“Anyway, you were saying?” Erma lifted the mug to her lips.
“I, uh.” What had he been saying?
Erma chuckled, sounding a little more like her usual self. “At least you had the good grace to look away. What a polite young man you are, Hayden Price.”
“I try to be.” Now if he could just get the image of Riley in a thin tank top out of his mind, his thoughts would be polite too.
A few minutes later, Riley entered the kitchen again, this time fully dressed in a red T-shirt and shorts. She was pulling her hair into a ponytail as she joined them at the table.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, dark circles under her eyes.
“I’ll start breakfast,” Erma said.
“I’ll do it.” Riley started to stand.
“You stay right there, sugar. It’s my turn to cook this morning, remember?”
Riley nodded, then asked Hayden, “How long have you been here?”
“Long enough for coffee.” He paused. “How did you sleep last night?”
“Horribly, no surprise.” She leaned her forearms against the table.
“I filled the car with gas on my way over here,” Hayden said.
“Thank you.” Erma pulled out a cast-iron frying pan from the lower cabinet next to the stove. “Do you like bacon and eggs, Hayden?”
“Of course.”
“I’d whip up some homemade biscuits, but I don’t want you to be late for work.” The pan clanged as she placed it on the stovetop.
“I’ll take a biscuit rain check, then.”
While Erma started cooking, Riley got up and fixed herself a cup of coffee and set it on the table. Without asking, she picked up Hayden’s and refilled it, too, then set it down in front of him.
“Thanks,” he said, reaching for the sugar bowl on the table.
She nodded, but he could see she was deep in her own thoughts. She refilled Erma’s cup, too, then sat back down, the faraway expression still in her eyes.
The bacon and eggs didn’t take long for Erma to prepare, and soon Hayden was presented with a delicious breakfast. They ate in silence, both women in their own worlds. For some reason Hayden wasn’t uncomfortable with the silence. He wished he knew how to help them, as he had grown to care deeply about Erma too. But this was something he couldn’t fix, or even attempt to. All he could do was be there for them when they needed him.
“Go on to work, Riley,” Erma said when they finished eating. “I’ll clean up.”
She nodded. “Let me brush my teeth and I’ll be right back down.”
After Riley left, Erma turned to Hayden. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that she has you,” she said, tears shining in her eyes. “Especially now.”
He nodded. “I’m not going anywhere, Erma. Whatever she needs, I’m here.”
Erma smiled and patted his hand. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Riley returned, and a short while later they pulled into the parking lot behind the yarn store. Much like last night, Hayden cut the engine and turned to her.
“If you need me, just holler,” he said. “I’m right across the street.”
She turned to him and nodded. “Thank you, Hayden.”
He gave her the keys, and then they both got out of the car and he waited until she unlocked the shop and walked inside. He didn’t want to leave her, but he had to admit she seemed much better today than she’d been last night, which gave him a bit of freedom to focus on his job. His father was ready to transition the store to him, and Hayden wanted to start today.
