Trailer Park Heart
Page 25
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It was the pitch I’d been giving tables all morning and I said it more out of habit than politeness, but I was anxious to get away from this table and I hadn’t really meant to prolong my stay.
“Throw in an extra piece of bacon and I might consider it,” Levi answered.
I was forced to look at him and while I should have been better prepared for his face and those eyes and his aggressive aura, I wasn’t. Looking at him was like a punch in the face. I missed the boy I couldn’t stand seven years ago. I missed the softer edges to his jawline and the smaller biceps, that could throw a football wherever it needed to go, but didn’t have the sharp, cut edges they did now.
“Don’t you think you’re overdoing it on the bacon? That shit is going to mess with your heart.” The words fell out of my mouth, a product of being totally unnerved by this man and completely irritated with him all at once.
His head tilted to the side, his glowing green eyes not letting me get away with anything. “Are you telling me you care, Ruby? I had no idea you were so thoughtful when it came to my heart.” There was a bite to his words, a razor-sharp edge intended to cut me.
But I wasn’t that easy to wound anymore. And besides, he could be mad I turned him down for dinner all he wanted. I was doing this as a favor to him, whether he knew it or not.
“Just sayin’,” I shot back. “I don’t want you to drop dead from a heart attack or anything. It’s bad for business.”
He pushed back against the seat, flexing his arms and struggling to maintain his reposed position. “Right.”
I smiled at him, feeling more confident than I had in a long time. It shouldn’t feel this good to win a round against Levi Cole. I should be over our rivalry. I definitely shouldn’t want to antagonize the man—especially when I was so afraid he’d start digging around, trying to figure out who Max’s dad was. And yet, it had been a long time since I’d gotten a win. Against Levi or anybody. I couldn’t help but gloat just a little.
“I’ll be back with your coffee, gentlemen. Let me know if you have any questions about the menu.”
My ego swelling from the small round of verbal victory, I sashayed away from the table and found it easier to go back and give them the promised caffeine. At first, they didn’t even acknowledge my presence. They were stuck in the memories of old football games and girls they used to chase. Mercer and Levi were giving Finch a hard time about Sadie and why he had never been good enough for her.
“Sorry to interrupt,” I told them after their mugs were steaming and full. “But I’ll get your order in and then leave y’all alone.”
“Settle a bet for us first.” Mercer grinned at me. “Who was that guy you used to date in high school? None of us can remember his name.”
They had the look of puppy dogs. All three of them. Total wide-eyed innocence and gentleness. But I would have seen their trap a mile away. They were waiting for my answer so they could bite at my heels and chew up my favorite pair of shoes.
I kept my tone even, ignoring the way all of my insides seemed to tremble at their curiosity, and said, “I didn’t have a boyfriend in high school.”
“Yeah, sure, of course,” Mercer agreed placatingly. “But there was a guy, yeah? He took you to senior prom?”
“Ye,” I said simply, naming the foreign exchange student we’d had that year. Ye-Jun was from South Korea and had been one of the nicest people I’d ever known. He’d taken me to homecoming and senior prom that year and I probably could have fallen in love with him if I hadn’t already thought I was in love with Logan Cole.
Also, he went back to South Korea, so there had never been a real connection between us.
Finch turned to Levi. “I forgot about Ye.”
Levi shrugged. Apparently, he had not.
“There was another guy though, wasn’t there?” Mercer pushed. “Didn’t you hang out with someone else?”
“I don’t know,” I sighed patiently. “I wasn’t totally antisocial. I hung out with a lot of guys.”
“No, not like that,” Mercer said. “Like hung out with. You know, dated.”
They were playing the Guess Ruby’s Baby Daddy game. This was not the first time I’d had to dodge these kinds of questions. And as fun as it was, I was officially done with this conversation.
“Oh yeah, now I remember.” I set the coffee carafe down in the middle of the table and took a step back. “You mean the guy I banged right before graduation?” Mercer nodded, rapt with attention. I snapped my fingers and confessed, “It was your dad.” Before they could pick their jaws up off the table, I added, “Let me know when you’re ready to order.”
When I got back to the counter, RJ was snickering. I knew he wasn’t the only one eavesdropping either by the look of horror on Carol Cook’s face. But enough was enough already.
