Unexpected Love

by Melissa Price

  She watched him walk to her car and retrieve her things. Yep, he was definitely worth looking at. It reminded her of a car commercial she had seen last night on the hotel TV. A guy was bending down looking at a new car while some older women were checking him out and one of them had said something about a rear end event and the other one had said it was a year end event. That guy had nothing compared to the man she was gazing at. His well-fitting jeans looked just fine.

  As he slid back in after putting her stuff behind the seat, he looked at her, “Are you hungry?”

  She looked at the clock on his dash and realized it was lunch time and she was very hungry. “Yes, starving.”

  He started the engine. “Good, we can eat at the diner and then go check on your car. That will give him time to look at it.” He kept up a conversation during the fifteen minute drive into town and she was grateful. She was not sure what to say and she felt oddly tongue-tied around him. Usually she talked to everyone, stranger or friend. It came easily to her but with him, it was different. She didn’t understand why.

  When they pulled into the parking lot of a cheerful place called Sunshine Diner, he said before getting out, “They have great food here.”

  Before they got out, he plugged her phone in to charge it. She murmured a thank you but was suddenly more interested in the food. She really was hungry.

  He came around, opened her door and held out a hand, “Do you need a lift or a hand?”

  “Hand.” She hadn’t forgotten his warm hand on her bare skin. She took his hand and leaned on him for balance. When he held out his other hand she took it and slid awkwardly to the ground, bumping into him.

  Bumping was a mild term, maybe jarring was more like it. Chest to chest, faces close. He put his arms around her so she did not fall. They stared at each other and Taylor felt like she could barely breathe. So much for being graceful.

  “Sorry.” She said it very softly.

  Sean was having trouble concentrating. He could feel her soft body against his as he looked into her soft brown eyes. He stepped back.

  Six

  The place was clean and looked like the typical idea of a diner with a narrow aisle, dark blue cushioned booths and a long counter with build-in light blue swivel stools. The walls were decorated with pictures of sun lit meadows, a rainbow over a river, and sun streaming through trees. She slid into a comfortable booth as he took the side opposite her.

  Their server was a pleasant and friendly older woman who told them the daily specials. They chatted after ordering. At first, he did most of the talking but she soon relaxed. She talked about her adventurous road trip and he told her more about Maggie and Walter and the town.

  “How long have you lived here?”

  “In this city, about four years. I met Maggie and Walter my first week here. They’re nice people.”

  “How long have you been in the U.S.?”

  He thought about it, “I guess around nine years. Where do you live?”

  “Oh, Cumbersmith for a couple of years. I was lucky to get a really good job there.”

  The waitress came back and refilled their drinks and brought their food. The food was delicious. She had the special for the day, fried chicken and Sean had followed suit. She didn’t order fried chicken very often but this was really good. The coating was crunchy and flavorful and the chicken was juicy. It was served with a sweet cornbread muffin, homemade cole slaw, and hand cut French fries. She loved to cook and appreciated good, homemade meals.

  She thought about the popular local restaurant where she had worked as a sous chef before the accident. The restaurant was usually busy when it opened for lunch and dinner. Even though they were not open in the morning, they were usually in the kitchen prepping food for the day. They never knew the specials for the day until the morning. The chef liked to come up with specials daily decided the night before. The restaurant had a good reputation so it was not uncommon for there to be a waiting line.

  She thought about the smells, the busy atmosphere, the line cooks, wait staff and noises of chopping, pots and pans, spoons clanking, staff shouting out needs. The chef had to let her go because they needed someone in her role and it was going to be a long recovery time before she could hold up in a fast paced, sometimes stressful kitchen environment.

  She understood even though it did not make her feel any better about it. She had also been disappointed when wait staff and kitchen help had sent her cards while in the hospital, but the head chef had never even checked on her. She tried not to be negative, but past experiences sometimes made her that way. She usually tried to be a positive person and she was trying to get back to that state of mind.

  It was a good thing she had saved up a portion of her checks so she could afford to go for a short time without a job. She had been saving it up in the hopes of buying a house and getting some pets. She really wanted a couple of dogs, but there were no pets allowed at her small apartment complex.

  She loved animals and would have a houseful if she could. Dogs, maybe a cat, a couple of birds, fish. They would probably be too much to care for with her schedule, but she liked to dream about it. She wasn’t sure how long her money would last so she was being very careful.

  Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized Sean was talking to her. “Did I lose you?” he asked.

  She shook her head and smiled at him. “Sorry. I was thinking about how good this food is and how much I love to cook. I was a sous chef at a restaurant before the accident but they had to let me go.”

  He frowned, “I’m sorry. You can’t work there now?”

  She shrugged, “No, can’t keep up with the kitchen pace so I was let go.”

  He leaned back in the booth bench across from her. “I think you are the first professional chef I have ever known.”

  “Sous chef de Cuisine.” She said sassily.

  “What does a sous chef de cuisine do?” His tone was light and almost teasing.

  “Well, I prep, cook, and take over on the rare occasions when the head chef is not there. Or I did.”

  He nodded, “I see. Did you like it?”

