They enjoyed their meal immensely, especially the new dessert. It was a cream-filled pastry laced with a fresh raspberry jelly that had just a hint of orange. Laurie might have closed her eyes when she tasted the first bite, but she didn’t think she’d admit that to anyone. She couldn’t help it—she liked unusual taste combinations and didn’t see anything wrong with savoring them.
Then, rather than driving the car a whole block to the movie theater, they left it parked where it was and walked. Halfway there, Brennan reached out and took Laurie’s hand, and she let him hold it the rest of the way to the theater. It was nice—comforting, somehow, but she hoped she wasn’t giving him the wrong idea.
Where dinner had been nice, the movie was stupid. The actors were trying their best, but they just hadn’t been given anything to work with. Laurie was bored out of her skull, but she didn’t want to be rude. After fifteen agonizing minutes, Brennan leaned over and whispered, “Do you want to leave?”
“Yes, please!” she whispered back, probably a little louder than she should have.
They crept out of the movie theater with their heads ducked, trying not to annoy the people around them too much. When they reached the foyer, Laurie let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank you. That was possibly the worst movie I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m really sorry. I read some reviews that said it was pretty good. But that newspaper is written by trained monkeys, so what do they know?”
Laurie laughed, and they walked back to the car. This time they moseyed, and when Brennan took her hand, it seemed more natural. There were still no sparks, but why did there have to be sparks? Couldn’t she hold hands with someone in a friendly sort of way and just enjoy spending time with him? He was smart, he was funny, and he’d gone through a lot of trouble to make tonight nice. Even if he did get led astray by the aforementioned trained monkeys. It was an easy mistake.
It had been a really nice night, and she hadn’t panicked about the possibility of running into Logan more than a few times. Sure, she’d scanned the restaurant when they first arrived, and she’d kept out a close eye at the movie theater, but for the most part, she’d been able to ignore the fact that she was in Denver, home of the Most Arrogant Man Alive.
The drive back to Aspen Ridge was a lot more comfortable than the ride to Denver had been. Brennan told some amusing stories about his family, and Laurie found herself genuinely laughing. What a nice guy—really and truly. But when they reached her apartment and he walked her to her door, her stomach tightened. This wasn’t a romance, and it never would be. She just didn’t feel that way about him.
Brennan took her by the hand. “Thanks for coming out with me tonight, Laurie. I had a great time.”
“I did too.”
He must have taken that as an invitation. He leaned in, but she held up a hand.
“I can’t kiss on the first date. It’s a rule.”
He took a step back, and she wished she hadn’t blurted. She’d probably scared him. “A rule?”
“Yeah. When we moved in here together, my roommates and I made a pact that none of us would kiss on the first date or we’d have to buy dinner for each other at a nice restaurant. You know, to keep us from rushing into things.”
Brennan grinned. “And how’s that working for you?”
“Pretty well, actually. And it keeps our dates a little more respectful, too.” Not that he hadn’t been respectful, but it was a nice side benefit.
“Point taken, and I think you ladies are very wise. If a kiss is worth having, it’s worth waiting for.”
Awww. Why wasn’t she smitten with him? She couldn’t figure it out. He was just about perfect in every important way.
They were interrupted as Morgan came up the sidewalk. “Hey, not to be rude or anything, but can I squeeze between you so I can get in the house?”
“Sure. Sorry.” Brennan took another step back. “How are you, Morgan?”
“Good. Haven’t seen you at the bank lately.”
“Yeah, Cara’s taken over doing the deposits.”
“I noticed that. But she’s not as good at it as you are—she always scribbles the deposit slip. I think she doesn’t enjoy it very much.”
Laurie took advantage of the fact that they weren’t talking to her right now to say good night. “Thanks again, Brennan. I had a good time.”
“I’ll see you later.” He raised his hand in farewell, and Laurie went in the house with Morgan.
Cara and Regan were waiting up. “So, how were your dates?” Regan asked, her tone cajoling.
