Page 3 of Ruined: Tobias

“You’re new in town,” she said to the young man who waited to hear where to put the flowers. “What’s your name?”

“Jonathan Burnett, I’m from Billings. Just moved here to work with Mr. Hamilton.”

“Come, I’ll show you where to put them.” She walked back into the front room holding her flour-covered hands up. “They will brighten up the entrance. I want them here at the hostess station.”

He put them down. “I take it you know Mr. Hamilton?”

“Yep all of them. Most are cool, but it depends on which one you’re talking about. There are tons of Hamiltons in this town.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I learned that. Mr. Tobias Hamilton. He hired me to work out at the ranch.”

“Yeah I know him,” Tori replied, rolling her eyes and then stopped herself.

“Then why are you delivering flowers?”

He shrugged. “I don’t start for a month. I came early to get a lay of the area. I do errands for a couple of shops. You need any help with deliveries or anything, let me know.” He held out a piece of paper with his name and phone number on it. “Errands” was scribbled in ink on the bottom.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Tori replied, not wanting to continue the conversation. If he asked why she’d rolled her eyes, she wasn’t sure what her answer would be. She jutted a hip out. “Put it in my apron pocket.”

By noon, everyseat in the restaurant was taken. Tori, along with Jessie, the only waitress, rushed back and forth to the kitchen retrieving plates and ensuring every beverage glass was refilled.

Across the room she spotted a foursome sliding into a booth by the window.

After a deep breath, Tori walked up to a table and smiled while placing glasses of water down in front of the four people seated in a booth. Her smile faltered just a bit when she looked around the booth.

Obviously, Tobias had located his fiancée, because the blonde was smashed to his side. He didn’t meet her gaze but instead looked down at the glass of water. Across from him were Eric and Mindy, who owed the local coffee shop, Cuppa Joe.

“Your food is so good,” Mimi, Tobias’ new fiancée, exclaimed. “You should consider opening a second restaurant in Billings or Helena. Your talents are wasted in tiny little Laurel Creek.” She gave her a wide-eyed doe look.

Tori tried to smile, but her face hurt. Instead, she reached for a pitcher and topped off the already full glasses. “I like it here fine,” she replied.

“I’m sure she means it as a compliment,” Mindy spoke up a bit too quickly. “Right Mimi?”

“Of course,” the blonde said, her gaze moving from Tori to Tobias. “If it wasn’t for my babe’s ranch, we’d be gone already.”

“One can only dream,” Tori said and turned away. She caught Jessie’s eyes. “Can you cover table nine for me?”

Jessie looked to Tobias’ table and her eyes widened just enough to tell that she understood loud and clear. “Not a problem.”

“I’ll take four,” Tori said, dashing past to take the table’s order.

She kept busy ignoring table nine for the next hour, while the foursome lingered over lunch.

Tori went to the cash register to check out one of her tables. Just as she reached the counter, so did Tobias. His eyes were flat when looking at her. “Left money on the table for your tip.”

Eric and the two women had already walked out, making her wonder why he’d lingered. “Okay,” she replied and counted out change for the other customers. The entire time, Tobias remained there. Once the customers from her table walked out, she met his gaze again.

“What?”

“You accepted my apology then?” He looked to the flowers.

If it weren’t for other customers being there, she would have yelled. Instead, she spoke through clenched teeth. “What are you talking about?”

He picked the note from the flowers and put in in her apron pocket. “Read it.” With that, he strolled out.

“You look flushed. It’s a good thing the lunch crowd is almost done.” Jessie rounded her and pecked at the register keys. “Are you feeling okay?”

Tori refused to think of the fact that Tobias had sent her flowers and apologized for something. Hell, if he took to apologizing for each time he’d done something wrong, Allison would be a millionaire. Whatever was this about?