Rob shrugged. “The ground’s frozen in some spots and too soft in others, so we can’t really get the equipment out and start cleaning up after the winter, so we might take a ride to some historical thing Hannah wants to check out.”
“Do you need me to hang around and, I don’t know, man the phones or anything?”
Rob shrugged. “Not really. Technically, the campground’s not open yet, so people asking about the upcoming season usually send an email or a Facebook message. Voicemail will catch any calls that do come in. Why? You going somewhere?”
“Well, first up is figuring out what day it is. And then I’ll come up with a plan.”
“It’s Friday.” Rob’s gaze swept over the counter and the few dishes drying in the rack. “Did you eat anything?”
“There were some grounds in the bottom of the last coffee I made.”
“Come on, Danny. Don’t make me rat you out to Hannah.” Danny’s face must have given him away because the concern on his brother’s face turned to understanding. “Your plan is a trip to Corinne’s Kitchen to see Kenzie.”
Some of it couldn’t be denied, but Danny wasn’t going to confess to all of it. “My plan is a trip to Corinne’s Kitchen tohave a meal.”
Rob snorted. “Sure. Is it okay to ask how the book is going?”
It was a question he hated, especially lately, but he’d dumped himself—and his laptop, papers, coffee cups and nocturnal roaming—into their lives, so the least he could do was respect their concern.
“It’s going well, actually. Once I went back to the turn I missed and let it be the story it is and not the story that’s comfortable for me, the words started pouring out.”
Rob clapped his shoulder. “I’m not going to pretend I know what that means, but I’m happy for you.”
He sighed. “I’ll be happy when it’s done, but it’s definitely better to be climbing uphill than just standing still.”
“Now,thatI understand.”
By the time he was on the road, headed to Corinne’s Kitchen, Danny knew he’d be hitting the tail end of the lunch rush. Of course, the wordslunch rushwere relative when it came to a small diner on the side of the road, but he liked when they weren’t busy and Kenzie had time to socialize.
There were a few vehicles in the parking lot, and it amused him he even recognized a couple of them as trucks he’d seen there before. Not that he knew the names of the people who drove them, of course, but he wondered if he could be considered aregularyet.
Kenzie was setting plates down in front of a couple at a small table when he walked in, but when she straightened, she turned to see who had come in, and her face lit up when their eyes met.
He took a seat at the counter, and she met him there with a cup of coffee. “I guess since your hair’s combed and your shirt’s not inside out, you’ve taken a break from the writing?”
He laughed. “My hair’s combed because I took a shower, and my shirt’s right side out because Rob folded my laundry for me. But the writing’s going well.”
“I’m glad.” The way she smiled at Danny made him feel ten feet tall. “Do you think you’ll have it done before the end of the month?”
“I think so. It’ll be a little messier than they’re used to getting from me, but I think it’ll be a complete story.”
Her eyes softened. “You look really tired.”
“I’m pretty beat—both physically and mentally—and I’ve messed up my sleep schedule. I try to be strict with myself as a rule, but I definitely slept through breakfast this morning. And rather than scramble a couple of eggs and push on, I decided to fuel up first.”
“We do breakfast all day, so you can order anything on the menu.” She grinned. “Maybe a meat lover’s omelet with home fries. A bagel with cream cheese instead of toast?”
He covered his heart with his hand. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted when I walked in, but yes—that’s exactly what I want.”
“Coming right up.”
He watched her write the order on the pad and then clip it into the rack in the pass-through window. And because he was watching her, he caught the fact her father was watching him watch her.
Frank Pelletier gave him a smile and nod, which Danny returned. He didn’t know the man at all, really, and certainly not well enough to know if there’d been any forced politeness in the greeting.
He had to be used to it, though. Kenzie was gorgeous and friendly and funny, and Danny didn’t believe for a second he was the first man to walk through the door and be entranced by her.
But just in case Frank didn’t like him showing an interest, Danny pulled out his phone and skimmed through his email account. Most of them, he deleted. Some he starred to deal with after the book was done. One, from the woman assigned to his PR team by his publisher, he had to answer. There was no way he could do an interview this month. Absolutely not, but he’d be happy to circle back after he turned in his manuscript.
