In the distance he stood in the middle of a field. Long legs, back to her with some papers in his hand as he surveyed where his house was going.
Throat thickening and tight, she parked in the lot near the manor. Finding him was only half the battle. She still had to talk him into you know, talking to her. Then the real fun would begin.
She sprinted across the grounds, his back to her, but head turned enough she knew he saw her coming. Her heart pounded and she wasn’t sure if it was from seeing him or from sprinting. She got closer; still he didn’t turn around. “Hey, there.”
“Hey.”
Now what? Oh lord, instead of all that worrying on the way here, maybe she should have thought of what to say. “I haven’t seen you in a few days.”
“Busy.”
Nice. Encouraging. “Yeah. I figured with all the rain you’d be busy working.”
He turned at her smart remark. They both knew he wasn’t busy. And they both knew that because he was currently pushing back the tree line to give him a bigger backyard and none of that could happen in the rain. “I just needed some time.”
She lowered her head. “You’ve never needed this much time before. Not without stopping by. Not a call. Nothing, Trent.”
“I know.”
She crossed her arms under her chest and then wished she hadn’t. She hated having to defend herself to him. Hated it. This shouldn’t be happening. Having to defend herself against his thoughts wasn’t ever part of their relationship. “I told you because you’re a close friend to me and I hated lying about it anymore. You just walked out on me. I knew you’d be angry to some degree, but it’s been days.”
Calmly as ever, he looked back across the yard, to the papers in his hands, then focused back on her. “You know what pisses me off the most about your secret?”
“That I kept it from you?”
His laugh was empty. “Not even close. You assume he was a shit who couldn’t keep his dick to himself because the relationship was long distance. I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but he’s a shit because he’s a shit. Location be damned.”
Tears were gathering and itching the back of her eyes. “If I had been there, things would have ended up differently. We probably would have been married. I would be the one with the family right now.” With a life, doing something, anything.
His mouth gaped. “Are you kidding me? What happened to the Tonya I’ve come to know? You’d be happy with him knowing as long you didn’t let him out of spitting distance he wouldn’t cheat?”
Her lip was trembling, but she sucked it up. “If I had gone with him, I wouldn’t know he was capable of just throwing me away for a cheap piece of ass.” She rubbed her arms because it was the sad truth. If she had been there, he wouldn’t have strayed; she’d be happy in complete ignorance how one decision completely changed her life.
“Way to sell yourself short.”
“I’m not selling myself short. I’m facing reality. I chose not to go with him and I chose to think it would last long distance. I chose to be stupid about it to expect something lasting and because of that, I had to live through the fall out of it. I have nothing because of my choice when I had it all.”
His hand settled on her shoulders and eased out the anger trying to build. “If Marc hadn’t cheated, it would have lasted. None of this is your fault. Plenty of men work away from home and they’re not cheating. Besides, look at what you have because of the way things turned out.” The frown on his face eased. “Hell, Tonya, I wouldn’t call it nothing. You have a successful business, friends who would do anything for you and you have….”
Just like that, her weight dropped back in her heels and the excitement over listening to him talk ended. “And what? I have great friends. Friends who would have stuck with me no matter where I lived. But I don’t have a family. I don’t have kids. I don’t have the picket fence with a dog and a cat.”
“So go get them. You have the money to buy a house for the pets. There are ways to have a baby without being married. You’re the one not doing any of those things you want, so don’t stand here and tell me you can’t. Because the Tonya I know can do whatever she wants, if she wants it bad enough.”
She didn’t have someone to love. Someone to love her back. And that was something she couldn’t do alone. And she didn’t want the house and family without the husband with it. It was a package deal. Picnics on the weekends together. Car trips. Camping. Everything as that perfect
family
.
It’s what she’d had growing up and she wouldn’t accept less.
He rubbed down her arm, then back up. He seemed closer now. “When are you telling everyone else?”
His hand was warming, but that idea left her cold. “I don’t know. Your reaction isn’t exactly encouraging. It’s humiliating enough, but I don’t want to lose business either.”
“You won’t lose business over it.”
“Really?” She shook her head. “I told you and you haven’t been by in days.”
His mouth opened then snapped shut. He seemed even closer again. Was she moving or was it him? She wasn’t sure anymore. Not with the solid strength of his chest close enough she only needed to lean a little and she’d feel him against her cheek.
She blinked before talking herself into leaning on him more than she should. Mercy, but they were all messed up right now. The last thing she needed to do was complicate matters further. Not until they at least straightened this mess out.
Not that she really and truly thought she was going to lose business. A couple people might be snippy about it, but that was likely it. She was the only diner within a few miles. The gas station down the road did simple fare, but nothing to compete with her. People had to eat and she had food. Business wasn’t going anywhere. She just wanted to get that dig in there and twist the knife. “I spilled my darkest secret I thought to a close friend and he left me high and dry.”
The hand on her arm stilled, fingers curled around her for a moment before he pulled away. “Forgive me for not sticking around after being insulted.”
“Insulted over what?”
“That a man can’t keep his dick to himself if his woman isn’t nearby.”
“I never said that about you.”
“You said it about every man on the planet. One broad sweeping statement.” He moved in a step closer, so much that he leaned over her. His shadow fell over her shoulders. “I went out, worked, made money. I kept my pants zipped and didn’t cheat.”
She frowned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about—”
“Trent Iverson?”
Trent straightened and turned around to greet who she assumed was the man he was here meeting. That about figured. They were just getting this mess straightened out.
Trent nodded. “That’s me.”
