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“Can you get me one of those and a cup of coffee? And maybe you could join me for a little breakfast. Tell me all about your cinnamon buns.” David’s look had turned sultry. He moved closer to Peaches.
“Oh, well, no…” Peaches fumbled with the sheet pan in her hands.
Ruth stepped into David’s path. “That’s okay, Peaches, I’ll take care of this.”
Peaches beat a quick retreat to the kitchen.
Ruth glared at her ex-husband. “Leave my cook alone.”
David shrugged. “I wasn’t doing anything. Just asked her to breakfast.”
“I just hired her, and she’s a terrific cook. I don’t want her to quit because she’s being harassed on the job.” Ruth put her hands on her hips. “If you want breakfast, you can get it somewhere else.”
David shook his head. “I wasn’t harassing her. I was flirting with her. Geez, Ruth, don’t you know the difference anymore? Get over yourself.”
“Leave, David. Just leave.” The tension across her shoulders was becoming painful.
“I’ll leave if you tell me when Carol’s coming home.”
Ruth closed her eyes. She could stand her ground, but she wanted him out of her shop. “She’s having a good time at the farm. Give her a couple more days. You can come for dinner the day after tomorrow. I’ll clear it with Brett today.”
“Good enough.” David ambled toward the door, turning to give her one more smirk. “I knew you could work it out if you tried.”
Ruth’s hands gathered into fists, but she kept quiet. Anything to get him out of her deli.
A moment later, Peaches opened the kitchen door part way, obviously checking to see if David was still there.
Ruth frowned. “He’s gone. Listen, I’m sorry about that. That was my ex-husband. He thinks of himself as irresistible, which should give you some idea of why he’s my ex.”
Peaches’s grin was dry. “Don’t worry about it. You can’t work in kitchens as long as I have without learning how to deal with assholes.”
“Right.” Ruth had picked up a lot of those abilities herself over the years. But if David was back, she’d probably be sharpening up her skills.
…
Liam told himself not to be an idiot. Tracking down Ruth’s ex and punching him out wouldn’t help her, and it was liable to land him in the slammer. It was a tempting prospect, though. Clearly David Mobley hadn’t had enough ass whippings in his life. He struck Liam as a slimy bastard.
He pushed open the door at Antero Brewing a little more energetically than he had to, startling Bec, who was cleaning out the brew kettle.
“That’s a dramatic entrance. What’s up?”
“You ever meet Ruth’s ex?” He grabbed a lab coat to put on over his T-shirt and jeans.
Bec shook her head. “They broke up when Carol was an infant, long before I knew Ruth.”
“Well, it looks like you’ll get your chance. He’s here in town.”
Bec frowned. “Why? What does he want?”
“Carol, apparently. He showed up at the Salty Goat a half hour ago. I left before he got around to details.”
“Why the hell would he come here to see her? I don’t think he’s ever set foot in Antero before. At least, not for a lot of years.”
“Got me. We didn’t have much time to chat.”
Bec gave him a sly grin. “What were you doing there before opening hours?”
“Having breakfast and helping out. They have a lot of early morning customers from the bed and breakfasts.” He actually had helped a little—he’d counted out muffins and handed boxes to the customers, partial payment for one of the most enjoyable breakfasts in recent memory.
“You just happened to be there at breakfast time?” Bec raised a slightly sardonic eyebrow.
He shrugged. “Right place, right time. What are we making today?”
She gave him a smile that let him know she wasn’t even slightly fooled by the change in subject. “We need to do another batch of IPA. Do you want to taste your new batch of saison? It’s been aging for around a week now.”
He paused to consider. He was curious about how this batch of saison had turned out, but he didn’t want to rush it. And he wasn’t ready to share it with Bec—it was his baby, after all. “Not quite yet. Let’s give it another few days.”
