Hotshot and Hospitality by Nora Everly

Chapter 17

Garrett

The rest of the weekend flew by. Then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday blew past in a hurry and I hadn’t had one single moment alone with Molly since our Front Porch experience—I still wasn’t sure if I should call it a date. But it wasn’t for lack of trying on either of our parts. Every time we got close enough to say hi, someone would come around making demands. My crew and I were busy in the kitchen and she had been swamped with her guests. I had never realized what a pain in the ass people on vacation could be. They had all known before they booked that the kitchen would be under construction and all meals would be catered by The Front Porch. The inn’s rates were even discounted, but all I heard from every guest I happened upon was a complaint. The construction work was too loud. Where were the famous scones? Why was dinner not being served in the dining room?

Every time I crossed paths with Molly, she was on the run, off to soothe an upset guest or offer yet another discount to placate a whiner. I would have thrown the whole lot of them out to get some peace and quiet. But not her—Molly was born for this job. She never stopped until even the crankiest jerk-weasel had a smile on their face. Her crazy sense of humor and fun-loving spirit brightened this place and people were drawn to her like moths to a flame.

Watching her at work off and on today was like being smacked in the face by every single thing I’d been missing about her over the years. She had made my childhood fun. Whether it was playing The Princess Bride in the treehouse—she was always Inigo and I was usually Fezzik—or playing (fighting over) video games in my parents’ basement, or simply sitting around talking about nothing, being with her had always made me feel alive. After her father died, her light dimmed. As a kid, I didn’t know how to light her up again, but as a man, I think I can.

We’d made good progress today, my crew had left, and I was in the kitchen space clearing out the mess from the day so I could leave too—or try to find Molly. I hadn’t decided yet. I glanced up as Leo appeared in the doorway. “I am beside myself without my big beautiful kitchen and nothing to do.” He sighed. “So, I did a little somethin’ somethin’ for you and Molly. Take pity on me and share it with her. Pretty please?”

I glanced warily at him. The matchmaking tendencies of my friends and family revealed as of late were more than slightly terrifying. “What did you do?”

“Well, I don’t quite feel like Cupid, but I did go up to my tiny kitchen upstairs and make y’all a cheese soufflé and spinach salad to have for dinner. All you have to do is invite her. It’s cheese—she won’t say no.”

“Oh, okay.” I laughed with relief. “Out of all the crap everyone has been pulling lately, this is almost normal. Thanks, Leo.”

“Ooh! Speak of the devil. Molly, come here! Garrett didn’t sleep at all last night. Look at those dark circles! He was thinking of taking a sick day tomorrow to sleep. You must work your magic upon him again. I need my new kitchen and he has got to be in tip-top shape to build it for me. I cooked dinner for y’all! It’s on the console table in the lobby. Later!” I took back everything I said about him being normal as I watched him haul ass up the stairs.

“I’m fine. You don’t have to—”

“I had a day, Garrett. Get me out of this place and take me home with you. I want to cuddle Stan and eat massive amounts of cheese. I’ll bring a pie for dessert. I have apple crumble and peaches and cream. Choose.”

“Uh, apple crumble. I made vanilla bean ice cream last night.” As usual, I couldn’t sleep last night. My ice cream maker had borne the brunt of it.

“Perfect. I’ll meet you at your house.” She turned on her heel and marched out of the kitchen. What just happened? I stared at her retreating back as she left, wondering how she could be so distant and right there at the same time. She was all over the place. It was exciting and it was terrifying. She scared me in the best way possible.

A burst of adrenaline shot through me as I grabbed the packed cooler of our dinner. “Thanks, Leo!” I shouted up the curved staircase.

I laughed when his head popped around the corner. “I got you, Garrett. Sometimes people need a little push. I lied before. I am totally Cupid and don’t y’all forget it. You can save me a dance at your wedding to thank me.” His smile was contagious and full of hope. I returned it with my own hopeful grin.

“You got it, man.” My smile faded. “I mean if we ever—” I shouldn’t agree to that. It was probably bad luck. We hadn’t even been on a real, fully acknowledged date yet. So far everything she’d agreed to was “not a date.” I’d never in my life had feelings like this. My feelings were strong and only getting stronger as days passed.

“Hush. Leo knows all. I’m never wrong about true love!” He waggled his fingers in a wave and dashed the rest of the way upstairs.

I doubled back to leave through the kitchen so I could lock the side door and set the alarm.

