Never Saw it Coming

by Bernadette Marie

  “So how did the job interview go?” she asked.

  “The man thought we could play golf together some day. I’m going to take that as a positive sign, right?”

  She laughed easily and sat back in her chair. “I would too. If you can work with Chandra, I assume you could work with anyone. She’s fairly picky about the people she keeps around.”

  That was quite a compliment considering Chandra not only had him working with her, but had set up the opportunity for him to live that closely too.

  He bit into the warm, soft cookie and had to remind himself to refrain from moaning, but that was hard. If anyone had nailed his mother’s cookie recipe, it was Esther.

  “It was funny,” he said as he swallowed his bite and then sipped his milk. “As I was driving down to the interview I was thinking how depressing it was. I’ve worked corporate for twenty some years. Now here I am, new city, new opportunity, and I’m chasing that again? I’m not sure that’s what I want.”

  “Yes, but will your handyman skills take you where you need them to?”

  “That becomes the question.” He took another bite of the cookie which still oozed chocolate from the melted chips. “There was a house around the corner that caught my eye.”

  “One you want to live in?”

  He shrugged. “My parents used to own a bed and breakfast. It had that kind of charm.”

  “There are a few of those around here. Denver has a lot to offer a visitor. I don’t see where another one would hurt.”

  “There are a lot of options,” he pondered aloud. “It could even be an Airbnb.”

  Esther’s brows drew together. “What is that?”

  He chuckled. “You can now stay in someone’s home—like renting a hotel.”

  “I wouldn’t want to do that.”

  “Yes, but it wouldn’t be my home, per say. It could be an investment.”

  She leaned in and rested her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand. “So you’d buy the house and rent it out like a hotel?”

  “Yeah.” The thought of it stirred in his head until there was a giddy surge that zipped through him. “You know what else would be fantastic? I could have a few bicycles for the people to use. Of course, that’s not practical in the snow.”

  Esther laughed and sat back again. “This is Colorado. Have you not seen the crazy people outside running in the snow? Bicycles don’t have a season here.”

  Yes, he had seen that. Those college students had shorts on, and it had been snowing.

  “I’ll have to do some digging,” he said dipping his cookie into the milk. “There was no sign on the house.”

  “You have money to invest?”

  Suddenly the zip of excitement exited his body. “No. And that’s where the stuffy job comes into play. Maybe in time, I will.”

  Esther patted his hand. “Don’t give up the dream. It’s a good one,” she said with a warm smile.

  It was a good one, he agreed. It would occupy his mind while he was stuck in some cubicle with no windows.

  Chapter Nine

  Another one of those skills Mike had learned from his parents’ bed and breakfast, was the skill to set a nice table and cook a great meal.

  He threw the dish towel, one of many that Esther had sent, over his shoulder and tasted his sauce. Letting out a moan, he decided that it was perfect.

  Lifting the lid from the pan, he checked his chicken and gave himself an approving nod.

  Esther had thought of everything he’d need for a few days. He had the table set with the paper plates she’d brought. Paper towel squares were folded under the two forks he had.

  On his way out of the grocery store, he’d stopped by a little liquor store and bought a bottle of wine. It was a normal thing to do when planning a dinner. It wasn’t until he got back to his apartment that he thought maybe that was a mistake. Chandra was only stopping by for dinner, not staying to linger. After all, she would have to go back to work.

  When he’d passed through on his way home, they’d agreed on an eight o’clock dinner time. He’d have liked something a little earlier, but he wasn’t the one with the demanding job.

  He opened the oven and checked on the potatoes. Everything looked great. There were fifteen minutes before his guest would arrive. Just enough time to check his email.

  Mike sat down on the sofa and opened his laptop on the coffee table. The email reader refreshed, and he scrolled through the many junk emails that cluttered his inbox. But then he saw the name he’d been looking for. There was an email from Peter Roberts.

  His finger hovered over the touchpad on his laptop. Something kept him from clicking on the email. Perhaps a glass of wine would be nice to have in his hand before he opened it. Or, he could save it for after dinner, and then follow Chandra downstairs and have a beer. That was more his style.

  Closing the laptop, he decided he’d wait until later to look at the email. He didn’t want it to change his attitude. At the moment he was happy and content in his new home and expecting a lovely lady for dinner.

  And at that moment there was a knock on the door. The lovely lady had arrived.

  Mike moved to the door and pulled it open. Without a word, Chandra walked straight in, as if her mind were somewhere else.

  “I only have a half hour,” she said passing by him looking down at her phone.

  “Everything is ready. Have a seat.”

  She lifted her head and looked at the table. “I thought you were doing something simple.”

  “This is simple. Paper plates. Paper towels. And Styrofoam cups.” He chuckled.

  “I’ll admit I was expecting a bowl of spaghetti. What did you do? Chicken?”

  “With garlic cream sauce and baby potatoes?”

  Her eyes went wide. “Oh.”

  “It’s all ready. We can have you back downstairs in a half hour. Is it still busy?” he asked lifting the lid from the chicken and ladling the sauce over the top.

  “Just down a few people. Snow becomes a freaking excuse for everyone,” she growled.

