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“Oh, sorry! I didn’t answer you. Yes, I’m Emma.”
He reached his hand out finally and asked, “Why did you ask if my name was Ryan?”
A nervous laugh slipped from my lips. “Oh, gosh, it’s sort of embarrassing, so…maybe we could back up three minutes and start all over?”
He smiled, and it was genuine.
“Okay, let’s try again. Is anyone sitting here?” he asked, pointing to the empty side of the booth.
Relief swept over me. Maybe I hadn’t ruined the interview after all.
“Are you Aiden Bishop?”
“Are you Emma Middleton?”
“I am, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
We shook hands, and I couldn’t ignore how his eyes seemed to sparkle in amusement. But not enough to outshine the lost look in his eyes that seemed to cloud over any potential happiness. I knew those eyes. I looked at them every day in the mirror.
“Well, then, Emma, mind if I sit?”
“No, please do,” I replied, motioning for him to take a seat.
We both slid into the booth and then the waitress was back at the table.
“Hey, Aiden, the usual?” she asked. She almost had a dreamy look in her eyes. I couldn’t blame her; the guy was good-looking. Beyond good-looking. Handsome. Yes…he was very handsome. Ryan Paevey, Hallmark Channel-dreamy kind of handsome.
Okay. Stow it away, Emma Middleton; this is your potential future boss.
“Yeah, thanks, Annie.”
Annie set my Diet Coke down and said she’d give me a few minutes to look over the menu.
“I’m really sorry I’m late. Hadley insisted on wearing hot pink wings with her ballet uniform. It was an argument I decided wasn’t worth having, so I let her wear them. I’ll have to deal with Mrs. Jones, her ballet teacher, after class.”
I smiled and took a sip of my drink.
“So, Rose told me a little about you, and mentioned she was highly impressed. That speaks volumes for me.”
“Thank you, I appreciate her kind words.”
“What made you move to Estes Park from Dallas?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek, trying to decide how much information I wanted to pass along.
“Well, I needed to start my life over, and I wanted to do it somewhere far away from Dallas. I’ve always loved the mountains. I remember a few yearly summer trips to Estes Park fondly. When I was trying to decide where I wanted to start over, this town came to mind.”
Annie came back with a water and an iced tea for Aiden. “Ready to order?”
Aiden nodded and replied, “I am. Emma, are you?”
I grabbed the menu and quickly glanced at it. “I’ll take the patty melt, please.”
“Fries or fruit?”
“Fruit.”
She turned to Aiden. “The usual?”
