Once Burned (16 page)

“Whatever eases that guilty conscience of yours,” he joked. “Can I say hello to Noah real quick before I get to my reason for calling earlier than planned?”

“He’s actually down on the beach with the neighbors and their son.”

“Good for him. How’s everything else going?”

“Good other than a customer who seems to think he needs to be my knight in shining armor.”

“The one you mentioned when we talked the other day?”

“The very same. He brought me a rose today.”

Disappointment filtered through Henry along with a healthy spark of territorial interest. “We never agreed that we had to be exclusive while I got my shit together,” he murmured. “If you want to take him up on his offer, I’ll understand.”

“I know that, but I’m not interested in him.” She paused, and he could almost see the thoughtful frown and tilt of her head. “Before I met you, I might’ve entertained thoughts about dating him. He’s nice—a rare gentleman like you.”

“But…?”

“He’s not you.”

Just the answer I wanted to hear
. “I know we agreed that our affair was a one-week deal, but I’ve put things in motion to clean up the mess with Mel. I’ve had the time I needed to get my head on straight again, and if you want to explore a deeper relationship with me… just say the word, and I’ll drive to Washington. I’m ready to see what happens if you are.”

For a moment, she didn’t respond, but when she did, hope and excitement warmed her voice. “You’re serious?”

“Absolutely.”

“What’s the word?”

“Huh?”

“What word do I need to say to get you to come see me?”

“I suppose a simple yes would suffice.”

“Then yes. I would love that. But just so I’m clear, this means we’re officially pursuing a relationship.”

“Yep. Officially committed, so if you want to tell your would-be knight he’ll have to look elsewhere because you’re taken, I’d be all right with that, but try to let him down gently because he obviously knows what a prize you are.”

The sound of her laughter brought a smile to his chilled face.

“I mean that, Lindsay. He’d be a fool not to want you.”

“As it appears I’m already your girlfriend, flattery is not needed to convince me to date you.”

“But I so enjoy it,” he said with a chuckle. “I wish I could be there tomorrow, but it’ll probably take me a couple weeks to find a place to rent.”

“You could just stay with us.”

“No, I don’t want to make things awkward for Noah. Just in case.”

With a touching gentleness that said far more than her words, she whispered, “Thank you.”

“I can’t wait. Tell Noah hi for me, and I’ll see you in a couple weeks.”

“Not soon enough.”

With a smile at their ritualistic parting phrase, Henry grudgingly ended the call and hoped it wouldn’t take him longer than a couple weeks to locate a rental near Lindsay. Fortunately, he knew a couple guys who still had connections in that area, and with only a moment’s hesitation to draw the number forth from his memory banks, he dialed first Pat O’Neil, who suggested he call either his wife’s uncle or Ben as they both maintained contact with people in Kitsap County who owned rentals. Henry called Ben first, who happily gave him the number for his former landlady, Jeanie Miller—incidentally Lindsay’s aunt.

Thank God for small-world connections
,
he mused as the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Mrs. Miller?”

“Yes?”

“My name is Henry Hammond, and I’m hoping you have a house available to rent for a few weeks.”

“Henry Hammond, you say? Why, I know that name. You’re my niece Lindsay’s friend from Montana.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Maybe he shouldn’t be surprised Lindsay’s aunt had heard of him, but he was. “I’m hoping to come for a visit with the plan to return home to Montana just before Christmas.”

“I believe I have just the place for you—a lovely cottage on the bluff overlooking the Indianola Beach with its own access stairs.”

“Sounds delightful. When will it be available?”

“Don’t you want to know how much?”

“Not important.”

As they made arrangements for him to rent the cottage, Henry’s excitement increased to crescendo, and as soon as he’d hung up, he pumped his fist in the air. The time between now and the moment he could take Lindsay into his arms couldn’t pass fast enough, and he barely managed to subdue the pulsing joy long enough to explain the situation to his family, whose unanimous support he immediately received. He ignored the knowing grins his brothers exchanged, too busy planning his departure for Washington.

I’ll be there before I know it
. His grin widened.
Not soon enough.

* * *

“Order up, Lindsay,” the cook called.

