“Only if you don’t think Anthony would mind.” Mitch wasn’t a big fan of the guy, but he wasn’t about to interfere where he wasn’t welcome. Dining with another man’s girlfriend was off-limits, full stop.
“Anthony doesn’t have a say in who I share a meal with.” She gave Mitch the most puzzling look before dipping down to grab two forks and knives from behind the counter. She passed Mitch his utensils, then blurted, “Wait, you don’t think we’re a couple, do you?”
“You’re not?” Mitch’s hand stilled, the fork and knife clinking in his grip.
“No!” She looked like she was on the brink of laughing hysterically. “What on earth would make you think that?”
Mitch followed Faith to one of the small bistro tables and took a seat across from her, still a little apprehensive about where this conversation might lead. “Well, he lives with you, for starters.”
“He doesn’tlivewith me.”
“He has a key to your place, Faith. And he sleeps over. That feels a little like he’s living with you.”
She popped open the plastic lid on her personal chicken and immediately wilted within her chair, her spine meeting the back of it. Her eyes shut. The aroma truly was mouthwatering. “Goodness, this is just the comfort food I needed. Thank you, Mitch.” With eager movements, she sat up straight and carved off a big chunk of white meat before popping it into her mouth. “But to get back to the point, Anthony doesn’tlivewith me. He’s justlivingwith me.”
“Yeah, I don’t see how those are two different things. It’s literally the same word.”
“They totally are different. He’s just staying at my place until he finds out if he gets the job he’s currently up for. So, he’s temporarily living with me. See the difference?”
Nope. He didn’t, but apparently there was one in Faith’s mind, and that was all that really mattered.
“So, you’re not a couple?” He swiftly occupied his mouth with another bite.
“Not at all. Just longtime friends. He doesn’t really have many of those around here.”
“Yeah, I got that impression when I was talking to Trinity.”
Faith’s green eyes shot up. She stopped chewing. “What’s going on there?”
“What do you mean?”
She waved her fork. “With you and Trinity. What’s going on with you two?”
“Absolutely nothing other than an innocent friendship.” He wanted to make that crystal clear. “I’m not interested in Trinity, Faith.”
This was where he could mention the only woman he’d hadanyinterest in in recent years was the one currently sitting across from him. But insecurity kept those words trapped behind another large bite of chicken.
“What did she say about Anthony?” Faith asked.
Mitch noticed the protective quality in her tone. He couldn’t understand why she was so quick to defend the man when his own first impression of the guy hadn’t been a very favorable one.
“She just said that she hadn’t realized he was back in town,” Mitch explained. “But the way she said it revealed more than her actual words, if that makes sense.”
“It does.” Faith’s mouth tightened. “He’s a writer and said some not-so-flattering things about Snowdrift in an article a few years back. I was hopeful that our town was ready to forgive, but I’m quickly realizing that’s not the case.”
“What could he have said that would be so bad?”
“That’s the thing. It wasn’t bad. He basically just made our little town out to be less appealing than Tahoe. Said we’re quirky, which we are. Still, I think it made some people around here realize he wasn’t exactly who they thought he was, you know? I think that’s the real issue. They just assumed he still wore that hometown pride, even after he had left it.”
For the first time, Mitch actually sympathized with Anthony’s plight. Mitch wasn’t necessarily the man that others perceived him to be, either. Mindlessly, he rubbed at the bracelet hidden beneath his sleeve.
Mitch wasn’t a hero, even if the label of ‘fireman’ instantly pointed people’s thoughts in that direction.
He knew better.
CHAPTER 18
Faith couldn’t believe Mitch thought she and Anthony were a couple. There was absolutely no attraction there, nothing other than a decades-long friendship that sometimes felt more like a sibling relationship than anything remotely romantic.
