Elijah’s raised brow told me he wasn’t buying it for a second. It was the truth though. The truck and the man went together. Big, sturdy, strong, rusty around the edges, but completely charming. I reminded myself to tell him that when we were alone.If,I corrected.
“Uh huh,” he finally replied. “The investigation will take me out of town for parts of the day, so call nine-one-one if you have an emergency. I’ll try to be back before you close for the day. If not, call Officer Kasey. She’ll hang out with you at my house until I can return. You put my spare key on your ring, right?”
I nodded. It had been a complete shock when he slid it across the table to me while I was sipping coffee that morning. I knew his true intention behind the gesture, but that didn’t stop my heart from racing with excitement. “Be careful,” I told Elijah.
“You too.” He started to walk away but turned back and kissed my forehead. “Have a good day, Freckles.”
I just stood there staring at him as he walked away.
“No further explanation is needed, honey,” April said.
“We totally get it, love,” Vanessa added.
“Girl, I’d ignore my phone too,” Candace said with a snort.
I turned to look back at my friends and found them all looking at me with goofy grins. “What?”
“We’re just happy that you’re okay,” Vanessa said.
“Happy and healthy,” Violet supplied.
“I think it’s safe to add horny into that mix,” April interjected.
“Uh huh,” they all said at once.
“Maegan, I could use some help here if it’s not too much trouble,” Milo said dramatically.
“I better get back to Milo. Girls, we have so much catching up to do though. We need a girl’s night. How does Margarita Monday sound?”
“Perfect,” Vanessa answered. “Let’s do it at my place since your house seems to be a crime scene these days.”
“Oh, stop!” I replied. “No crimes have been committed at my house.”
“Let’s just play it safe. We don’t want any uninvited guests.”
“Sounds good to me. How does six work?”
We all agreed that six o’clock worked for each of us, so we hugged and said our goodbyes so I could return to work behind the counter.
“I’m thinking champagne,” Milo said to me before I could greet the next customer in line.
“To drink? Have you already started?” I asked because his comment made no sense to me.
“As in the color of the bridesmaid’s dresses at your wedding. That hue compliments each of their skin tonesandmine as your Man of Honor.”
“Whoa!” I exclaimed. “You got that from a forehead kiss?”
“His lips lingered for a few seconds beyond the norm for a simple forehead kiss. That, my sweet girl, was a declaration.”
“You’re so dramatic, Milo.”
“Maybe so, but when am I wrong about these things?”
I wanted to argue with him, but I couldn’t. He had been the voice of reason when it came to Clayton; I just didn’t want to listen. I had seen him make predictions with other people that I didn’t see coming either. I wished I could point out one instance where he’d been wrong to knock his ego down a peg, but couldn’t find one until I looked into Andy Mason’s eyes fifteen minutes later when he stepped up to the counter to place his order. Andy didn’t know I existed though because he couldn’t tear his eyes off my brother, who kept his back toward the counter. Milo always conversed with the customers rather than keep his back turned to them, but Andy was the exception to that rule. I knew damned well there was so much more going on between my brother and Beefcake, Handy, or Just Andy.
The phone rang just as Andy’s latte was finished, giving me an excuse to walk away for a second so that Milo would be forced to face him. I imagined their hands touching briefly as Milo handed him his cup. Then their eyes would meet and Milo would finally see what the rest of us did. Andy Mason had never gotten over him, just as surely as Milo still carried a torch for him.
The moment I anticipated turned out to be a huge let down because Milo set Andy’s cup on the counter instead of handing it to him and his “have agreatday” was filled with enough sass to make me think he wished the opposite for his high school sweetheart.
