There is not a connection, it’s a coincidence!” Cristie said through clenched teeth right before she stalked down the hall and across the walkway to the restaurant.
She yanked the doors opened as she strode through them, so angry she was seething. The only thing that made her even make an effort to get her emotions under control was seeing the smiles and the friendly calls of ‘good morning’ from some of the regulars once she was inside the restaurant. She forced a cold smile as she hurried past on her way to the kitchen. She shoved her way through the double swinging doors and stalked over to where Remi was manning the flat grill top.
He looked up as she came to a stop beside him. “Hi, there,” he said good naturedly.
“Do not ‘hi there’ me. You know you’re not supposed to be here. You need to go. Now,” Cristie said.
He seemed genuinely puzzled. “No, I’m pretty sure it’s okay to be here. Uncle Riley said to come on, so I came on.”
“You’re lying,” Cristie said, her voice low and deceptively calm all of a sudden.
He smiled at her, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. He stepped to the left exactly two steps, because that was all he needed to be directly in front of her, and he looked down at her. “There are a lot of things you can accuse me of, Cristie. You know that better than most. But the one thing I have never, ever done, is tell a lie. I don’t lie. I have permission to be here.”
“There is no reason for you to be here!” she snapped at him, her voice rising in volume drastically.
“Isn’t there, though?” Remi asked.
“No!” she shouted.
“The way I see it, there’s no other place for me to be.” He lowered his voice and leaned his head closer to hers. “My mate is here,” he practically whispered, before bringing his voice up to normal conversation levels, “and there are miles and miles between us — figuratively, of course, since I’m actually here now. So this is the only place I belong.”
“You obviously did not think this through. I told you there was no chance for us.”