  “Other than the long hours, lack of personal time, and the pressure? Yes, I did. Now, I don’t know. I miss it, but not as much as I thought I would. I guess life has a way of teaching you what is important and what is not.”

  “Very true. By the way, we call chicken, chook in Australian slang.”

  She raised her eyebrows, “Chook?”

  He laughed at the look on her face, “Yes, I can see you need some education, chef.”

  She giggled, “Guess so.” She squeezed some ketchup on her plate and offered it to him.

  “No tomato sauce for me, thanks.”

  She gave him a puzzled look and he laughed. “Tomato sauce is Australian slang for ketchup.”

  She giggled, “How interesting. I’ll have to remember that.”

  “So, what’s in Windsor?”

  “Oh. I’m going to visit my grandparents. They are my dad’s parents. My dad died five years ago. My mom has re-married and lives in Washington near Seattle but I’ve never met her husband. Anyways, I haven’t seen my grandparents for a long time and their health is not that great. Granddad has trouble getting around and has gone to using a cane. I need to see them and spend a little time with them.” She was having no trouble talking to him now. He had made her feel comfortable and it seemed like he was really interested to hear what she had to say.

  “That’s nice. I haven’t seen either one of my parents since I left Australia. They were on their way to a nasty divorce and I left before it was official. They both have re-married, but I don’t know much more than that. I wasn’t the easiest kid and our relationship was difficult.” There he goes again, sharing information that most people did not know. In fact, he could not think of anyone who knew that much about his past. His friend John knew his childhood had been difficult but even he didn’t know what he had just told Taylor.

  “My parents were divorced t
oo. My mom didn’t even come to dad’s funeral.” That had hurt more than she had admitted at the time.

  He saw the hurt in her eyes. Her mother and she must not get along very well. Even so, the fact that she had not bothered to attend the funeral of her ex-husband for her daughter’s sake did not escape his notice. He decided to change the subject.

  They chatted easily until he looked at his watch and told her that Billy should know something about her car. He picked up the check and handed it to the waitress with his card.

  “Wait, I don’t expect you to pay. You’ve done enough already,” she protested.

  “No, my treat. “

  They stared at each other challengingly. She broke the silence. “Really. I can pay for my own food.”

  “So can I.”

  “I will pay my bill, really. I insist.” She glared at him but he was not fazed by it. Darn it. She’d have to work on her no-nonsense, determined, and won’t back down look.

  She narrowed her eyes and tried looking sterner. “You are not paying, get it?” She tried a determined look.

  He looked at her and grinned, “I’ve been up against fiercer than you, Taylor. It’s not going to work.”

  She gave him a thoughtful look, her head tilted ever so slightly to the side and then smiled, “I’ll have to work on it.”

  He laughed, “You do that. It might get better.”

  “Might?”

  “You’re not exactly the scary type.”

  She gave him a prim look, “For your information, I don’t have any intention of being scary.”

  He grinned again, “Good.”

  “But I could be scary if I had too.”

  He lifted a brow, “How would that go exactly?”

  She thought for a moment, “Well, I, I just would.” She couldn’t think of anything to say. How did one go about being scary? He didn’t look like the type that got scared very often, if ever.

  He grinned, “Thought so.”

  The waitress brought back his card and he signed for it. She reached into her purse for her wallet. “I can at least leave the tip.”

  “Too late.” He grinned at her.

  She gave up and gave him a big smile, “Thank you.”

  Seven

  As they came out of the diner, she looked at him, “I can be scary, by the way.”

  “If you say so.” He didn’t look at her but he was grinning.

  She was about to retort back but a woman walked by with her tiny dog at the end of a leash. Taylor stopped and exclaimed, “He’s so cute.”

  The dog wagged his tail at her and his owner beamed, “Thanks. His name is Jack.”

  Taylor bent over to reach the little dog whose front paws were on her leg and almost lost her balance but Sean put an arm around her waist to steady her.

  “Hi, Jack.” She rubbed the dog’s neck and back. She pretended like she had not been about to kiss the pavement. Or that she didn’t feel his warm body pressed against her side. She hoped it was not obvious to the woman at least. Sean had been paying attention.

  His owner said, “He really likes you. He’s spoiled rotten.”

  Taylor was still bent over, rubbing his head, “Of course you are. That’s because you are too cute.” She was barely able to stay where she was, if it hadn’t been for Sean holding on, she was sure she would be on the pavement. Her legs were starting to get shaky.

  “It was nice to meet you both. Bye, Jack. Take good care of your momma.”

  The woman laughed, “Oh he does. Have a nice day.” She turned and continued down the street with little Jack trotting in front of her.

  She looked sideways at Sean and whispered, “Help. I’m stuck, can’t straighten up.”

  He put his free hand under her shoulder and she grabbed his arm as he helped her stand upright. He shook his head at her, “Did you forget you can’t do that?” One eyebrow was raised at her.

  She nodded her head. She blushed in embarrassment and Sean felt bad for saying anything. He said softly, “That’s okay. You made the dog and his owner happy. Besides, I got to be useful too.”