The thing was, Max’s dad was almost old news by this point. Sure, there was the occasional whispered conspiracy theory, but for the most part the town had moved on. There had been at least a dozen unplanned pregnancies since mine, plus a handful of affairs, bankruptcies and one very scandalous student-teacher misconduct between forty-three-year-old Mrs. Bishop and fifteen-year-old Tobias Patterson, who was from my neighborhood. I was old news.
Until Levi Cole walked back into town, reigniting a match that had been blown out years ago. I could feel his curiosity burning bright through the restaurant. I could see it in his narrowed gaze and ticking jaw. He wanted to know the answer to this unanswered question. And he wasn’t going to stop until he had it.
I ignored their table completely until Finch flagged me down to take their order. They didn’t let up teasing me, but at least nobody asked any more questions about my nonexistent high school dating life. I managed to wait on them in relative peace. They hung out for a while and I had the arduous duty of refilling their coffee pot one more time, but mostly they left me alone in favor of reliving the glory days.
Eventually, they’d exhausted all topics of conversation and left. I took the fifty-dollar tip they left on the table as reparations for the emotional damage of their presence over the last two hours and felt mildly appeased.
Although, the feeling didn’t last when I realized they would be back. And knowing Levi, the questions wouldn’t stop until he discovered the answer.
Nobody in the entire town, not even my own mother, cared enough about my life to dig up the truth. Nobody except Levi Cole—the one man who could not find out.
9
Gas Station Stick Up
When my shift was over that afternoon, the rain still hadn’t stopped. Apparently, RJ’s hip or whatever bone it was that could sense the weather had lied to him.
I said goodbye to Rosie and Reggie and grabbed my cardigan and purse. I wished I would have brought my rain jacket with me, but when I’d peeked out the bathroom window this morning, I hadn’t noticed the dark clouds collecting overhead because it was still dark outside. It wasn’t until I was scurrying toward the car, and raindrops started pelting my forehead that I realized I’d dressed completely inappropriately for the stormy day.
Standing near the front door of the restaurant, I decided I would run over to the gas station that had a small convenience store attached to grab something for dinner before hightailing it to my car. Maybe they’d also have a cheap umbrella.
“Throw in an extra piece of bacon and I might consider it,” Levi answered.
I was forced to look at him and while I should have been better prepared for his face and those eyes and his aggressive aura, I wasn’t. Looking at him was like a punch in the face. I missed the boy I couldn’t stand seven years ago. I missed the softer edges to his jawline and the smaller biceps, that could throw a football wherever it needed to go, but didn’t have the sharp, cut edges they did now.
“Don’t you think you’re overdoing it on the bacon? That shit is going to mess with your heart.” The words fell out of my mouth, a product of being totally unnerved by this man and completely irritated with him all at once.
His head tilted to the side, his glowing green eyes not letting me get away with anything. “Are you telling me you care, Ruby? I had no idea you were so thoughtful when it came to my heart.” There was a bite to his words, a razor-sharp edge intended to cut me.
But I wasn’t that easy to wound anymore. And besides, he could be mad I turned him down for dinner all he wanted. I was doing this as a favor to him, whether he knew it or not.
“Just sayin’,” I shot back. “I don’t want you to drop dead from a heart attack or anything. It’s bad for business.”
He pushed back against the seat, flexing his arms and struggling to maintain his reposed position. “Right.”
I smiled at him, feeling more confident than I had in a long time. It shouldn’t feel this good to win a round against Levi Cole. I should be over our rivalry. I definitely shouldn’t want to antagonize the man—especially when I was so afraid he’d start digging around, trying to figure out who Max’s dad was. And yet, it had been a long time since I’d gotten a win. Against Levi or anybody. I couldn’t help but gloat just a little.
“I’ll be back with your coffee, gentlemen. Let me know if you have any questions about the menu.”
My ego swelling from the small round of verbal victory, I sashayed away from the table and found it easier to go back and give them the promised caffeine. At first, they didn’t even acknowledge my presence. They were stuck in the memories of old football games and girls they used to chase. Mercer and Levi were giving Finch a hard time about Sadie and why he had never been good enough for her.