“Mine was all right,” Laurie said. “I mean, it was fun. Dinner was good, and the movie was terrible, but we left early so it wasn’t a totally miserable experience. Brennan’s a really nice guy.”
“And that’s probably the most depressing report of a first date I’ve ever heard,” Regan said. “Weren’t there any fireworks at all?”
“None. Not even a sparkler.”
“I’m glad you gave him a chance at least,” Cara said, tucking her feet beneath her on the couch. “He really is a sweetie.”
“You could date him,” Regan teased.
“Me? No.” Cara laughed. “That would be pretty awkward. We’re together all day, every day, and if it didn’t work out, one or the other of us would have to quit or something.”
“But what if it did work out?” Regan pressed. “You could be all smoochy behind the jewelry cases. And you could use your employee discount on your wedding rings.”
“Way too weird, Regan.”
“So, is anyone going to ask how my date went?” Morgan asked as she took off her jacket.
Laurie was grateful for the interruption. Thoughts of Brennan making out with anyone, but especially her roommate, were a little too much right now. She’d never been more grateful for their “no kissing on the first date” rule than she was that night.
“Morgan, how was your date?” Cara asked dutifully.
Morgan flopped down on the couch. “It was pretty terrible, actually.”
Regan sat up straighter. “What do you mean? That guy was hot. I mean, he was your date and all, but I was totally checking him out when I answered the door.”
“He is hot. I mean, his hair, his smile—this guy’s a total ten.”
“But he was a jerk, right?” Laurie asked, sitting down on Morgan’s other side. She felt bad for her friend, but it was nice that the attention had shifted off her.
“No, he treated me so well all night. He opened my doors, paid for everything, held my jacket—honestly, he was so awesome.”
“I don’t understand the problem then,” Laurie said. “Why was your date terrible?”
“Because he wasn’t Rory.” Morgan buried her face in her hands like she was embarrassed by the admission.
The roommates each gasped. “You’re in love with Rory?” Laurie put her arm around Morgan’s shoulders.
“Yes.” Her answer was muffled by her hands. “And I can’t even tell him because he’s gone.”
“Where did he go?” Regan asked.
“His grandmother got sick, so he went back home to South Dakota, and then she died and he’s staying for the funeral. I don’t know how long he’ll be gone.”
“We’ve still got some ice cream in the freezer,” Laurie said. “I’ll get it.”
“And I’ve got some cake from the restaurant,” Morgan said, motioning toward a takeout box she’d set on the counter when she came in.
This time, the cartons were emptied as the girls talked late into the night.
Chapter Five
Laurie wasn’t sure which was more uncomfortable—the prospect of running into Brennan after he asked her out and she said no, or the prospect of running into him after he asked her out and she said yes. But either way, she couldn’t spend her whole life in the alley, and she’d forgotten to bring something from home for lunch. So she walked up the sidewalk to the café, holding her head high, pretending like she wasn’t avoiding anyone at all. That
would ensure her safe passage, right?
“How are things?” Sloane asked after she took Laurie’s order.
Laurie gave her a quick rundown on everything that had happened over the last few days, and Sloane shook her head.
“That Brennan is a very nice-looking guy. Are you sure you couldn’t have the hots for him?”
“I’m sure. I think I might have to give up on romance, Sloane—every time I try, I get burned.”
“But aren’t you having at least a little fun in the meantime?”
Maybe she was, but she wasn’t in the mood to sit there and catalog every positive thing that had come about through her failed relationships. She’d rather eat her Caesar salad and feel sorry for herself for a few minutes. And feel sorry for herself because she was eating salad instead of a burger and milkshake, but she’d had so much sugar over the last few days, if she didn’t get some vegetables in there, she’d probably get sick. Now, there was an idea—nothing embarrassing could happen to her if she was tucked away in her own bed with the flu, could it?