  “There’s a salad and some dressing in the fridge if you want to pull that out,” he said, trying to distract her mood.

  She moved in behind him in the tiny kitchen and opened the refrigerator. “You bought wine? I thought this was just dinner. Not a date.” Her tone had a bite.

  “I just thought it would be a nice touch. But I don’t have an opener until tomorrow. So it looks like I’ll be saving it. Besides, I didn’t consider your having to go back to work.”

  “For the record, I’d rather just stay up here and drink wine.” She took out the container of salad and the bottle of dressing before nudging the door closed with her hip.

  Mike transferred the potatoes to a bowl Esther had brought him and set it on the table. He picked up the paper plates and carried it to the stove. Carefully he loaded each plate with one of the chicken breasts and then realized he should have asked her to bring up a couple of plates. His nice dinner might just fall through the plate after all.

  Managing to make it to the table, he let out a breath. “Glad you’re not wearing that,” he joked, but she was looking at her phone again.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked as he sat down across from her.

  “What? Oh, yeah.” She tucked her phone in her back pocket. “Sorry. My phone seems to be blowing up. You went to my house?”

  Her question caught him off guard as did the look of accusation which fired from her eyes.

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Why? Are you stalking me? I don’t need trouble. I thought you looked like a normal guy. I introduced you to my kid.”

  “Who is a fine young man,” he interrupted.

  “That’s what worries me. What the hell were you doing with my family.”

  Mike sat back in his chair and took a moment to inventory what was happening. She was feeling threatened by him, but there was no reason for her to feel that way. But she was a protective mother and daughter. This would have to b
e an issue he trod lightly.

  “I was driving back from my interview, and I got lost on the side streets. I came upon a house that was of interest to me, and I stopped to look at it. It just so happened to be the same route Jason was walking home on.”

  “What house? Why?”

  Trying to remain casual, he served potatoes onto both plates and then opened the container of salad.

  “It was a vacant house, and it made me think of my parents’ B and B. So I stopped to look in the windows. It didn’t have a for sale sign, but no one lives in it.”

  Lines formed between her brow. “You took my son into a vacant house?” Her voice rose.

  “No.” He kept his voice calm to balance the room. “When I turned around he was looking in the car. He knew it was yours. I’m fairly sure he thought I’d stolen it.” The thought made him chuckle. “He told me he was walking home and saw the car. Then there were other kids on the other side of the street that I think he was trying to avoid. So I offered to walk him home.”

  The look on her face changed from accusation to worry, and he knew that look was reserved for Jason.

  “I think those kids give him a hard time,” she said.

  “Well, they didn’t today. I walked him home, and we talked about his game this weekend.”

  With a huff, she sat back in her chair. “That game. Why is it so important? He’s an average player putting too much stock in a league game.”

  “We’re guys,” he humored, as he leaned in and cut his first bite of his chicken. “We will always want to be the biggest and baddest dudes around.”

  Finally, she laughed, but the seriousness crept back over her face as she leaned in to put salad on her plate. “I’m sorry I freaked out there.”

  “Don’t be sorry for that. You have a lot on your mind, and part of that is the protection of your family. I suppose me showing up at your house seems a little creepy in hindsight. I think it took your mother by surprise too.”

  She nodded. “Considering your mantel has a new plant, she must have gotten over it.”

  “She fed me cookies too.”

  “Sounds like her.” She cut a piece of her chicken and then stabbed it with a fork. He watched her drag it through the sauce deep in thought. “You’ll really go to his game on Saturday?”

  “I’ll be there. I promised him.”

  “He’s going to put a lot of stock in that.”

  “He should. A man promised him something, and that man should follow through.”

  Chandra bit down on her bottom lip. “You’re a decent guy.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I mean it. You stepped in here and helped out. You thought to walk my kid home, so he wasn’t picked on. And I think you’ll actually follow through with your promise to be there.”

  “I will follow through.”

  She lifted her fork to her mouth, finally, and took her first bite of the chicken. He watched her savor it, and it gave him great pleasure to do so.

  “This is good.”

  “I’m glad you liked it. I have about ten recipes I know by heart. This is one. You have nine more dinners before we repeat.”

  Now she laughed with ease and the tension she’d been holding in her shoulders released.

  Dinner continued with the casual conversation. No big insights into her soul, but perhaps some soothing for his.

  When they were done, they’d managed to spend forty-five minutes over dinner, and that set her into a panic.

  “I’m sorry I have to run. I took longer than I anticipated,” she said as she stood.

  Mike rose. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “I can help you clean up.”

  He shook his head. “No. I’ve got it. If it’s not too busy downstairs, I thought I’d come sit and have a beer. If that’s okay.”

  “Sure. Sure.” She moved toward him as if she were going to hug him, or perhaps kiss him. Then she awkwardly moved past him as if she needed to avoid him. “I’ll see you down there.”

  He watched her walk out the door and then he sat back down. Something told him this new friendship was about to become complicated.

  Chapter Ten

  Chandra hurried down the stairs and out the door to the back of the building. She let the door close behind her and pressed her back to it.