“Michael Sinclair.” He stuck out his hand and glanced between Trent and her. “Your wife?”
“Me?” She looked to Trent. “No, no. Just a friend.”
And that’s all she’d get for now as Michael was ready to talk business. She bid her goodbyes and wondered what the odds were he’d lock his door again when he got home this evening.
Chapter Six
Trent drove the block once again before finally breaking down, pulling in the diner lot and parking around back as if all things were normal.
They were so far off normal, he wasn’t sure normal was option. This afternoon she’d come hauling across his future front yard. Ponytail just a swinging behind her head and it knocked him back on his heels so damn hard he’d had to turn his back to her and catch his breath.
His friendship with Tonya had been built because she was untouchable. There had been no expectations. No wondering about her under her clothes. She was off limits. At least, in the beginning. The fact that he thought she was engaged had kept their friendship going or he likely would have walked out a long time ago when they got too close. He wasn’t ready for something more. He’d tried in the past but any time a relationship would start with a girl, something would happen. She would lie or mislead him or something. Every time it would whiplash him back to Amanda. The lying, cheating—even one girl who stole money from him—wasn’t going to happen. He’d die alone before settling.
Now this. This was exactly the same, but different too because it was Tonya. Natural. Real. Good to her customers, even better to her friends. Now that the jackass boyfriend was out of the picture, Trent had nothing holding him back from the woman he’d secretly wanted for so long.
Except for his standards. The ones where he said he’d no longer accept being lied to.
He shook his head and strolled through the back, rounded the corner where the diner’s smell would have a hungry man floating in air toward it. He’d been walking in this place so often he’d forgotten the scent of sizzling burgers and frying fish unless he was in the heart of the place. A few days away and it hit him hard. Like walking home.
Everything about it was like walking home. The rush, the movement. Clinking dishes and spatulas on the stainless steel grill. The racket of fryer baskets lifting and the swish of frozen fries going into the grease. Plates sliding, orders being called out. It was getting just after five. Tickets were starting to line up half way down the bar. In another twenty minutes, the bar would be covered and a stack waiting would be started. Wait staff moved around him, nodding and smiling their hellos.
He stopped at the flat stainless grill, turned the burgers that needed turning, checked tickets, added cheese to the meat that was ready and stacked burgers on the buns where they waited to be wrapped and delivered to customers.
Carla came through, shoved another ticket under the clip hanging above their heads and breathed sigh of relief at seeing him. “Thank God you came in today.”
He smiled. “Busy today?”
“Busy all damn week. Jamie walked out a couple days ago when Tonya refused to give her a raise.”
He blinked. “Jamie. The red head?”
“That’d be her.” Carla pulled burgers off the bun warmer, snatched tickets and plated a table of eight on a serving tray.
“She’s just been here a few weeks.”
“Exactly. I have to take these.” She grabbed the tray and headed out the swinging kitchen doors and into the sitting area.
Well all right then. Nothing like getting back to normal than jumping into things. He read all the tickets again, checked the fryers and added two orders of tater tots that should have been cooking by now.
He reached for two extra large hamburger patties and tossed them on the grill as the door swung back open. He looked that way, waiting to hear the order called out, but it was Tonya who stepped through.
“I….”
Everyone in the kitchen watched her, glanced to him. He’d been out a couple days, and clearly she wasn’t the only one who’d noticed. He had no desire to hang their laundry in front of her employees. “I had some extra time tonight, and Carla said you were short. What have you got?”
She blinked and glanced at her ticket, got back in motion and moved toward him as she spoke. “Two doubles, a fry, onion ring and chicken salad.”
A series of got-it’s sounded out as she tucked the ticket under the clip. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“We got cut off earlier.”
“Right. Just wasn’t expecting you here.”
“Good thing I stopped by with the looks of things.”
She smiled up at him and patted his shoulder. “Thank you.”
“We’ll talk later.” Maybe by then he’d know what to say.
Her smile remained and would you look at that, he felt one on his face too. Something had become clear in the days he’d spent away from her. He missed her. He knew he would to some degree, but he missed her more than he’d been expecting. Thought of her more than he’d expected.
Yeah, they’d talk later. By the way things were looking, they had a lot to talk about and figure out.
Carla was back, sticking more tickets under the clip, calling more orders out. “Let’s do this thing! They’re really starting to pack in now.”
“By the looks of things, we’re already full.”
She punched him in the arm. “Buck up, Cowboy. Grab the bull or carry your ass home.” She headed toward the fryers and collected a handful of items, still running her mouth. “Take off for a couple days and come back all lazy-like.”
He shook his head. “Easy now.”
She tossed him a wink, grabbed burgers off the bun warmer and started plating another table. “
Ain’t
no time for easy. I got tips to make!”
She grabbed another serving tray of plates and bounced out of the kitchen. Just as soon as she left the spot, Tonya moved into the bun dressing station and started adding lettuce, tomatoes and fixing the hamburger buns up how the customer ordered them.
The short hairs around her face had fallen from her ponytail. It happened all the time. She’d pin them back part way through the day, and by evening, they’d be loose again. Her arms were slender in her tank top. Hips looked just right in the apron around her waist.
“If you don’t flip those burgers, you’ll burn them.”
He shook his head and returned to the grill instead of staring. He stayed that way for the next hour or so as dinner reached its peak then slowed back down. Sweat streaked down his spine. Grease and steam off the grill and fryers coated his face. He should have his thoughts figured out by now, but he didn’t. It was still the conflict of wanting her versus what he swore he’d never do again.