The golden glow of early evening soothed my nerves as I turned onto the highway toward home. I’d never been with someone like Molly before—someone I already knew so well. But I had to rethink my knowledge of her. We had both changed over the years and it was important I recognize that fact or I was doomed to fail with her. I wanted so much more than our friendship back; I wanted everything she had to give.

I parked in front of the garage, saving the lighted post spot for Molly. After running into the cabin to put our dinner away and say hi to Stan, I headed to the garage to dig out the solar spike lights I’d bought when I first moved in. There was probably enough sunlight left to give them a charge. Quickly, I placed them along the edge of the front yard area and along the road so she would have more light to guide her out when she left—if she left. I was hoping she’d just stay here.

Around the back of the cabin, I unlocked the breaker box to turn on the motion lights as well as the perimeter lights I had forgotten to mention to her the other night. The dark had never bothered me. I found it soothing.

Kicking my shoes off and shucking my clothes on the way, I headed to the bathroom for a shower. Halfway through, I heard a knock. “I’m in the shower, come in!” I shouted before I realized that if it were Molly, there was no way she would be able to hear me. After a quick rinse off, I wrapped a towel around my waist and ran to the door, skidding over the wood floor on the way. It was Molly, of course. Who else? “Hey. I tried to hurry but you caught me in the shower.”

She just stood there, staring. I had never seen eyeballs move so much. Up and down they roved. Over me, in my towel. I leaned an arm high on the doorframe with a grin. “Molly. Hi there.” I didn’t plan this. But I should have.

“Uh. Um. Uh, hello, Garrett,” she said to my abs.

I flexed them in response, why not? The blush that rose up her neck to cover her cheeks was adorable. How red could I make her get?

“Would you like to come in?” I grinned at the top of her head since she had yet to meet my eyes.

“Yeah. Come in. Okay,” she said to my chest. I flexed that too because the towel seemed to be working for me and I should probably exploit it. I stepped back and waved her through.

“Thanks, Garrett. Holy crap, I like your towel.” Her eyes slammed shut. “Dammit, I mean, I brought my pie to eat. For dessert. The pie.” She thrust the box into my chest and wandered off into the living room. “Where’s Stan? Stan! Staa-aan!” she called as she headed to the couch at the rear of the cabin.

“He’s probably in my bedroom. You can check if you like.” I turned to go in because I needed some clothes. The towel was working for the moment, but it would probably be awkward if I tried to work it for dinnertime too.

“I’m not going in there! With you and that towel? Nuh-uh, nope. I need a drink. Can I get a glass of water? Do you have ice? I’m hot.” Her voice was breathy and high, her cheeks were flushed and adorable, and I wanted nothing more than to jump ahead of everything that was proper and kiss the hell out of her. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. I wanted it all, and I’d never get it if I acted like all the Chrises she used to date and jump all over her. Plus, she had insisted we couldn’t date anyway. This wasn’t a date—it was another weird un-date thing.

“I’ll just go get dressed. Help yourself to whatever you want in the kitchen. I have tea in the fridge, or beer. Whatever you like.”

“Thanks,” I heard her reply, and judging from where her eyes were before I turned around, I was pretty sure she had just thanked my ass. I flexed that too because I’m no fool.

I donned my clothes in a hurry. She was cuddling Stan on the couch when I found her again in the living room. “Sorry about that, I had drywall dust all over me from work and I felt gross.”

“It’s okay. Stan and I are just fine. Aren’t we, Stannypie?”

“Stannypie?” I scoffed. “He’s too tough for a nickname like that. He’s a forest cat, he survived wild hogs, raccoons, and who knows what else out there in order to find his way to my deck.”

“You rescued him from outside? I had assumed you got him from a shelter or something.” She looked Stan in the eye before she addressed him. “Stannasaurus Rex, you’re a fluffy little badass, aren’t you?” He purred and butted her chin with his head.

I laughed. “You don’t choose the nickname, the nickname chooses you, right?” I teased.

“Exactly. I don’t make the rules, buttface.” The sparkle in her eyes and her wicked grin were adorable. She was full of sass and snark and everything I never knew I needed in my life. “So, what’s for dinner? I didn’t hear what Leo said before—something about cheese, right?”

“Yeah, cheese souffle and spinach salad. I don’t know if it held up through the drive home, though. I haven’t opened the cooler.”

“If it has cheese, it will be good no matter what. And Leo puts lots of bacon in his spinach salad. Cheese, bacon, and pie are my three favorite foods. If you put cheese and bacon in a pie, I might marry it.”

