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“You haven’t heard from Averil since you walked out last night?” he asked as he put down the menu. It was a Monday. She’d spent the night with him, but he’d gotten up early and gone to work, and this was the first time he’d seen her today. She’d messaged to see if he had time for breakfast, and he’d taken an hour off. This was her last week in town; he was going to see her whenever he could. He also knew she felt bad about how things had gone at the Gerharts’ and was hoping to cheer her up.
“No,” she said. “Nothing.”
“Do you think they’ve found Mitch’s teddy bear by now?”
“Bob and his family would’ve seen it when they left.”
He leaned back as the waitress brought them coffee. “I wonder what she’s thinking.”
She added a dash of cream to her cup. “She probably hates me more than ever.”
“I feel bad she’s so upset. But neither one of us meant to hurt her. There were times when I sort of wondered if Averil was feeling something I wasn’t, but I never knew it would play out like this.”
“Would you feel differently about her if I hadn’t come back?” she asked earnestly.
“Would you feel differently about Charlie if you and I hadn’t hooked up?” he asked instead of answering.
She grimaced. “Of course not.”
“There you go,” he said. “Stop looking for things to feel guilty about.” He got up and swung around the booth to sit on her side.
“Be careful,” she joked when the waitress looked over as he dragged his place mat, water glass and coffee across the table. “Everyone will know you’re in a relationship with the runaway bride.”
“The cat’s already out of the bag. Besides, I’ve made up my mind, and I’ve been clear and up-front about it. You’re the one who’s undecided.”
“I’d have to give up a lot more than you would,” she muttered.
Taking her hand, he kissed her fingers, and the many nights they’d spent together, the feel of her beneath him, the way her smile made his heart melt, how much he looked forward to being with her again whenever they were apart—it all went through his mind at once. “I can only hope I’m worth it,” he said jokingly.
She took a sip of her coffee. “If I do come back, how do you see things going, Brant?”
He was afraid to mention marriage. He purposely left that out of any discussion about their future. But that was exactly what he wanted. Maybe he was old-fashioned, but he dreamed of building a life with her the way his parents had built a life together. He wanted her to take his name, bear his children and know that he’d always be true to her and protect her no matter what. “How do you want it to go?” he asked, turning the question back on her.
When she bit her lip instead of responding, he said, “We could buy a house together.”
“And not get married?”
“Not if you don’t want to. But if you begged me to marry you, I might consider it,” he teased. “As long as we eloped. No way would I want to be standing at an altar with everyone we know looking on, wondering if I’ll be the one exception to the rule.”
When he started laughing, she almost shoved him out of the booth. “You know I wasn’t in love with those men!”
He righted himself and sobered as he looked into her pretty but troubled eyes. “Do you loveme?” He’d promised himself he wouldn’t ask. He wanted her to tell him on her own. But he was terrified of losing her and found himself trying to grab hold of something solid in the middle of all the uncertainty.
“You know I do,” she said. “It’s just...”
“A question of how much,” he filled in.
Her eyebrows furrowed. “No! If not for the diner, it wouldn’t be nearly as difficult a choice.”
He couldn’t fault her for not wanting to sacrifice her business. He picked up his water glass. “Are you excited about going back to Seattle?”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to leave you.”
Would her feelings change once she got back into her normal surroundings? “The fact that Averil and Charlie live in Coyote Canyon has to make you less likely to come back,” he said.
“I admit it won’t bepleasantto run into them...”
He frowned as the waitress started toward them with their food. “I have a lot working against me.”
