“No!”
We turned to see Tessa come through the doorway from the back kitchen, an apron around her waist and a wide smile.
“Try the meatloaf sandwich. I’ve been giving Chad pointers. You guys can be our guinea pigs.”
Chad sighed and tilted his head toward the ceiling with his eyes closed, looking as though he were gathering patience.
I had never once had or ever wanted to eat a meatloaf sandwich, but I immediately agreed. Tessa beamed in my direction, which made me want to eat meatloaf sandwiches every day for the rest of my life.
Nate wrinkled his nose in distaste. “Hot dog and fries for me still. I’m your brother, not your boyfriend.”
“Chicken.”
She came to our table and sat next to me, our hands finding their way to each other while Chad grunted and stalked back behind the counter.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. I knew she’d been taking her desserts to Chad for the last month, and it seemed to be going well for her, but I didn’t know she was giving him cooking advice. Poor Chad.
“I came to drop off some desserts, and he was right in the middle of making the meatloaf, so I invited myself to keep him company.”
I grinned. “I’ll bet he’s excited to have you.”
“He’s smiled twice already, and I’ve only been here an hour. I’ve got him eating out of my hand. What are you guys doing here?” She looked back and forth from me to Nate.
Nate answered, “I’ve got an idea I wanted to run by Logan.”
Before she could respond, Chad yelled from the back, “Are you here to help me or to gab with my customers?”
She beamed and squeezed my hand before releasing it. “I told you he loves me. Have fun, you two.”
I was disconcerted to see Nate’s intense gaze on me when she left.
“Meatloaf sandwich, huh? Maybe I don’t have anything to worry about.”
I breathed out a laugh. “You really don’t.”
He shifted in his seat. “Do you know what your plans are? You’re moving back to Boise, right?”
My stomach clenched at the thought of leaving. “That’s always been the plan. If there was another way, I’d stay in a heartbeat.”
“You like it here?”
I knew what he was really asking me. Do I like Tessa enough to stay?
“Yeah. I do. In Boise, I’m on the computer and making calls, so I rarely get to do what I want, which is being on site and actually building. So, if you’re asking me what I loved about being here, it’s everything. Your sister, my job, my family, running my own crew, and having more of a hand in the building process.”
He nodded, looking thoughtful. “I’ve been talking with Chase about a few investment ideas for Eugene. With the new potato factory moving in outside of Salmon, the town’s seen quite a bit of growth, and I think there’s more coming. There’s talk about getting more of Main Street up and running again, putting in some new businesses, new buildings, revamping the old. Chase and I are thinking about bringing on another partner to help get us off the ground. Is that something you’d be interested in?”
I stared at him, dumbfounded. “Yeah. I would. What does that entail?”
Nate smiled. “We’re still working on the details, but essentially, you would handle the on-site construction projects. If some of your crew wants to stick around here with you, that would be fine, but I don’t think it’d be too hard to hire some local guys. Chase would be a financial investor. I would handle the business and marketing side of things.”
Hearing what he was saying and believing the words out of his mouth were two different things. Surely there was a catch. Life didn’t happen like this. The perfect job did not fall into your lap without a catch.
Nate continued, “I know you and Chase will have some things to talk through before you can officially say yes, but as it is now, he’s on board with this idea—if you need a good reason to stick around.”
At that moment, Tessa and Chad came through the swinging door connecting the back kitchen to the front bar and grill. Chad was pretending to not be thrilled she was there, and Tessa was talking a mile a minute about the correct way to cook a hamburger. She was carrying two plates piled high with food. Extra fries. They paused as she set the plates down so she could use her hands while she animatedly finished their discussion. Apparently, slapping some meat down on a grill with a little salt and pepper was not the only way to cook a hamburger. I’d noticed the past month of dating her that only two things got her that animated: food and me.
Man, I loved her.