“Huh. He gave me a quiche recipe to try that you might fall in love with. I’ll make it for breakfast if you spend the night again. You’re invited to stay, you know, if the aliens are acting up when it’s time to go . . .”

“Ha ha ha. And I might take you up on it. I am the sleep whisperer, after all. And we can’t have you missing work. Leo will be devastated if his kitchen gets delayed.”

I stood up. “Let’s eat on the deck. I have a surprise that might help you love it back there like I do.”

“Unless it’s exterior illumination or you tell me Fox Mulder is joining us, then I doubt it,” she teased.

I chuckled. “It’s option A. I turned the breaker on. Exterior illumination will be served alongside the souffle.”

“Be still my heart, Garrett. I love nothing more than outdoor lighting.”

“I have candles too. Come on.”

“Candles make me swoon. Coming.” She set Stan down to follow me to the kitchen. We gathered candles and the food. I snagged a bottle of wine from the rack with a wink. “Wine too? You’ve got it going on, Garrett Monroe.”

“What can I say? I try to make every un-date an unforgettable experience.” I slid the door open and placed the candles on the deck railing while she placed the cooler on the table.

“Un-date?” Her giggle was like little bells. “I love that. I’ll un-date you anytime.”

I could only manage a smile in response. I found myself lost for words as I stood there looking at her. She wore a sunny yellow dress patterned with tiny calico cats; it showcased her bare shoulders dotted with freckles. The low cut of the dress was the best/worst and now I was the one who couldn’t put my eyes in the proper place.

“Uh, do you want some music?” I stupidly asked. For a second I forgot about her hearing. If we played music, then we wouldn’t be able to talk. But maybe that would be a good thing right now . . .

“Sure, but play something soft so I can still hear you.”

“You got it.” Great thinking, dumbass—add soft, romantic music to the occasion. She was already impossible to resist. I was about to be trapped on a candlelit deck in the dusky moonlight with a dinner full of cheese and the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in my life. I would be lucky if I could get through this evening without popping an inappropriate boner. My only consolation was knowing for most of the night the table would hide it. I heaved out a sigh and found a slow playlist on my phone.

“In spite of the horror movie qualities, it is beautiful out here,” she said as she set the table. I reached for the cooler bag. The soufflé had fallen but it still looked tasty. “But I still don’t understand why you’d want to be out here all by yourself. Come on—you had to have had at least one freak-out, right?” she prodded as she dished up the salad.

“Nah, nothing really scares me anymore. Focus on what you like about it out here. Try to forget about all those X-Files episodes that used to scare you. I’ll show you my hammock after dinner if you want.”

“Hammock? Is that a euphemism?” She laughed as I shook my head no with a grin. “No, thanks, Garrett. Hammocks freak me out. I’ve never managed to get into one successfully.”

“Well, then, I double-dog dare you to join me in my hammock after dinner. I promise you’ll love it. We’ll look at the stars and drink wine. It’s one of my favorite things to do when I can’t sleep, aside from baking.” Great move—mix a kid’s double-dog dare with wine. Real smooth, idiot.

“You mean, we’ll make ourselves drunken bait for whatever is living out there in your murder woods? Seriously?”

I burst out laughing. “I do it all the time. I’m still alive, right?”

“I guess so. And hammocks are almost as intriguing as they are terrifying. So, I accept your dare as long as you don’t laugh at me when I fall out of it.”

“I won’t let you fall. I promise to catch you—always.”

“That felt like flirting. People on un-dates don’t flirt,” she murmured.

I shrugged. “I can’t promise not to flirt. It’s kind of my thing.”

“So I’ve heard. That twenty-five percent reputation thing, right?”

“My twenty-five percent is down to zero, just so you know.”

“Oh yeah?” she breathed.

“Yeah, and I don’t see any Chrises around, so how about we only un-date each other.”

“Like friends who don’t go out with other people, and may or may not have benefits one day?”

“Exactly like that.”

“I don’t know, Garrett. I might like that idea a little too much.”

“I might love that idea a lot,” I returned.

Her fork clattered to the table. “Show me your hammock.”

With my hand held out, I stood to lead her off the deck to the rear of my yard. Silently she took it and followed, her expression inscrutable in the dimming glow of the sunset. “Here it is.” Strung between two tall pines and made of a swath of wide, tan-colored canvas, the hammock was big enough for two people to get real close in. I sat on the edge and once more offered my hand. “I got you.”

