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She’d started spending three or four nights a week over at his place, so it dismayed him when she shook her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t. April has a dance recital over at the Masonic Hall after dinner and I promised I’d be there.”
“Oh,” he said, fighting yet another surge of disappointment.
Unlike him, Summer had a big, close-knit family. Of course they wanted to spend time with her when she wasn’t at the diner.
Brock left shortly after the pies came out of the oven, deep crimson filling bubbling between the sugared, perfectly browned strips of pastry crisscrossed over the tops of the pies.
Summer gave him a lingering kiss and two of the six still-steaming pies to take with him, neatly packed in a flat box with a dishtowel to keep them from sliding around on the drive home.
As soon as he arrived, he went straight to the kitchen and cut himself a big slice of warm pie. Then he sat at his table and felt the silence close in around him.
He’d spent a year living completely alone, devoting himself to working at the diner and his garden. Now Summer had ruined solitude for him. She was as fiery as a ghost pepper, sweet as the honey from his backyard beehive, and rich as cream.
The sex was great, but even more, he enjoyed cooking with her after the diner closed and waking up with her in the mornings.
Hell, he even got a kick out of seeing her bottles of shampoo and grapefruit-scented conditioner in his bathroom, and her pink razor sitting in the shower’s soap niche. He couldn’t imagine anyone else sharing this house with him.
Except she wasn’t staying.
And he wanted her to. His mama’s voice echoed in his head.She’s a keeper, that one.
Yeah, she was. And he needed to keep her right here, with him.
First, he had to figure out how to transform their series of one-stands into something more. And then, convince Summer to change her mind about leaving Snowberry Springs.
∞∞∞
Monday, July 25 (One week later)
The Elk’s Head Tavern, located on the side of the highway about twenty minutes north of town, next to Fred Mason’s gas station, was a dive, no two ways about it. But they had pool tables and served decent food.
More importantly, Brock’s friends liked to meet there for beer and pizza once a month. Since Summer had made lunch plans with her old friend Jenna for today, Brock decided to join his buddies and catch up. Between all the changes happening at the diner, and his relationship with Summer, he hadn’t seen anyone but Jason lately.
As Brock came through the door, he spotted the group sitting in the back corner of the mostly-empty tavern.
Evie caught sight of him first. “Oh my God, look who’s here. I thought he was missing in action!”
Everyone looked up.
“Hey, Brock!” Rick Stinson waved at him.
As usual, he wore his dark blue Stinson and Sons Plumbing & Electrical trucker’s cap. He was sensitive about the fact that his short, light brown hair was balding prematurely on top, so he rarely took off his hat in public.
“Dude! Glad you finally decided to join us,” Jason called, grinning. “We’ve already ordered pizza. Grab a drink and come on over.”
Brock raised his hand to acknowledge them, and detoured over to the bar.
“Root beer, please.” The female bartender, a woman with graying dark hair pulled into a loose bun, looked surprised at his request, but didn’t comment. She even poured it into one of the chilled glass beer steins before handing it to him.
“So, you finally got a day off,” Jason commented as Brock approached them. “Heard you hired a bunch of new people at the diner. Things are going well, huh?”
“Can’t complain,” Brock replied, pulling up a chair and squeezing between Rick and Jason. “It’s been busy, though. Lots of projects going on right now.”
“We heard,” Rick said. “You ever gonna have time to rejoin the Fire Department?”
“Hoping to,” Brock replied. “Maybe this winter, when things calm down some.”
Like most small towns, the Snowberry Springs Fire Department was an all-volunteer organization. During his previous volunteer stint, he’d enjoyed the firefighting training and the adrenaline rush whenever a call came in. Not to mention the respect he got as a firefighter.