She chatted with Sloane for a few more minutes before she headed back to Millicent’s. She even told Sloane that she should ask Brennan out—somehow she thought they’d make a cute couple. There was nothing like spilling your guts to a friend to make you feel better and she left the diner feeling considerably better than she had when she got there, but when she walked into the bridal shop, she saw Logan standing over by the large mirror, obviously waiting for her.
He hadn’t seen her yet, so she ducked behind a wheeled rack of dresses that was ready to be taken back to the stockroom. Maybe she could sneak into one of the fitting rooms and just hide there until he left. She could probably hold out longer than he could. She had a Kindle app on her phone—she could catch up on her reading, clear out her e-mails, get caught up on current events, and make some good use of her time.
“I’m sorry she’s not back yet.”
Laurie heard Millie’s voice, and then Logan’s reply.
“It’s all right. I’ll wait.”
“I’ll give her a call and see what’s keeping her. She should have been back five minutes ago.” Millie disappeared into her office.
Laurie scrambled for her phone. She had to turn off the ringer before Millie’s call came through or Logan would know she was here, hiding from him. That wouldn’t be awkward at all. She fumbled with her phone as she pulled it out of her pocket, and then it fell on the floor. When she stooped to pick it up, her hair caught on a crystal brooch fastened to the waist of one of the dresses hanging in front of her, and as she stood, she upset the balance of the rack. The entire thing came down on her . . . and just then, her phone rang.
“Laurie?” She heard Logan’s voice somewhere over her head through mounds of satin and lace. She decided that she’d be very quiet and maybe he’d go away. And if she hit the ignore button on her phone, maybe Millie would go away too.
But now Emma was there, pulling dresses off her and standing the rack upright again. “I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have left that there, but we had a walk-in while I was in the middle of putting the dresses away, and I’m so sorry.”
“It’s all right,” Laurie reassured her. “We just need stronger racks, that’s all.”
Millie came out of the office and surveyed the scene—Logan standing there with his arms folded across his chest, Laurie with her hair tangled around a brooch, trying to separate the strands without hurting the dress, and Emma hanging up dresses again as fast as she could go. Laurie could only imagine what Millie must be thinking.
“Oh, good. You’re back from lunch,” was her only comment.
“Yes, here I am,” Laurie replied, trying to sound natural. “Natural” was just as hard to fake as “breezy,” and she knew the strain in her voice was pretty obvious.
“Emma, you’re getting some of those hung up wrong.” Millie moved over to help rehang the unfortunate dresses, leaving Laurie sitting on the floor untangling her hair.
Logan stood there a moment longer and then squatted down next to her. “May I?”
“May you what?” Laurie was on her guard immediately. He wasn’t exactly someone who inspired trust.
“Help you with your hair.”
What? “Um, okay. I guess.”
Logan’s swift fingers had her separated from the brooch within seconds. Well, sure—that’s because he could see what he was doing. She could have done that if it wasn’t stuck on the side of her head where she didn’t have eyeballs. Then he gave her a hand up. It was eerily reminiscent of the last time he’d come into the shop and she’d ended up on the floor.
“So, what brings you by today?” she asked once she was on her feet again.
Logan glanced around, and she glanced around to see why he was glancing. Millie and Emma had dragged the dress rack away, and they were alone in the main area of the shop except for Holly over at the reception desk. “I came to apologize,” he said. “I read over my mother’s copy of the contract several times, and it’s very well written. And Kelly said you did explain the terms as well, so my mother should have known what the parameters were. I’m sorry for all the ruckus, and I’d like to take you out to dinner to make up for it.” He raised both hands. “Not a bribery dinner, but an apology dinner.”
“That would have to be a pretty big dinner,” Laurie said, and he laughed.
“Yes, it would be. But what do you say? Can we put this in the past?”
She studied his face. He seemed sincere, and she was always up for a nice meal, but it wouldn’t be that easy to let go of everything he’d said the last time he was here. She might need therapy to get over that, but she didn’t know if she could hit him up for her shrink bills. “All right,” she said cautiously. “I get off at six.”