  What in the hell was that? She’d nearly moved in to hug the man when less than an hour ago she’d been convinced he was some stalker. Pressing her hands to her cheeks, she realized not only had she nearly hugged him she’d almost moved in to kiss him. Perhaps he hadn’t noticed. That’s all she could hope for. The last thing she needed in her life was a man. She had enough on her plate.

  Chandra walked back into the restaurant from the back door. It was nearly nine o’clock, and the dining room was winding down. A man sat at the bar, and she welcomed the distraction from the man that would soon join her.

  “How are you?” she asked the man as she dismissed the waiter who had been covering for her.

  “Doing okay. This is a nice place.”

  “Thanks. Did they take care of you? I see you have a drink. Did you want to put in an order for dinner?”

  “No, I was looking for someone, actually.”

  “Well if you’re looking for the owner, he’s on paternity leave.”

  The man’s eyes widened and then he smiled. “Good for him. Boy or girl?”

  “Don’t know yet. She’s ready to go at any moment.”

  “Exciting. No, I’m looking for Mike Cavanagh.”

  That took her by surprise. “He’ll be down shortly. Who are you?”

  The man held his hand out to her. “Peter Roberts.”

  “Chandra Chavez,” she introduced herself as she shook the man’s hand. “How do you know Mike?”

  “He interviewed with me this morning.”

  “And you’re here to give him a job?”

  Peter rolled the glass between his palms. “No.”

  “No, he sent an email that said I was overqualified for the job,” Mike’s voice rang in her ears, and she noticed he’d walked up to the bar.

  “Hey, Mike.” Peter stood and shook his hand.

  “I’m surprised to see you here.”

  “Yeah, not my usual process. Can I buy you a drink?”

  “Sure,” Mike agreed and sat down next to Peter as Chandra pulled him a beer and set it in front of him. Then she stepped back from the bar and began her nighttime ritual of closing down the bar, but keeping a keen ear focused on the men.

  “I’m sorry about the job,” Peter said.

  “Hey, big world. Lots of competition out there. I understand.”

  “Well, you were my choice if it’s any consolation.”

  Mike lifted his beer to his lips. “It is.”

  “The reason I stopped by, and this is between you and me,” he made sure to make eye contact with Mike, who nodded in agreement. “I’m breaking away from the company, and I’ll have a new startup going in a month. I’m putting together my team. My investors are in place.”

  “That’s exciting.”

  “It is. And I want you to be part of it. There’ll be a signing bonus if that helps to get your attention.”

  Mike laughed. “You had my attention, but now you have all of it.”

  Chandra listened as Peter explained the company and the role he wanted Mike to play in it. Most of the things he was talking about were over her head, but Mike had input and Peter seemed to appreciate it.

  She watched as the last of the diners left, and the kitchen began to go through their closing process. When the clock above the bar said it was ten o’clock, she moved back in front of the men and laid her hands flat on the bar.

  “Gentlemen, we are closing up.”

  Peter reached for his wallet and handed her his credit card. “I appreciate you letting us stick around and talk.”

  “Of course.” She swiped the card and handed it back to him. “Anytime.”

  Peter turned to Mike and held his h
and out to him again. “I’ll call you tomorrow, and maybe this weekend we can go hit those golf balls.”

  “Sounds great.”

  Peter started for the door just as it flung open and Tracy burst in. “Her water broke!”

  Chandra instinctively grabbed Mike’s hand and squeezed. “They’re going now?”

  “Saint Joe’s. I’ll meet you there.” She beamed and then noticed the man standing next to her. “Sorry. I’m in your way.”

  Peter smiled broadly as he pulled on his coat. “Not at all. I take it that the owner has now officially started his paternity leave?”

  Tracy nodded as if he’d rendered her speechless, but it was quickly corrected. “I’m Tracy,” she said offering her hand.

  “Peter,” he replied, taking her hand and kissing it.

  Chandra was fairly sure she’d just seen the strong-willed Tracy swoon.

  “Give them my best. Mike,” he turned with a wave, “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  Peter walked out the door, and Tracy watched him disappear before she turned back toward the bar. “Him. I want him,” she joked, and Chandra laughed.

  “He fits your profile.” She looked at Mike whose lips had curled into a warm smile, and she realized she was still holding onto his hand. “Tracy, this is Mike.”

  Tracy held out her hand with the million bracelets. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard wonderful things.”

  “Thank you.”

  Tracy stepped back and tapped her fingers together. “Okay, I’m headed to the hospital to meet my new faux-grandbaby. I’ll meet you there.”

  When she had walked out the door, Mike turned to her. “Faux-grandbaby?”

  “That’s what she calls Holly and Gabe’s daughter. Her faux-granddaughter. She doesn’t have any children.”

  “She’s a free spirit.”

  “Yes she is.” She looked around at the staff wiping down tables and cleaning the floor. “I guess I’d better get a move on if I want to be there to see that baby.”

  “Tell me what to do. I’ll help get everyone out of here for you. I know how important this is for you. Especially if you’ll go in the middle of the night to the hospital to be there for them.”