Lindsay finished taking her newest order and tucked her order pad and pen in her apron, then smiled at the guests and sauntered over to the order window. She reached for the plate, but the cook pulled it back out of her reach.

“I know this order,” he remarked, grinning. “There’s only one person I know of who orders mayo and barbecue sauce on his bacon cheese burger—your would-be knight, Sir Dan of Liberty Bay.”

“He’s not my knight, and may I please have his order so I can get to fending off his admittedly charming and courtly advances? Because the faster I get to it, the faster I can get it over with.”

“Girl, you don’t have to be so cold. You
could
give the man something to hope for. That poor boy’s smitten with you, and sometimes the only thing guys like him and me have to go on is hope. Okay,
most
of the time, that’s all we have to go on.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, buddy. You’ve got a lot to offer a woman.”

“You got the ‘a lot’ part right, but unfortunately, there’s just a lot of
me
to offer. At least Sir Dan’s got
some
physical appeal, even if he is a skinny nerd.”

“He’s only skinny compared to you, Mitch. To the rest of us, he’s the picture of physical fitness, but I will agree that he’s a nerd.”

“You say that like it’s a good thing.”

“Nerds are awesome.”

“So, what’s the problem with Dan?”

“I’m just not interested in him, Mitch, and it’s fair to lead him on.”

“Ah, that’s right. You already have a knight, and he wears a cowboy hat and Wranglers and rides a real horse rather than a two-wheeled, man-powered critter like Sir Dan rides.”

“He prefers Carhartt, but close enough. Sir Dan’s order please? I’m pretty sure it’s getting cold.” Lindsay held her hand out expectantly.

Mitch pushed the plate toward her again, pouting. “Spoilsport. How am I supposed to live vicariously through you if you won’t consider even one date with the guy?”

“You need to get out more, Mitch, if you’re living vicariously through
me
.”

“You’re a beautiful woman, Lindsay, and unlike me and Sir Dan out there, you actually do have a lot to offer.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I might think you were trying to flatter me into going out with
you
.”

“Hell no, girl. You couldn’t handle all this.” Mitch shimmied and shook his backside.

Lindsay shook her head, laughing as she headed toward Dan’s table with his still-hot burger. Despite their teasing, there had never been anything more than friendship between her and Mitch, and there never would be. Mitch had drawn that line when he’d first hired on a Donovan’s a couple weeks after she’d started work here; his heart had already been claimed by a young novelist who was currently halfway across the country at a writers’ convention. The term pixie often accompanied Lindsay’s impression of Mitch’s fiancée, as she was the living embodiment of the fantastical stories she wrote with a delicate features, petite frame, and large, ever-inquisitive olivine eyes. When she allowed herself a rare moment of feminine vanity, Lindsay knew on some level that she was attractive, but next to Natasha Harding, she felt entirely unremarkable.

Until Henry made me see differently. Until he made me feel truly beautiful.

That
was why she’d first turned Dan down and why she would continue to turn him down. No one had ever made her feel as comfortable with herself as Henry did. Not Dan with his gallant hopefulness. Not Logan with his smooth talking. And certainly not Max with his sexy smile and enticing confidence.

“One more week,” she sighed, nearing Dan’s table beside the big windows with a view of the Olympic Mountains that she had once thought spectacular. Her trip to Northstar had ruined that view for her just as surely as it had ruined any chance Dan might have had to win her over. She managed to set his meal in front of him with grace, but it almost abandoned her when he snatched her hand and brushed his thumb across her knuckles. Patiently, she smiled at him. He was an attractive man, less rugged than Henry with gentler features, but he had an undeniable appeal.

“Anything else I can get you?” she asked politely, tugging on her hand to cue him to drop it.

“Other than a date… I’m fine, thank you.”

“Dan, I am genuinely flattered by your continued persistence, and from what I can tell, you’re a great guy, but I’m sorry. It’s not going to happen.”

“Why not? We seem to be quite compatible.”

“At one time not so long ago, I might have agreed with you, but—”

“Hey, Lindsay?” the hostess interrupted. The young woman glanced at Dan and offered a hasty apology. “I need to steal you away for a minute, if I may.”

