“Uncle Jack is a softy.He’s still getting to know you and deciding about you.”
Ian pierced a shrimp.“I’m pretty sure he’s already decided about me, and the conclusion isn’t good.”He busied himself with the risotto, didn’t elaborate.
“It must’ve been hard to come here when you knew everyone would be watching you, comparing you to your father…judging you.”She’d judged him most of all.
His blue eyes turned three shades darker, his voice quiet.“Judging?”
Katie set down her fork, held his gaze.“I judged you most of all, and I’m sorry.It wasn’t fair, and you didn’t deserve that.”
His expression softened, the brackets around his mouth disappeared.“Thank you.I did a fair amount of judging as well, and I’m sorry.”His lips pulled into a slow smile, brought out the dimple in his right cheek.“You are so much more than the opinionated lumberjack reclusive I thought you were.”
“That’san apology?”The twinkle in those eyes and the laugh said he’d been teasing her.“You, Ian Finnegan, have a lot to learn about complimenting a woman.”
This time, the full-on laugh covered her.“Indeed, I do.”He placed his elbows on the table, leaned toward her, his voice serious.“Do you think I should have complimented Edith Finnegan?”
The man was beyond ridiculous.Katie pointed a finger at him and warned, “Absolutely not.She’ll come after you with a wooden spoon, and don’t underestimate a woman’s anger.”
The head shake said he might have done that a few times.“Good point.”
“Did she pay you to fix her car?”
“What?Of course not.I’m not going to take these people’s money.Why would you think that?”
Ian had a lot to learn about people and their motives.“Because while I think it’s very kind that you’re helping, she could have paid you.”
“The woman’s driving a twenty-year-old car, and not because it’s a classic.Her clothing looks like hand-me-downs from the eighties.And she’s on a fixed income.She told me that several times.I would never–”
“Of course, she told you that.She buys seconds at the grocery store and never tips when she visits Lina’s Café, which is once a month because ‘the pancakes are too expensive, the coffee’s not fresh enough, and the service is not up to standard.’”
“She says that?”He rubbed his jaw as if trying to comprehend what she’d just told him.
“She does.”
“And she doesn’t tipanything?”
“Nothing.All she does is complain about the food, life, and how she’s got it worse than anyone else.Why do you think Uncle Jack asked you to go?She worries that man to death, and Dolly is not a fan.”
“That’s why he asked me to go?I thought it was some sort of test.”
“Oh, it’s a test all right.She’s a mean woman, and he probably didn’t want to have to deal with her, sister or not.Something happened years ago that made her that way, at least that’s the rumor.I know it’s not nice to talk about people, and I’m sorry I’m doing it, but I waited on her five days after my mother passed, and do you know what she said?”A person doesn’t forget words like that.“She told me my mother might be alive if she weren’t so busy looking after everyone else.She said, ‘See what happens when you try to be nice to other people?’What does that even mean?My mother was a good person whose biggest fault was taking care of other people instead of herself.Edith Finnegan has never done a kind deed in her life.She may have needed her car fixed, but I wish you had made her part with some of her money.And don’t think she doesn’t have it because I’m sure she does.”
When Ian spoke, there wasn’t anger or annoyance in his voice.“The woman just looked sad to me.Like she didn’t really want to be that way, but that’s who she’d turned into, and she didn’t know how to get out of it.I’m not from here, so I don’t know what she’s done to everyone or the misery she’s caused, but I know what a person in pain looks like.”His voice gentled.“That woman’s in pain.”
Katie bit her bottom lip, wished she hadn’t lashed out.“I don’t expect sympathy from everyone, but can’t they at least be human beings?”
“We can only hope… I’m really sorry about your mother.I’m sure she was a great person who cared about you and your sister, and the whole town.It’s a shame Edith Finnegan couldn’t find it in her heart to express her sympathies, but that woman’s been burned, and right now she’s stuck and can’t find her way out.Can you imagine being so afraid to trust again that you avoid feeling anything but bitterness?”
“I never thought of it that way.It’s just that when she comes to the diner, she brings her own rain cloud and misery.Nobody wants to be around that.”
“I get it.If Dolly can’t stand her?What’s that say?”
“Aunt Dolly is the sweetest woman I’ve ever met.But when you mention Edith Finnegan’s name?Aunt Dolly turns so red you think she’s going to explode.Uncle Jack does what he needs to do on the sly, which is why I think you got the job.”
“Okay, then.I can handle Edith.I gave her my number and told her to call if she wanted me to take the car for a spin.You never know.”His lips twitched.“I might even get more sugar cookies.”
“Really?You think I don’t know what you’re doing?”The guy was such a pain.
“What am I doing?”More lip twitching.