“Perfect. Is the restaurant across the street any good? Or we could drive to Denver.”
“No, not Denver,” Laurie said, probably a little too quickly. But it would be weird driving into Denver with Logan when she’d just been there with Brennan, and it was entirely possible to spend way too much time in a car. “I really like the place across the street.”
“Then I’ll meet you here at six and we can walk over together.”
“Sounds good.”
Laurie stood where she was and watched him leave the store, the way he carried himself and the set of his shoulders. He was so convinced of his own perfectness, it was annoying. Then she turned and caught sight of herself in the mirror. The hair that had been tangled up in the brooch now stuck out from the side of her head like a big tumbleweed. Why did this keep happening? Couldn’t she have one conversation with the man without ending up looking like a scarecrow?
She grabbed her purse from off the floor where she’d dropped it when the dress rack came crashing down on her and headed into the ladies’ room. It only took a moment with her brush to repair the damage done to her hairdo, but it would take a lot more than that to smooth over the damage done to her pride.
* * *
Logan entered the shop at one minute to six and stood by the front door, chatting with Holly until Laurie was ready to go. She had just finished vacuuming the carpet into a pretty swirl design when he came in, and she could feel his eyes on her while she wound up the cord and put the vacuum away. But she didn’t strangle herself with the cord or have any other embarrassing accidents, so she considered herself ahead of the game.
Millie stayed a few minutes later than usual to lock up the store because of Laurie’s date, so Laurie was now free to head across the street with Logan. Traffic was a little heavier than it normally was and they had to stand on the curb for a moment before they were clear to go. Once they reached the other side, the tantalizing smell of French bread from the bakery caught Laurie’s attention, and her stomach growled.
“I’m sorry,” she said, wondering if getting hung up in the vacuum cord would have been less embarrassing after all. “I guess I’m just hungry.”
“Then it’s a good thing we’re going out to din
ner,” Logan said easily.
Only one more business between them and the restaurant, and then Laurie could sink into the floor and disappear. She glanced at the leather sofa in the window of the furniture store instead of looking at her companion—the sofa was probably the safer bet.
“Welcome to Frannie’s,” the maître d’ said when Logan and Laurie entered the restaurant. “How are you tonight, Miss Fletcher?”
Laurie stifled a smile at his formality. She knew the maître d’ almost as well as she knew any of the other merchants along Main Street—this was Frank Blackstone, Frannie’s husband. They’d built this business from the ground up, opening it as a small deli twenty-five years ago with their little three-year-old son, Hunter, toddling around their heels. Now it was a high-class restaurant, and Hunter was one of their chefs. Frank often commented that they didn’t know they’d ever be such rich snobs.
“Hi, Frank,” she said. “This is Logan Reese.”
“It’s a pleasure, Mr. Reese. I have just the right table for the two of you. Follow me, please.”
Laurie fell into step behind Frank as he wove between tables to a spot right in front of the huge picture window that looked up to the mountains where the lodge was situated. It really was a gorgeous view, but Laurie wondered if it would be hard for Logan to sit there and stare at the location where his sister was supposed to have gotten married.
Frankie left them with menus, but Laurie already knew what she wanted. She let Logan read over the selections for a moment before she decided to address the elephant in the room. “I really am sorry that Kelly’s wedding got called off, Logan.”
He closed his menu and laid it on the table. “She’s been upset about it, but it was for the best.”
“You said something the other day that made me curious.” At first she wondered if she should even bring it up, but he wouldn’t have mentioned it in the first place if he didn’t want to talk about it, right? “What did you mean when you said that her ex-fiancé was a fugitive?”
Logan chuckled, a dry, humorless laugh. “We found out that he’s wanted by the IRS for tax fraud. They’re hunting him down right now. At least he had the decency to break my sister’s heart before he went on the run so she’d know that she shouldn’t wait around for him.”
And Something Blue (Main Street Merchants Book 1) Page 4