“Well, I don’t know.” I was very hungry and tired, not a great combo. “Can I order to go?” Might be the best solution for what ailed me. I could take it back to my room and eat in peace.
“Yes, you can—”
“Oh, don’t do that. I have an empty chair and you’re more than welcome to join me.” The man who invited me sat at a table for two right in the middle of the room. He flashed me a bigsmile, all white teeth and full lips. “I don’t bite, unless someone asks me to.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m just going to take my food to go. Thanks for the offer.” I returned my attention to the hostess or owner or whatever she was, but before I could say anything more to her, the man continued.
“You don’t want to wait to go home and eat. It will be cold and unpleasant, especially if you get fries. They are never good ten minutes or…longer?” He studied me as if he expected I’d give him my home address or something. “Assuming you live around here?”
And since it was a small town where people likely knew one another and certainly would not have to “assume” someone was a local, I assumed he was not one. But I just didn’t have the energy to argue with anyone right now. Struggling to find a way out of spending the evening with this wolf, I was about to agree, eat fast, and run for it when a voice cut into the tension.
“Here you are, finally. I thought you’d stood me up.” The voice, smooth but with the slightest hint of a crackle under the last word, came from the back of the room. The man behind the words moved toward me with a grace emphasized by his lean musculature. “Our table is back here.”
“Thanks for waiting. I thought you’d have given up on me.” Relief washed over me at getting away from the creepy guy, so without giving it any more thought, I headed toward my rescuer. Probably, I should have thought twice before going from one guy who was hitting on me to another stranger calling me over, but I didn’t. It never occurred to me not to go to him, smiling and waving as if I’d known him all my life.
And we must have convinced the character at the other table that we were indeed a planned date because he subsided, grumbling to himself, but didn’t try to convince me further.
When I arrived at the back, I said, “Thank you so much for rescuing me from that guy. I wasn’t up to dealing with someone like that tonight.”
“No trouble at all. It’s my pleasure to have someone to eat with.” He took his seat and I saw the masher getting up to pay his bill.
“Looks like you don’t have to put up with me after all. The problem is leaving.”
“Oh? All right, if you like, but I was sincere about having company to eat with. Up to you.”
“Really?”
He looked so at ease, watching me to let me decide without pressure. “Absolutely. You’re new in town, aren’t you?”
“I am. I—” I stopped because the server arrived to see if we were ready to order. “Oh, I don’t know.”
“I’ll have the cheeseburger and fries,” the other man said. “Seems like the right choice for a diner, plus the fries smell incredible.”
“I got that right when I walked in.” I found myself sitting in the booth and telling the server I’d have the same thing. “Yeah, that will be perfect.” Leaning back, I let out a sigh as she walked away.
“You were saying before the server arrived?”
“Oh right, but I didn’t even introduce myself. I’m Joshua, and I just arrived in town.”
“Welcome.” The smile from this man held none of theickof the other. “I’m Corvus, and I hope you will be very happy in Whisper Grove. It’s a town with a long history.”
“I’m excited to get to know all my neighbors. I was just lucky that the house I was buying fell through because I was able to buy a farm here with orchards and lots of land and a house that needs a lot of work. But I’m not afraid of work.”
He nodded, and I plunged on, glad to talk to someone about all the excitement and challenges that awaited me. “So, I went out to the orchard and the trees! They are so neglected. I wonder how long it’s been since anyone lived there. Or cared for them at least. But I’ll help them. They deserve all the love in the world.” After I had gone on for another few minutes, our food came, and Corvus ate quietly for the most part while I shared my dreams. And my past. Basically the oversharer who probably made him regret ever asking me to join him. But if he did feel that way, he never showed it, his expression polite, interested and, when I paused for breath, he finally said something.
“That’s a shiny necklace you have there.”
“Oh this?” I instinctively reached for the leather cord I’d strung it on. “It’s the funniest thing. I make jewelry but never keep any of it for myself. This one…it’s not finished, but for some reason, I don’t want to give it away or sell it.”
“It’s special, then.” He tilted his head to the side, studying it. “Yes, special.”
After a silence, the server returned. “You guys going to Home Days this year?”
“Home Days?” I asked.
“There’s a poster in the front window. Big event for this town,” she said.
“It might be fun.”