“Excuse me, Dan. I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.”

Lindsay followed the hostess to the front desk and regarded her with brows lifted and arms folded across her chest. The woman only grinned at her.

“While I am grateful for the excuse to escape, what did you need? I have other tables to check on.”

“A man came in a minute ago asking for you. He said he’d wait out in the parking lot.”

“A man? Who?”

“He didn’t say.” The girl grinned and fanned herself. “He’s
hot
.”

Curious, Lindsay headed out into a rare clear dusk. Directly across from the door and leaning against a familiar pickup with Montana plates and looking entirely smug with himself for pulling of a grand surprise was the man who had commanded so much of her attention since she’d met him back in August. At first, she froze midstride as her gaze took in every relaxed line of his body. Even her fantasies about him fell short of the reality.

“Hi, gorgeous,” Henry murmured.

That simple greeting broke the thrall, and she ran to him with arms outstretched. He pushed off his truck and lifted her off the ground when she reached him, tucking his arms tightly around her.

“My God, I’ve missed you,” he whispered against her neck.

“I can’t believe you’re here! Is this real?”

“I certainly hope so.”

He set her on her feet, and she skimmed her fingers over his jaw and down the sides of his neck before kitting them behind his head. She tilted her head up to kiss him, and he met her halfway, splaying his hands across her back to draw her closer. It was incredible to be back in his arms, and in that moment, every worry melted away, leaving her refreshed and alive like she hadn’t been since she’d left him standing alone in the Butte airport.

“I thought you said your rental wouldn’t be available for another week.”

“It came open sooner than expected, and I couldn’t wait to see you.”

“And you couldn’t tell me this yesterday when we talked?”

“I wanted to surprise you. I wanted to see the exact look I saw on your face just a moment ago.”

“And what look was that?”

“Pure, honest joy.”

His response was an accurate assumption of the emotion glowing so warmly in her heart. “So, where did you end up finding a place?”

“Indianola. One of your Aunt Jeanie’s places. It’s the cottage on the bluff overlooking the beach. She said it’s just a couple blocks from your parents’ place. It sounded great from her descriptions.”

“You haven’t seen it yet?”

He shook his head. “I had to see you first. How much longer until your shift is over?”

“About an hour. Why don’t you go home and get settled, and I’ll bring Noah over to meet you when I get off work?”

“Sounds great. You know which house it is?”

“Yep. You’re going to love it. It’s sort of tucked back into the trees a bit, but it still has a great view… and it’s own access to the beach. I can’t believe Aunt Jeanie didn’t tell me!”

“I might have asked her not to.”

“Brat.”

“Sometimes.” He leaned down to kiss her cheek. “I’ll see you in a little while.”

“That’s all I get to hold me over? A kiss on the cheek?”

“Mmm-hmm. There’ll be plenty of time for more later. Just how much time… well, I guess we’ll find out.”

She didn’t watch him climb into his truck and was already back inside by the time he drove away with the thought that if she plunged into work quitting time would arrive faster. The promise of an adventure even grander than their whirlwind week together in Northstar carried her through the rest of her shift. When Dan again tried to draw her into conversation, she told him as politely as she could her reason for declining his offers. She was as honest as she had been with Henry that first meeting at the bar of the Bedspread Inn, and though he was disappointed, her would-be suitor appreciated her candor.

“I’ve been wondering if there was someone else who’d already caught your eye,” Dan said as he handed her the check and money to pay for it. “He’s a lucky guy.”

“Thank you, Dan. I really didn’t mean to lead you on.”

“You didn’t. I get that you were being polite. I was just hoping that if I kept after you long enough you’d give in.”

Finally, her last table left, and she zipped into the kitchen to hang up her apron and punch her timecard. She drove to her cousin Jasmine’s house to pick up Noah, who was in no hurry to leave. He and Jasmine’s daughter, Jamie, were engaged in an intense Mario Kart race, but Lindsay was in no mood to wait. She had already told him Henry was coming for a visit, and he’d been ecstatic at the prospect of meeting the man he’d talked to a dozen times on the phone and had pestered her endlessly all week about when Henry would arrive and where he would be staying.