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Heading downstairs early, I ate my own breakfast before the cafe got busy. I was waitressing the breakfast rush so Rita could come in a little late and stay later to help out with dinner. When Rita arrived, I headed upstairs, changed clothes, and drove Snickety down Main Street.
When I walked into Laurie's store, I was surprised to see a gorgeous guy behind the counter. Either the mountain air was kicking my hormones into gear, or Wilkins’ Gap was some sort of magical place for producing man candy.
"You must be Harry's kin,” he said, stepping out from behind the counter. "I'm Tom Beckett, Laurie's brother."
We shook hands, and I looked down noticing the way his hand engulfed mine. He was very tall, with chestnut brown hair framing a tanned and weathered face. There were laugh lines at the corners of eyes that were a perfect match to the color of a strong glass of Earl Grey sweet tea. I realized he was still holding on to my hand, when Laurie walked up to us.
"Uhm, hi, Everly. I see you met Tom," she said.
Tom pulled his hand back but didn't drop his gaze from my eyes. I had to break the spell before Laurie thought there was some sort of connection between us.
"Are you ready to go?" I asked Laurie. "Snickety is parked right out front."
"I'm all set. Have a good day, Tom. I'm not sure how late we'll be."
He followed us out the front door. "This is your car?" he asked.
"Tom, Laurie, meet Snickety."
"You do realize that you won't be able to drive this most of the year out here," Tom said.
"I'm starting to suspect that, since the only cars I've seen here are pickup trucks or SUVs. Snick is my friend. I don't know how I'll be able to let her go, but if I have to, I'll find a way. For today though, we're just going to enjoy our girl time together."
We waved and pulled out onto Main Street. By the time we were out of town, we'd settled in for the drive.
"What did you think of Tom?" Laurie asked.
"Is every man here under forty gorgeous? Do you guys have a factory that stamps them out?"
She laughed. She named a couple of the nightly patrons at Hairy's who shot down my theory. "OK. Maybe not all of the men are gorgeous, but Jim, Chance, and Tom are all definitely at the Godiva end of the man candy scale."
She laughed so hard I thought I might have to stop the car to let her walk around to calm herself. "I'm not disagreeing with you," she said, but hearing my brother described as a high-end chocolate was a new experience for me. It did look like you two had a connection going when I walked in."
"I'll admit, at first blush, and I did blush, I could get lost in those sweet tea eyes of his." This comment brought on another fit of giggles from her. It was definitely nice to have another girl to hang out with.
The rest of the drive was spent talking about Laurie's family including Tom and her current lack of a love life. "We're kind of in the same boat," she said. "At least I never married Mark, but after being together since high school, it sure seemed like we were in it for the long haul. Since he left, I just haven't been interested. Well, maybe that's not quite true. I still notice attractive men, and I still want a husband and family of my own someday, I just haven't found a way to get back out there, you know?"