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But something deep inside her yearned for them, just the same.
Freya trotted ahead of them and nosed a large wooden door open. Wyatt pushed it all the way and stepped aside, allowing Beth to enter the pub before him.
When she took a few steps into the establishment, she froze. The pub was teeming with people, so many of them. There didn’t seem to be a spare chair in the place. What if she accidentally knocked into someone? Spilled something? Got in someone’s way?
So many reasons to earn punishment.
Her breathing became shallow as panic slid through her, its insidious reach starting to close her throat. She hadn’t realized she’d inched closer to Wyatt until she felt his hand on the base of her spine, gentle and warm.
“It’s okay, honey. Take a deep breath, in and out. If it makes you uncomfortable, we can leave. Just look at me and nobody else.”
Her green eyes met his dark blue ones, and she tried to calm herself. She hadn’t wanted to show him how unstable she was so early on in the game. She didn’t want to drive away the one person in town she had no choice but to depend upon for help.
So she gazed deeply into his eyes and breathed with him, even as people bustled about them and talked loudly. She blocked out the noise and concentrated only on him, and it didn’t take long before she was calm again.
“Okay?” His hand was still on her back, but he’d pulled her close. “You want to go somewhere else?”
“No, I’m okay. Thank you.”
Wyatt nodded and slipped his hand into hers as he led her to a booth in a quiet corner of the pub. Beth hadn’t noticed it, since it was blocked from view of the front door, but thankfully it was empty. They each slid into one side, sitting opposite each other, and when Freya nudged Beth’s hand with her snout she patted it. The dog then moved to lay on the ground against the wall, out of the way.
“She’s a good girl.” Beth managed a small smile as she looked at the dog.
“That’s because she knows Daddy is about to order some food that he’ll share if she is.”
She flipped through the menu carefully, being sure to check the price of each item and looking for the cheapest choices. She had enough money to start a new life over if she lived frugally and got a job straight away, which meant she didn’t have much to be splurging on food in places like the pub.
“Lunch is on me, so order whatever you want.”
Beth looked up and blinked rapidly. “Oh, no. I can’t let you do that—”
“Of course you can. Please, just order whatever you want. You’re my guest, and we look after our guests here in Silverbell Shore.”
Taking a deep breath, she nodded as a waitress sidled up to their table. “Hey, handsome. Who have we got here?”
“Hi, Maria. This is Beth. She’ll be in Silverbell Shore for a couple of days.”
“Welcome, Beth. This is a great little town, so I hope you get to explore everything in it.”
Beth mustered up a smile she didn’t feel. “I look forward to it.”
Maria turned to Freya, who was now sitting right next to her. “Here’s my good girl!” She gave Freya some affection. “Now, what’ll y’all have?”
Beth let Wyatt go first and was astonished to hear him ask for a double cheeseburger, fries, an extra side of bacon, and a strawberry milkshake. Maria scribbled it down. “The usual for Miss Freya?”
“Yes, please.”
Maria turned to Beth. “What about you, hon?”
She’d been planning on ordering a salad but decided at the last minute to let loose. “I’ll have a cheeseburger too, but not a double. Just fries for me, please. And I’ll have a strawberry milkshake as well.”
“Excellent choice. I’ll be back with some water.”
The other woman disappeared into the crowd and returned a couple of minutes later with two tall glasses of ice water, along with a bowl she put down for the dog. When she filled the bowl with water from a large jug on the counter to her right, Freya slurped happily from it, remaining prone on the ground.
Beth couldn’t help but smile at the dog’s ability to multitask, and she saw Wyatt look over his shoulder at his pet. “You having fun there, Freya?” The dog woofed at him, then went back to her drink.
Wyatt made small talk, telling her more about the town she was currently stuck in. She was grateful beyond measure he didn’t ask her any personal questions about herself, because she wasn’t sure how she would have answered. She didn’t want to drag anyone into the mess that was her life, especially not this handsome, blue-eyed stranger a simple twist of fate had ensured she’d crossed paths with.
