by Tari Faris
“Austin? Like Jane Au—”
“No. In, not en. I am no hero.”
Maybe, maybe not. Only time would tell.
“I’m Libby.” She took his hand, and the warmth made her want to hold on a touch longer than necessary. It was time to go. Not because she found him threatening but because she found him less threatening by the minute, and that in itself was dangerous. She had a gift for trusting the wrong people, and she couldn’t walk that road again.
Leaving Heritage wouldn’t be easy, but it was necessary.
Olivia grabbed a cloth and wiped down the new dark gray Formica counters at Donny’s. It’d take a while to get used to not seeing the scratches and stains that had taken up permanent residence over the years.
When her sister Janie and her husband, Thomas, had bought the place from Lucy and Don last year, they hadn’t been able to afford a lot of changes, so they had focused on what showed the most wear—the counters and the red vinyl on the booths. The small changes had made a big difference, and that’s what she was counting on for her own life.
Lucy pushed through the swinging door that connected to the kitchen, her gray hair brushing her shoulders as she walked. “That sister of yours better get back from her honeymoon soon. I’m too old for this. There was a reason we retired and sold the business.”
“You have more energy than three people combined.” Olivia hung the rag she’d been using under the edge of the counter. “But never fear. They’re supposed to be back next week.”
“Two weeks sounded a lot shorter before I was getting up at five in the morning every day again.” Lucy gathered a few mugs left by patrons and added them to the bin under the counter.
Olivia checked her watch. “I need to take my break in five minutes. I have a phone interview.”
“Ooh, is this with that big paper in Arizona?” Lucy checked a to-go order and then scooped out a piece of pie from the display and slid it into a box.
“No. I had that interview this morning. Which wasn’t much of an interview. They basically said they needed more print time before they would consider me. My professor insisted I have a backup plan, and she knew someone at the Grand Rapids Gazette, so she arranged this interview a few weeks ago. I mean, it isn’t as far as Phoenix, but getting out of Heritage for a while will be nice.” More like getting away from Nate was a necessity. “But my professor said it should be a done deal, so I put my notice on your—I mean Janie’s—desk.”
Lucy set the pie by the cash register and taped the order slip on top. “We’ll miss you, but it’s good to see my little birdies fly their nest. I just can’t imagine this town without you. And Nate will be missing you for certain.”
Olivia paused. How much did Lucy know? She was sure they’d kept their non-relationship out of the town’s eye, but Heritage was known for being a fishbowl.
“I mean, you run almost half the programs at that church.” Lucy waved at a couple leaving, then wiped the perfectly clean counter again.
Olivia picked up an empty napkin dispenser, carried it to the counter, and started filling it. “Nate did mention that the church would miss me when I left.”
“You’ve already told him?”
“I mentioned I was leaving the other night when we went to the shelter.”
“He didn’t say anything else?”
“Only that I’m a great asset to the church.”
Lucy shook her head and set an empty dispenser in front of Olivia. “He’ll come around. Give him time.”
“I think he’s run out of time.” Her phone rang and she didn’t recognize the number. She waved it in the air. “Interview. I think I’ll go sit on Otis out front for good luck.”
“Unless you want to be interrupted, you better choose the back alley.” Lucy shooed her out the door.
Olivia exited the back door and leaned against the brick wall facing the back lot. It wasn’t pretty, but it was quiet. She drew a deep breath and hit Accept. “Hello, this is Olivia Mathews.”
That sounded professional.
“This is Frank Lang. I don’t need another reporter right now.” The man’s words were clipped.
“Huh?” That was less professional. She cleared her throat. “I mean, Dr. Brown said—”
“Dr. Brown is an old friend. She said you needed some ink time, so here is what I can offer you. Freelance. You write something—if I like it, I’ll pay you for it and print it.”
“And if you don’t?” She pressed her head into the wall.
“Then you write something else.”
This changed everything. No steady job meant no steady paycheck. So much for the apartment in Grand Rapids. Thomas and Janie would let her keep her job here at the diner, but that would mean remaining in Heritage. Maybe Libby would let her rent one of the rooms in that house.
“Are you interested or not?” Frank Lang’s gruff voice echoed over the line.
It wasn’t like she had other options, and print time was print time—if he liked her work. “I’ll do it. Is there a story you want me to start with?” She kicked at a pebble at her feet. The guy didn’t seem easy to please, but perhaps if she started on a story he was looking for, it’d give her a leg up.
“You single?”
She kicked at another pebble but stumbled. “Excuse me?”
“I want a feature on dating. There are all these new ways to date these days. I want you to put a spin on it from a young single person’s perspective.” His voice muffled as if he was reading a list. “Online, fast dating—”
“Speed dating.”
“Exactly.” A slight chuckle accompanied his words. “See, you’re just the person to do it. Are you single? Because it might be hard to research if you’re in a relationship.”
Olivia’s mind flashed to Nate, their conversation in the van, and the fact that he’d barely acknowledged her at the diner the other day. “I’m single.”
“You want to take it?”
