~~~
Libby stretched her arms above her head and slowly moved her body this way and that, trying to get the blood flowing and wake herself up. She got out of bed and slipped her feet in her old, ratty slippers so she didn’t have to walk on the cold floor. After a quick trip to the bathroom, she wandered bleary eyed into the kitchen to start the day’s first pot of coffee, before returning to the bathroom for a quick shower.
As she walked through the living room on the way to her bathroom, she paused for a minute and flipped on the television. She dropped the remote to the coffee table, not really caring what was on the television, as long as something was. Her house was large for one person, three bedrooms and two baths. Her parents had given it to her when they moved to Florida several years back, and she loved her house. But, it was lonely. Which was why she usually stayed with Lucas at his place. She told herself it was due to convenience because she opened the diner most days and he lived right across the street, but it wasn’t for convenience. It was for companionship. And she’d still be staying there, except that recently she’d noticed two things.
First, Lucas had formed an attachment to her, which was not totally unwelcome. She liked Lucas, trusted him even. They were friends, and it was nice to feel noticed and appreciated. And it didn’t hurt that Lucas was a hot as hell Kodiak Bear shifter. It would have been fine, save for the second thing; lately Travis had begun to act like the Travis she’d loved so long ago. He’d been considerate and attentive. He’d even smiled at her and attempted to make a joke or two. Then that night at Riley’s when Riley and Maia’s family had been in for Maia’s baby shower and the girls had all had a sleepover, Travis had tucked her in. She’d let him believe she was sleeping, and he’d kissed her and whispered that he loved her. And she simply couldn’t ignore that, no matter how hard she tried. Travis had hurt her so many times that she’d lost count. The final straw had come when she’d been determined to celebrate Christmas with him and Scotty like they always had before he’d joined the military and been sent overseas. She’d been sure that experiencing all that happiness together again would remind him of what they meant to each other. But she’d been wrong. He’d shattered a part of her that day, a part she’d thought she’d never be able to get back. But now it seemed like fate may have a few tricks left up her sleeve.
Libby thought about it as she turned on the water and stepped under the steamy, hot spray. As much as she wanted to ignore Travis, she couldn’t — at least not entirely. And even if Travis was still being an asshole — which he wasn’t, it wasn’t fair to let Lucas become attached to her. He deserved a mate to love and adore him, and the part of her that Travis had shattered wasn’t available for anyone anymore, not even herself. She couldn’t give her whole self to Lucas or anyone else. Realizing that was the real reason, she’d begun spending more time at her own place lately. She didn’t want to hurt Lucas, he was one of her best friends. Add to that Travis’s recent behavior, and her emotions were all off kilter. Huffing out a tiny human growl of frustration, she reached out and shut off the water.
She dried off, wrapped her hair in a towel, then put on her soft, thick terrycloth bathrobe, stuck her feet back in her old slippers, and returned to the kitchen for her first cup of coffee. She needed to wake up and get moving. She had no doubt this day would seem as though it never ended. Today was the first day they were offering their Christmas donuts, cakes and candies at the diner. Even their pancakes and waffles would come in red or green until the day after Christmas, and their customers had been excited for the holiday changes in cuisine.
She sat down on her sofa to flip channels while she sipped her coffee. Suddenly her nose itched, and she reached up to rub it furiously. Somewhere in the back of her mind she remembered her mother telling her that your nose itched when someone was thinking of you. She had no doubt it was Richie. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming. You just worry about you,” she mumbled, guzzling a bit more coffee. Little did she know, a few miles away from her, on a tree farm right out of the city limits, a Tiger shifter raised his face to the dawn breaking over his home and spread his arms wide.
“See me, Libby!” Travis said to the quiet dawn sky around him. He raised his voice so even the few stars still twinkling in the barely lit sky around him could hear. “See me, and remember! I will not stop until you love me again.”
Chapter 2
Libby pulled her jeep around to the far side of the diner so it would be out of the way of any customers and leave the more convenient spaces for them. She reached for her purse and got her keys in hand before getting out and slamming the driver’s side door behind her, as she quickly made for the front door.
She unlocked the door, then stepped inside the darkened diner, pausing to disarm the alarm and flip on the lights. Libby locked the front door again, then walked around the diner, flipping on all the lights, and raising the temperature of the central heat a bit so that it would kick on. They turned it down each evening before they locked up and headed home, and turned it up again each morning. Once they started cooking and the heat from the oven and the grill began to permeate the place, they could turn it down a bit again.
Libby wasted no time. She put her purse away, washed her hands, and began the process of making dough for both the donuts, and the biscuits. About ten minutes later she heard the lock on the front door rattle and looked up to see Constance arriving for her morning shift and unlocking the door.
“Morning!” Libby called out as soon as Constance stepped inside.
“Morning, Libby. Whooo! It’s cold out there!” Constance said, huddled in her winter coat, while she locked the door again.
“Yes, it is. Already turned the heat up a little and I have the ovens going. Should be toasty in no time,” Libby said.
“What do you have on the agenda for today? I see you have the biscuits and the donuts covered. Anything else you need me to do other than the standard?”
“If you could handle the standard morning routines, that’d be great. Once the breakfast rush is over, we’ll get lunch started,” Libby said, kneading dough for the biscuits.
“On it,” Constance said, taking a stack of small paper bags over to the donut case which sat beneath the register. She began writing on each bag, flipping it over and going on to the next bag. ‘Day old donuts, 3 for $1.00’
“How many are left from yesterday?” Libby called out when Constance finished loading the donuts and setting them up on the counter beside the register.
“Only five bags,” Constance said.
“Well, that’s not bad. Just over a dozen,” Libby said.
“Not bad at all. And I’m ready for the fresh ones whenever you get them done,” Constance added.
“Shouldn’t be long now. The biscuits are in the oven, and I’m starting on the donuts.”
Constance did a quick walk around the convenience store side of the business and made sure there was nothing left undone from the previous night. Then walked over into the diner side and made sure all the salt and pepper shakers, ketchup bottles, steak sauce bottles, etc. were filled.