  She giggled, “As the man who kept me from kissing the pavement?”

  He smiled back, “Sure. Everyone needs to feel useful.”

  “Well, you definitely are.”

  Sean thought about her last remark as they walked to his truck.

  As they crossed the parking lot, a woman and her little girl got out of the car next to Sean’s truck. The pigtailed girl looked about three years old and she smiled and waved shyly at Taylor. Taylor stopped and started to bend down, but Sean grabbed her arm and forced her to stand at least mostly upright. She tried to ignore him and spoke to the little girl, “Hi. What’s your name?”

  Her mother smiled at her and nodded so the little girl answered, “Susie.”

  “I love your pretty dress, Susie. I love butterflies.” Her yellow dress was covered with brightly colored butterflies.

  “I love butterflies too. Guess what?”

  “What?”

  “I got a reward for cleaning my room. We are going there.” She pointed at the diner. “I’m going to get some ice cream too.”

  “Wow. Good job. Ice cream too. I love ice cream.”

  “Me too.” The little girl giggled.

  “Congratulations on doing such a good job.”

  Susie giggled again and threw her little arms around Taylor’s neck, pulling her down towards her. Sean reacted quickly and grabbed Taylor’s waist to keep her from falling as she hugged the little girl and said good bye. Her mother took her hand and led her into the restaurant.

  Sean hugged her tightly to his side and put an arm under hers to help her stand upright. Goose bumps broke out all up and down her arms. She could feel the electricity charged air. She glanced at the blue sky half expecting gray stormy clouds overhead.

  Taylor sneaked a peek at Sean who was staring at her, “It’s impossible for you to stay out of trouble, isn’t it?”

  “You have the totally wrong impression about me. I’m very boring and never get into trouble.”

  “I doubt that.”

  “Doubt what?”

  “That you are boring. The trouble part is definitely true.”

  “I’ll have you know that I’m not a trouble maker.”

  “If you say so.”

  She laughed, “Thanks for coming to my rescue. Again.”

  They exchanged smiles before he lifted her up and into the truck.

  Eight

  Twenty minutes later she stood in stunned silence when she received the report about her car. “It’ll take anywhere from 10 to 14 days to get all the parts in.” The mechanic had informed her with a shake of his head. “Sorry. The factory is back logged and this has to be custom ordered.”

  Then it would take him another two days to get it in good running order.

  He asked in his drawl, “Do you want me to put the order in?”

  She simply nodded, not trusting herself to speak at the moment.

  What choice did she have? She couldn’t go anywhere without it. Six hundred fifty dollars just for parts? Plus labor. Plus a room for the time she had to stay and meals. She didn’t have a lot of money at her disposal and this would use it up faster than she could recover. Maybe she would have to get a temporary sit down job to tide her over sooner than she had counted on. She wasn’t strong enough yet, but soon. She felt more than a little defeated.

  Sean led her back to the truck. He could tell the news had hit her hard but she was doing her best not to show it. He wasn’t sure what to say. Nothing he could say would make the news any better. He wondered if she had the money. She had said fix it, so she might, but she also had no job so her funds had to be limited.

  Before she got in, she looked at him, “Did you understand anything he said back there?” She gave him a bewildered look. “Is he telling me the truth or just trying to get money?” She had recently seen on the news about mechanics who took advantage of owners and charged more and did more t
han was necessary. Was she hoping that it would not cost so much?

  “Billy is an honest person, I trust him. Sounds like your car needs a lot of work, but it will run great when he is done. Don’t worry. There’s a hotel just down the road that might have a room. I think the others are booked up. There’s a NASCAR event going on in Clermont and we get the overflow.” He knew he was about to do something that was going to surely get him in trouble. Why he was doing it he couldn’t say. Something about her had gotten to him. He just wasn’t sure what “it” was.

  Nine

  She stood next to Sean, staring at the frazzled desk clerk. Her frizzy blonde hair was all over the place. The uniform looked one size too small. It barely buttoned and even that looked like it was about to pop buttons. Taylor took it all in peripherally but really didn’t comprehend it. She was feeling too overwhelmed and dreadfully tired.

  Taylor almost broke down into a puddle of tears, but she refused to give in to her roller coaster emotions. Not in front of anyone. Especially the man standing next to her. He might run the other direction. She wouldn’t blame him. But she had a feeling he would not. He seemed like he cared. At least as much as he would any stranger stranded in town.

  One room only, on the top floor and the elevator was not working. The desk clerk was apologetic and offered a discount for the room.

  She would never be able to climb up and down six flights of stairs, she thought quietly. What was she going to do? Could things get any worse? Wait, don’t think that, it probably could. Don’t bring on more trouble.

  Sean looked at her with concern on his face, “It is a really bad day, isn’t it?” He was worried, she was very quiet. He was feeling a little guilty as well. He seemed to hesitate and then he took her hand and led her back to the truck. “No worries, I have a solution.” He might just be getting himself into more trouble than he was prepared for. What was he doing? He didn’t even want to figure it out.

  She was too stunned and too tired to pay much attention to his warm hand interlaced with hers.