She’d been on only one date in her life—with Nate. And that hadn’t turned out all that well. She wasn’t against dating. She’d just decided long ago that she wouldn’t waste her time dating a guy she couldn’t see herself marrying. Nate had been the first guy to really catch her attention—then throw it away.
“If you’d rather not—”
“I’ll take it.”
“Great. Have it on my desk in two weeks.” The line went dead.
That was it? Olivia pulled up her contacts and tapped out a text to her sister.
Looks like I’m not leaving Heritage anytime soon.
Olivia’s phone rang and Janie’s picture flashed on the screen. “You aren’t supposed to call me on your honeymoon.”
“We’re driving to our next B&B. What happened? Did you not get the job?”
“Sort of.” Olivia pushed away from the wall and paced to her car. “I somehow just agreed to write an article on modern dating when I’ve never dated—modern or not.”
“You sort of dated Jackson in high school.”
“I hate it when people say that. We were only friends.”
“He’d have dated you if you’d let him. Half the school thought you were dating.”
She did a 180 and paced back to the diner. “Don’t remind me. Getting voted cutest couple our senior year was so awkward.” Olivia leaned her head against the wall. “I may turn it down.”
“You can write anything you set your mind to. Remember when you wrote that article about climbing Mount Everest in high school? Even I was ready to give it a try, and I hate the outdoors.”
“I guess you’re right.” Olivia checked the time. “But it’s only freelance, so I need to keep my job here if that’s okay.”
“I’ll talk the boss into it.” Janie laughed at something Thomas said but Olivia couldn’t hear. Probably for the best.
“See you in a week.” Olivia ended the call and slid her phone back in her pocket. She marched right to Janie’s desk, picked up the letter offering her two weeks’ notice, and tossed it
in the trash. It looked like she’d be here indefinitely.
She returned to where she’d left the napkins, but Lucy had finished. Olivia leaned against the counter and pulled out a notepad. Speed dating. Internet dating. Was there YouTube dating? No, that wouldn’t work. Would it?
“Ma’am, can I get more coffee?”
Without looking up, Olivia grabbed the pot and started filling the mugs of all the patrons at the counter.
“Thank you.” The familiar baritone snapped her out of her thoughts as she filled the third cup. Her head jerked up. Her favorite pair of smoky gray eyes—her kryptonite—watched her with a hooded expression. She meant to offer a curt nod and turn away, but her feet didn’t seem to work anymore. The tension in his face tugged at her heart.
“You okay?” Blast her heart for caring so much.
“Yeah, sure. Family stress, that’s all.” He dropped his gaze to his mug. “How did your interview at the paper go?” When she didn’t answer, he looked up and chuckled. “Lucy mentioned where you were. Is this about the job in Phoenix?”
“No. They want more experience.” Was it her imagination, or did Nate’s shoulders just relax a bit? “This was a paper in Grand Rapids. He wants me to write an article on dating.”
“What?” Nate coughed, spilling a bit of his coffee onto the counter.
She grabbed a cloth and wiped up the spill. “My boss wants a story on modern dating.”
“You aren’t going to do it, are you? I mean, you haven’t even—”
“Dated? Yes, I am aware. But it’s never too late to start. It sounds like fun.”
“You’ll just go out and date random strangers?”
“Maybe. Or maybe guys in town. Although you may not see me as dateable, I doubt that’s the sentiment of every man around here.”
“Olivia—”
The bell over the door chimed, and in walked Mayor Jameson, Bo Mackers, and Dale Kensington.
“That’s my three o’clock.” Nate picked up his bag. “We’re talking about that idea you had for the schoolhouse in the town square. Wish me luck.”
The mayor nodded at Nate, then offered her a full smile. “We’ll start with four coffees in the corner booth when you have a second.”
Olivia turned around and picked up the coffeepot. When she turned back, Nate had already joined the other three men at the booth. Just a ridiculously high tip next to his abandoned cup.
She gripped the money and resisted the urge to throw it at him. Now she had to do the stupid dating article or admit to Nate that he was right. She had no idea what she was doing when it came to dating.
“It was supposed to be an interview for the magazine.” Austin resisted the urge to scratch his face where they’d just powdered it. “Why is there a TV camera?”
Nate shifted in his chair as the makeup lady turned her attention to him. “It was just an article, but a station from Grand Rapids called the mayor about an interview, and he decided to do them at the same time.”
“Perfect.” Austin wrinkled his nose and finally scratched at his cheek, causing the makeup lady’s purple lips to pinch as she batted his hand away.
Libby stood at the edge of the crowd that had begun to form. Her dark blonde ponytail and yoga pants probably meant she’d just come back from another bike ride. He’d seen her more times than he could count on that ugly purple bike.
After the encounter with her dog, he’d seen her as immature and irresponsible, but the way she’d taken charge of his injury on his arm two days ago changed that. And she’d been funny.
Somehow in those twenty minutes, she’d worked her way under his radar, and he’d found himself thinking way too much of her the past couple of days. What would it be like to spend the whole day with her? Find out what made her laugh—besides his dog’s name.
“There has also been another change to the plans.” Nate handed him a pack of papers.
