I woke up to an empty bed and whistling echoing down the hall. His mouth was healing. That spawned thought tangents I opted not to chase.
Without bothering to change clothes or even pull on socks, I rushed out to the kitchen. “Good morning.”
“Hey there. Have a seat. I hope you like breakfast tacos.”
“You don’t have to cook for me.”
He held up his hands. “I didn’t. But when I feel a little better, I will. I had breakfast delivered.”
“Thank you. Sorry I slept late.”
“No reason to apologize.” He pulled foiled-wrapped tacos out of a bag. “What happened last night? I’m not saying it wasn’t a nice surprise to wake up with you cuddled beside me, but we didn’t start out that way.”
I perched on a barstool at the counter. “You were having a bad dream and shouting. When I laid my head on your chest, you calmed down. I wanted you to be able to sleep peacefully, so I stayed.”
“What did I say?” He winced as he reached into the cabinet for plates.
“I didn’t understand most of it, just the part where you asked me not to shoot you.” I swiped at my eyes. “You never mentioned that he had a gun.”
“I wouldn’t have gotten in his truck otherwise.” He touched my hand. “After my appointment tomorrow, I’ll call the officer from the other night and give him more info.”
“That’s probably a good idea.” I carried the platter of tacos to the table, then whipped around to look at Garrett. “You took off your bandage.”
“Yeah. The scrapes are healing.” He pulled mugs out of the cabinet. “Coffee?”
“Please. Lots of cream and lots of sugar.”
He laughed. “I’ll let you fix it. I’m not sure how much qualifies as lots.”
After perfecting my coffee, I picked up two tacos.
“I wasn’t sure what kind you liked, so there are a few different ones. And I won’t be bothered if you switch those out for something else.” He watched as I unwrapped my tacos.
“I’m not sure there is a bad kind of breakfast taco.”
“Very true.” He picked up three and tore away the foil. “There is supposed to be a meteor shower tonight, so if you can stay awake, we could go up to the roof again.”
“I’d like that.” It was irrational to have feelings for a man who I’d only known for seventy-two hours. Well, I’d known him longer than that because I’d met him weeks ago, but still. We hadn’t spent much time together before I’d picked him up off the side of the road. Attraction and infatuation. That was all this was.
He’d probably agree with me. The only reason he’d wanted to kiss me was because I’d helped him and because it was a perfectly romantic scene with us snuggled in the hot tub. Those were the reasons.
I ate way too many tacos before finally pushing away from the table. “That was so good. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. You’ve been amazing. This was the least I could do.”
I refilled my coffee and mixed in more cream and sugar. “I found a battleship game and a deck of cards upstairs. Want to play a game?”
“Sure.”
Garrett picked up the plates, and it was obvious from how he moved that he was still in pain. “I’ve got the kitchen. Go enjoy your free time.”
I thought about his words. “I don’t know what to do. I rarely have free time. I man the shop, run errands, make dinner, and sleep. And I get together with Delaney and Eli sometimes.” I reached for a rag. “I can just—”
He set the plates down and stood in front of me. “No, Tessa. I’ll clean up.”
“But you’re in pain. I can tell.”
“I’ll live. I’m putting away leftovers and throwing away trash. Go pretend like this is a vacation.”
“You’ve given me something to think about.” I brushed at a spot of salsa on his shirt.
“Me?”
Honesty was the best policy, but it often landed me in uncomfortable situations. “I’ve been thinking about you since you landed on top of me in the ditch.”
Before he could tease me, I hurried back to the bedroom. I had a book to read. Why wouldn’t I want to read about a happy couple kissing and falling in love? This was turning out to be a frustrating week. And it wasn’t even Monday.
When it was time to go up to the roof, I filled mugs with hot chocolate and followed Garrett to the patio sofa. He only grabbed one blanket which meant we’d have to share again. I didn’t mind that.
Cuddled beside him and staring at the sky, I sipped my hot chocolate. I probably wouldn’t get a better time than right now to explain why I wasn’t open to the idea of a relationship. “Garrett, last night when you said that about what I wouldn’t do, you were right.”
He nodded. “I know. It wasn’t just an educated guess. Weeks ago, when I asked you out, you told me you didn’t date.” After a sip of his hot chocolate, he looked at me. “And I’m guessing that the reason for that is related to the reason you were so upset about waking up next to me Saturday morning.”
“Being a mind reader must’ve really helped with the investigator gig.” I pulled my knees up to my chest. “I started dating a guy my senior year of high school. He was two years ahead of me.”
“I bet your parents hated that.”
“Oh, yeah. Even though it was exactly like them, or maybe because it was exactly like them. But Skeeter—that was his nickname—and I dated for a year before he asked me to marry him. I’d only been out of high school a short time, so we scheduled the wedding for the following year. I worked at the doughnut shop. Mrs. Sweet owned it then. I’m not making that up. And I loved it. She taught me how to make doughnuts. We made up new flavors together. That was a wonderful year. Then about two months before the wedding, she didn’t show up one morning. I made the doughnuts and covered the morning rush, then closed the shop to go check on her.” I used the blanket to wipe my face. “She had a heart attack. A neighbor found her, but she didn’t make it.” Warm cocoa soothed me as I regained my composure.
