AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There was an odd expression on Chi’s face as she watched the exchange, but mostly her eyes held deep affection for Clara as she came back, holding her prize with both hands.
“We are eating these first. They are amazing.” She grinned up at him.
“I have to agree with Clara. Griff is always coming up with something strawberry, and for the festival, I should have known he was going to outdo himself. And he did,” Chi said, shaking her head, with a happy smile on her face. “Business has been awesome. And we actually have been turning people away while he makes another batch in the back. I’m shocked he kept those back for you.”
“I just raved about them. Kristin brought me some, and they were just so good.” Clara continued to glow.
“All right, Alexander, do you know what you want?” Chi looked up at him, and he froze. He had no idea what the diner offered and even less idea of what he should order.
Clara came to his rescue. “I think you’ll enjoy their chicken sandwich, grilled, with the asparagus spears if they have them. If not, the sweet potato fries with their special brown sugar dip.” She turned to him. “I know that’s more carbs than you like, but trust me, you will love them.”
“I trust you.” That was the absolute truth. He did. He always had. Normally it took him a while to warm up to people, but when he hired Clara, he felt immediately that she was someone he could totally and completely trust. That had never changed. What had changed, he wasn’t sure, but he felt like his entire world had shifted, not in a big way, but in a way that would make it never the same again.
Chi put the order in, he paid for it, and they stood to the side.
“It won’t take long. Griff is really good at what he does.”
“You seem to know him pretty well.”
“He’s kinda quiet; he doesn’t say a whole lot, but everyone in town knows he is head over heels for Chi, who barely knows he’s alive.” Clara kept her voice down, and her eyes followed Chi as she walked across the diner, waiting on tables and clearing an empty one off. “We can sit if you want to?”
The diner was crowded and loud, and everyone who came in seemed to know Clara and want to talk to her. “I’d actually rather go out. If there’s someplace else close?”
He never ate outside. He hated the bugs, hated the sun, hated being hot, hated that the climate wasn’t controlled down to the very degree that he wanted it to be. But all this info about Clara was new. He... He wanted her to himself.
“All right. I know the perfect place. It’s my mom’s backyard, and we’ll be able to sit in the grass and watch the horses graze and see the lake in the distance. It’s really pretty.” She bit her lip. “Although there will be bugs.”
“That’s okay. I can handle them.” Bugs were better than people who took Clara’s attention off him. If someone else came up and started chatting with her, and Clara introduced him, he would be polite, but the whole time, he was chomping at the bit to get out. Not that he didn’t like the people, and not that he didn’t like her hometown, but he had been feeling more and more urgency to get her alone so he could talk to her. This whole idea of her painting and starting a business and leaving him was just too much. He needed to get that settled. Could hardly wait for it to happen.
Their meals hadn’t been delivered when the person who was chatting with Clara sat down at the table Chi had just finished clearing off.
“You’ve got to try this,” Clara said when they were alone, peeling back a quarter of the plastic wrap and pulling a tart out.
He wasn’t much for sweets. He preferred meat, although he tried to eat a healthy mix of vegetables along with it.
But he found himself unable to tell Clara no. A little surprised. Because he didn’t typically have trouble uttering the word. But come to think of it, Clara didn’t typically ask him to do anything. He’d never had the opportunity to tell her no, never had to struggle with whether or not he should.
He had both of his hands shoved in his pockets, and Clara didn’t wait for him to pull them out. Instead, she held it up, smiling with anticipation, and lifted it toward his mouth.
He found himself opening his mouth, allowing her to feed him, popping the entire tart into his mouth, and continuing to look at him, watching for his reaction.
He didn’t have to fake it. The tart was the best thing he’d ever eaten in his life before.
And that was saying something, considering he had been to some of the finest restaurants in the entire world.
Still, he wasn’t one to gush, and he did not eat quickly. He chewed it, savoring it, thinking about what he would say and how he would phrase it. He didn’t want her to want to live in her hometown. He wanted her to want to be with him. He was relocating here, true, but it wasn’t a permanent thing. It was only here until he had somewhere else he needed to be. And then he wanted Clara to go with him when he left.
“Well? What do you think?” Clara asked, and maybe there was just a touch of worry in her eyes. Mostly it was anticipation, as though she knew he was going to say that it was the best thing he’d ever eaten.
“Griff has a true talent. That was amazing.”
Her grin got bigger, and she gave a little hop on her feet. “I knew it! I knew you would love them.” She grabbed one from under the plastic and popped it into her mouth, closing her eyes and uttering a small groan as she chewed slowly, savoring as he had.
“I never knew anything could taste this good,” she said as she opened her eyes after she swallowed.
“Clara! Here’s your food!” Chi said from the other side of the counter.
Clara’s eyes had met his, and they held, just for a couple of moments, but it was a couple of moments in time that felt like they were the only two people in the world.