“What?” Austin skimmed through the pages, heat spreading across his skin as he read. He slapped the packet on the edge of the chair but lowered his voice. “You can’t do this. We already have a contract.”
Nate produced another piece of paper. “The contract spells out that the town may change the plans up until the seventeenth of August. That’s still five days away. Besides, this is better for you. You’ll make more money.”
“But this will take another month at least.” Austin rolled the papers in his hand tighter and tighter. A delay in the job meant a delay in payment. His checkbook didn’t have room for that.
“It isn’t final. The committee just wants you to present a plan to include the schoolhouse.”
“I could say no.”
“Not the best publicity for the business.” Nate leaned toward him. “It isn’t like you have other jobs to get to.”
Nate was right, and Austin hated that his brother knew it.
“I tried to give you the heads-up last night, but my calls kept going to voicemail.”
Austin didn’t comment. He’d seen Nate’s calls and ignored every one. He hadn’t felt like getting into it again last night.
He unrolled the pages and flipped through them, reading as fast as he could.
He paused on the words “Assistant landscaper: Nate Williams” and held the page up to his brother. “What’s this?”
“That’s why I’m in the interview too.” Nate lowered his voice again. “It only makes sense.”
“I’ll hire my own assistant.”
“I’ll work for free. And—”
“Austin Williams?” An attractive young brunette approached with her hand outstretched and a cameraman on her heels.
“Yes.” Austin stood and shook her hand.
“I’m Sydney St. James from Channel 21 News. It’s quite exciting for one of our small towns to win a national contest like this. We’ll be following the development through the entire project.”
Entire project?
The idea of being in the spotlight made his skin itch, but local news coverage might just be the answer to save Williams and Son Landscaping. It’d do more than the national magazine. After all, they didn’t need national business; they needed local business.
He offered a polite smile and shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m happy to help any way I can.”
“Great. We’re going to shoot the interview in the gazebo.” She led him to one of two high stools that had been set up. “Can you believe this weather? Cool one day and hot and muggy the next. I’m glad today is nice.”
Austin nodded, not sure what else to add.
She glanced at her notes, then back at him. “I hear the woman who entered the town in the contest isn’t here right now. Is that correct?”
“Hannah Taylor? No, she’s not available at this time.” At least that’s what he thought he’d heard.
She waved her red nails in the air. “No worries, I’ll splice in interviews with her later.”
Austin ran a hand down his gray shirt. At least he’d chosen a solid color. That was supposed to be better on camera, right? It was the only solid one he had left now that he’d ruined the blue one.
He covered a smile at the memory of Libby asking him to take off his shirt. Well, not so much the asking as the moment that followed. Her face had gone redder than Austin had even thought possible.
Nate took the stool next to him as a boom with a fuzzy microphone hovered over his head. “You ready for this?”
“As ready as I can be for looking over the plans in thirty seconds,” he whispered for Nate alone.
Nate shrugged. “I tried to call.”
Sydney’s gaze bounced between them. “Wow. You two look a lot alike.”
Nate ran his fingers through his hair. “We’re brothers.”
The lady with the purple lips returned with a scowl and ran a comb through Nate’s hair again. “Don’t touch it.”
Sydney settled on her stool and skimmed through a set of note cards. “Do you do a lot with the business, Nate?”
Nate rea
ched for his hair but stopped when he glanced at the hair lady again. He slid his hand along his pants leg. “Uh . . .”
“He hasn’t done much with the business since high school.” No matter how mad he was at his brother, Austin wasn’t about to throw him under the bus. After all, he was the pastor here. Who knew how much the town knew of his past.
“You two will look great together on camera. If we get a few shots of you working side by side, this might just get picked up nationally. Our very own local Property Brothers meets Going Yard. I love it.”
What was she babbling about? They weren’t going to be working side by side.
Sydney motioned to the cameraman. “Make sure to get that brass hippo in the background. I love it.”
What? He shifted in his seat to look over his shoulder. Sure enough, the hippo sat in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at them as if he’d shown up for the interview. This was getting weird.
“And ready in five.” The cameraman counted down.
The newswoman shook her hair and offered the camera a million-dollar smile. “Michigan has had its ups and downs with the economy. But even in the worst of times, we Michiganders pull together. It’s that pull-together attitude that defines this state, this small town of Heritage, and Williams and Son Landscaping.”
She turned toward them as she spoke, and the cameraman shifted his shot to include them. “Nate and Austin are brothers helping each other help this town. Nate, you must have had great faith in your brother to recommend him for this job.”
Nate studied Austin before looking at the woman. “My brother is a great man and an amazing landscaper. I’d trust no one more.”
“Will you be helping him?”
He sent Austin a quick glance. “As much as he’ll let me.”
Austin fisted his hand. Nothing like throwing down a challenge in front of the town, not to mention everyone watching.
“Heritage is a great community that prides itself on embracing the future while remembering the past. Tell me about your decision to move the one-room schoolhouse to the square.”
How was he supposed to expound on an idea that he’d only heard about ten minutes ago? “Nothing has been finalized. We still have to determine if the move is possible. But it’s the newest idea that has been presented.”