“Sorry to interrupt,” I told them after their mugs were steaming and full. “But I’ll get your order in and then leave y’all alone.”
“Settle a bet for us first.” Mercer grinned at me. “Who was that guy you used to date in high school? None of us can remember his name.”
They had the look of puppy dogs. All three of them. Total wide-eyed innocence and gentleness. But I would have seen their trap a mile away. They were waiting for my answer so they could bite at my heels and chew up my favorite pair of shoes.
I kept my tone even, ignoring the way all of my insides seemed to tremble at their curiosity, and said, “I didn’t have a boyfriend in high school.”
“Yeah, sure, of course,” Mercer agreed placatingly. “But there was a guy, yeah? He took you to senior prom?”
“Ye,” I said simply, naming the foreign exchange student we’d had that year. Ye-Jun was from South Korea and had been one of the nicest people I’d ever known. He’d taken me to homecoming and senior prom that year and I probably could have fallen in love with him if I hadn’t already thought I was in love with Logan Cole.
Also, he went back to South Korea, so there had never been a real connection between us.
Finch turned to Levi. “I forgot about Ye.”
Levi shrugged. Apparently, he had not.
“There was another guy though, wasn’t there?” Mercer pushed. “Didn’t you hang out with someone else?”
“I don’t know,” I sighed patiently. “I wasn’t totally antisocial. I hung out with a lot of guys.”
“No, not like that,” Mercer said. “Like hung out with. You know, dated.”
They were playing the Guess Ruby’s Baby Daddy game. This was not the first time I’d had to dodge these kinds of questions. And as fun as it was, I was officially done with this conversation.
“Oh yeah, now I remember.” I set the coffee carafe down in the middle of the table and took a step back. “You mean the guy I banged right before graduation?” Mercer nodded, rapt with attention. I snapped my fingers and confessed, “It was your dad.” Before they could pick their jaws up off the table, I added, “Let me know when you’re ready to order.”
When I got back to the counter, RJ was snickering. I knew he wasn’t the only one eavesdropping either by the look of horror on Carol Cook’s face. But enough was enough already.
The thing was, Max’s dad was almost old news by this point. Sure, there was the occasional whispered conspiracy theory, but for the most part the town had moved on. There had been at least a dozen unplanned pregnancies since mine, plus a handful of affairs, bankruptcies and one very scandalous student-teacher misconduct between forty-three-year-old Mrs. Bishop and fifteen-year-old Tobias Patterson, who was from my neighborhood. I was old news.
Until Levi Cole walked back into town, reigniting a match that had been blown out years ago. I could feel his curiosity burning bright through the restaurant. I could see it in his narrowed gaze and ticking jaw. He wanted to know the answer to this unanswered question. And he wasn’t going to stop until he had it.
I ignored their table completely until Finch flagged me down to take their order. They didn’t let up teasing me, but at least nobody asked any more questions about my nonexistent high school dating life. I managed to wait on them in relative peace. They hung out for a while and I had the arduous duty of refilling their coffee pot one more time, but mostly they left me alone in favor of reliving the glory days.
Eventually, they’d exhausted all topics of conversation and left. I took the fifty-dollar tip they left on the table as reparations for the emotional damage of their presence over the last two hours and felt mildly appeased.
Although, the feeling didn’t last when I realized they would be back. And knowing Levi, the questions wouldn’t stop until he discovered the answer.
Nobody in the entire town, not even my own mother, cared enough about my life to dig up the truth. Nobody except Levi Cole—the one man who could not find out.
9
Gas Station Stick Up
When my shift was over that afternoon, the rain still hadn’t stopped. Apparently, RJ’s hip or whatever bone it was that could sense the weather had lied to him.
I said goodbye to Rosie and Reggie and grabbed my cardigan and purse. I wished I would have brought my rain jacket with me, but when I’d peeked out the bathroom window this morning, I hadn’t noticed the dark clouds collecting overhead because it was still dark outside. It wasn’t until I was scurrying toward the car, and raindrops started pelting my forehead that I realized I’d dressed completely inappropriately for the stormy day.
Standing near the front door of the restaurant, I decided I would run over to the gas station that had a small convenience store attached to grab something for dinner before hightailing it to my car. Maybe they’d also have a cheap umbrella.