“I know.” She hadn’t just given me her hand to hold—I felt that down to my bones. I shifted my hips and threw a leg over the side, giving her a gentle tug of encouragement to follow me. When we were side by side, I let go of her hand to slide my arm around her. She came to rest against my side with her head on my chest just like the night we had spent sleeping together in my bed.

“Look up.” I chose this spot for the hammock because there was a clearance in the trees. From right here, if you looked straight up, you could see the sky.

“My goodness, that’s beautiful. The treetops look like candles burning in the sky,” she murmured. The setting sun made the tops of the trees glow like flames in the dark, but that was not what caught my eye. She did, with her gorgeous Cupid’s bow lips I was dying to kiss.

“It’s not so bad out here, is it?”

“Not as long as you’re here.” Her arm tightened around my stomach as she leaned further into my side. My heart raced and I wondered if she could feel it against her cheek. We stayed in contented silence for a few minutes, just holding each other while the sun went down. “Aren’t you afraid this will ruin our friendship?” she asked, breaking the silence. “This doesn’t feel like an un-date.”

“Honestly?” I felt her nod against my chest. “No. Our friendship was ruined when you broke my Wii back in third grade. I haven’t felt the same about you since then.”

She snorted out a laugh and lightly smacked my side. “Oh my god, Garrett! It’s been what? Twenty-math years? It’s time to get over it.”

“Okay, okay. We’re still friends and I’ll always be your friend. But yeah, it’s a little bit ruined because I kind of want to kiss you right now and I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“That probably isn’t a good idea. I mean, we really shouldn’t keep kissing each other. It confuses things.” She settled back into my side. Still close, but at the same time further away than ever.

“I had a feeling you’d say that.” I tried to turn away, but dainty fingers slid along my cheek to turn my face.

Her eyes blazed into mine. “How can we be friends if we kiss? How would that work?”

“I guess the same way it works right now only sometimes there would be kissing involved.”

“Maybe we could kiss again. But not right now. Let’s wait a bit, to see if we really want to go there.”

“Whatever you want, Molly.” Her eyes held mine. She didn’t turn away, or even blink.

“I don’t know what I want. I’m afraid to let myself think about it. I mean, what it would be like to date you for real, not a bet, not an un-date or an accident of timing or whatever. I’m not just afraid to lose you. I’m afraid to lose your mom and dad and your entire family—”

“You’ll never lose any of us. No matter what happens between us.” If somehow I screwed this up and lost my shot, I’d be the one who was lost. I would never allow her to take responsibility for it. I’d even leave Green Valley if I had to. “We can’t be like we were before. We can’t go back to that. Yeah, we were best friends when we were kids, but as adults we aren’t. We still have to get to know each other again. I feel too much—”

“I know. You’re right, and I feel it too, Garrett.”

“So, what do we do?” I asked. The question hovered between us for a horrible minute before she finally answered me.

“Let’s un-date, like you said before.”

“You mean, be like friends with ben—” I didn’t want to do that. I wanted more.

Her hand pressed into my chest as she rolled her eyes. “No. Not like that. Let’s keep this thing between us. No one needs to know; they already know too much already and it’s like this huge pressure that is making me crazy. And you know me, I’m already crazy enough.”

“So, you’re saying you want us to date but keep it a secret?”

“Yeah, exactly like that but let’s call it un-dating. It sounds more fun that way.” I didn’t like keeping secrets. But at this point, I would take what I could get.

“I can work with that,” I agreed.

“Okay, let’s look up at the stars and get back to the mood we were in before.”

“I don’t know if we can just switch moods midstream again, cutie,” I teased. In spite of the secret, I was thrilled with the possibility of dating her, of having a real chance to make this work.

“Fine, then, let’s talk about cutie. How do you feel about darlin’ instead? Or sugar?”

“You can’t choose the nickname, cutie. The nickname chooses you. Also, Wyatt calls Sabrina darlin’ all the time. It’s sweet but it’s theirs, and there has to be a law against using the same nickname your brother uses written down somewhere.”

“Well then, I guess you’re in for an as-yet-undetermined period of time dealing with buttface, then, buttface.”

I laughed. “I can work with that too. But I reserve the right to throw in a baby here and there when the mood strikes.”

“Fine. I’ve always been partial to honey bunny and hotshot, but I’ve never had adequate motivation to use them.”

I held my hand out for her to shake. Her lips quirked sideways as she took my hand. “This is fun. I like being with you, Garrett. I always have.”

“I like being with you too. So how was your day, cutie?”