Garrett wrapped his arm around me. “She sounds like a cookies-after-school kind of person.”
“She was wonderful. And she left me the shop. That’s how I ended up with my own business at twenty. And I promised her I’d make it a success.”
A shooting star streaked across the dark sky, and I wished that my heart had never been broken beyond repair.
“I think you’ve kept that promise.”
“I left out a part. After Skeeter and I were engaged, he got more persistent about wanting to . . . sleep together. And I don’t mean in the same bed. He wanted me to—”
“I get it, Tessa.”
“Sorry. Of course you do. Anyway, I didn’t want to, and eventually he backed off. Just stopped bringing it up.”
Garrett groaned.
“Yeah. Well, about three weeks before the wedding, he was over one night and brought it up again. He kept pushing and talking about how we were so close to the wedding date.” I pulled in a deep breath. “So, I slept with him. He was my fiancé, and I felt like I owed him that.”
Garrett pulled me closer. “That’s not the way that works.”
I struggled to maintain my composure. “No one knows I did that, so please don’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t.”
“When I woke up the next morning, Skeeter was already gone. He’d slipped out during the night.” This blanket was going to be soaked by the time I finished my story. “He came into the shop as the morning rush subsided and pulled me aside. There weren’t many people in the shop, thankfully. And we were tucked in a corner. Anyway, Skeeter started the conversation by asking for the ring back. I made the mistake of asking why. He admitted that he’d been seeing other women, and he said that . . .” I couldn’t make the words leave my mouth.
Garrett closed his eyes, his thumb rubbing circles on my shoulder.
We sat in silence for a few seconds.
“He compared me to the other women, and said I wasn’t very good. I was inexperienced and couldn’t compete with the ladies who’d practiced a lot. I’m paraphrasing. I’ll spare you the way he said it.”
Garrett tensed. “I hope I never meet him.”
“After he left, I closed the shop, took all the doughnuts with me to my apartment, and ate myself sick. I didn’t open the shop again for a week. But I’d sneak back and make doughnuts during the night so that I’d have enough for the following day.”
“That’s why you knew Eli and Delaney would be concerned.”
“I knew Eli would be. Delaney doesn’t know the whole story. She might now. Eli doesn’t know about the night before. He only knows Skeeter broke up with me.” I blinked, hoping the tears would stop burning my eyes.
“Probably best to keep Eli in the dark about that part.”
“When I finally did open, people kept coming in to tell me about how they were sorry and how they knew Skeeter had been seeing this person and that person. Because of the town gossip, I learned how much I’d been cheated on. I ate as many doughnuts as I sold for the next two months. Which was horrible for business and for my health. I put on a lot of weight then. I was almost unrecognizable.”
“That’s why you don’t eat doughnuts.”
Avoiding eye contact, I nodded. “I woke up one morning and decided to move on. I stopped eating doughnuts and gave up the idea of dating. That was seven years ago. Most people that know I don’t date think it’s because I’m afraid of falling in love. That’s not it. I’m afraid of what comes after. And by avoiding romantic relationships, I never have to make myself vulnerable in that way again. I can’t risk ever feeling that way again. So, I just stick to what I’m good at. Does that even make sense?” I braved a look at him.
He stared out at the sky. “It makes sense.”
His words added to my ache. If one man thought I wasn’t good, most men would probably agree. My admission might even change the nature of our friendship, but he deserved to know, no matter the outcome.
“Maybe I should just let you—”
Garrett pulled me close. “I knew when I asked you to stay here that you didn’t date. It’s part of the reason I didn’t kiss you. And if you’d told me this story weeks ago, I still would’ve asked you to sit with me on this roof and watch the stars.” The wind blew, and he pulled the blanket around us tighter. “Where does it say that only people who are dating can spend time together? I’m not asking you to kiss me. I’m not asking you to—”
“Don’t say it.”
He chuckled but it didn’t have its usual ring. “You are the most giving person I know. And I don’t say that lightly. Given what I know now, I think you edged out Ava when you helped me get my jeans off.”
I covered my face with my hands, forgetting I had a half-full mug of lukewarm chocolate in one of them. Chocolate splashed all over me and the blanket just as the mug whapped me in the face. Laughing, I wiped my face with the blanket, which wasn’t much help. “Oh, ouch. Now we’ll have matching bruises.”
“Need me to lick that chocolate off you?”
“Garrett! Friends don’t do that.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist. “We decide what we do as friends. Outside rules do not apply.”
“I never thought of it that way.”
He kissed my forehead. “You let me know what’s okay. And I won’t push beyond that. Ever. But if at some point in the future, you change your mind about what you want our friendship to look like, please tell me.”
I hugged him, then pulled back when he tensed. “Sorry. I forgot about your ribs.”
“Let’s get you inside before you turn into a fudgsicle.” He helped me up, then gathered the blanket into his arms.
With a mug in each hand, I started toward the stairs. “I’m going to take a quick shower and wash the chocolate off. Alone.” I added the last part, hoping to get a laugh.
“So, you’re saying that showering together isn’t okay for us as friends?” He winked. “Glad that’s been cleared up.”
Now I was excited about the rest of the week and even about the days beyond that. He’d listened to me unload my secret, and our friendship remained unchanged.
This week wasn’t so bad.