Graham opened his own drink and took a long swig, draining half the bottle. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“You hate it?”
“Closer.” Shrugging, Graham nudged Jake’s furry tail with the toe of his boot. “Let’s just say, I like my town a lot better when we’re left to our own devices. This is a great place. We don’t need idiots wrapping their Ferraris around trees in our front yards.”
She waited, letting him choose his words.
“I was just a kid when the Shaws built that place. Their son, Jackson, and I grew up together. Jax is a good guy, and we had a blast running around up there, causing trouble. But the older I got…I don’t know. Too much crap goes down that shouldn’t. We’re a good town with good people. We try to be welcoming, but at some point, enough is enough.”
Pursing his lips, Graham finally grunted. “I keep telling myself that one of these days, I’ll pull stakes and move north where I won’t have to deal with any of this anymore.”
“But then you’ll have to leave everyone that matters to you,” Zoey said, not unkindly. “That’s a hard choice.”
“Yeah. Which is why I come home every night and secretly hope the hotel goes belly up and we all get our lives back.” Chuckling, Graham leaned back on his elbows, feet stretched out in front of them. He shot her a boyish look. “It would make one great bonfire up there, wouldn’t it?”
“I plead the fifth.” Playfully, Zoey added, “Jonah didn’t get all of my rap sheet.”
With a sigh of pleasure, Graham settled into his slouch. “I knew I liked you.”
Graham leaned over and lightly bumped his arm into hers. When he did it again, even softer, this time it was Zoey who leaned her head on his shoulder. Inhaling the scent of the evergreen forest around them, of cedar wood piled haphazardly about his yard, and of expensive shampoo on Jake’s coat. Enjoying the hard muscles beneath her cheek and the sweet soda on her lips.
Tilting her bottle his way, Zoey murmured, “To one day being left alone?”
“To one day being left alone.”
Clinking bottles, Graham gazed down at her, expression unreadable. Then he smiled gently and leaned into her just a little before taking a sip. “But not quite yet.”
Chapter 9
The next morning, Graham woke up with Zoey Caldwell overtaking his brain. Seasickness aside, he’d had far more fun with her than a guy had a right to, and he kept hoping Zoey would call him up, maybe demand a repeat of their breakfast date or save him from another day at work by dragging him back out to sea.
She didn’t.
Even though he hadn’t technically given her his number, Graham occasionally checked his phone to see if she called. She hadn’t. And yes, Graham had just seen her the night before, but still. He’d bothered her first thing in the morning to get breakfast. Was it too much to hope for Zoey to do the same?
Deeply disappointed by her perfectly acceptable behavior, Graham started his morning as normal. Working out in his shed, then ordering new summer clothes for Jake online. Staring at his log and making sure if any other lost tourists randomly appeared out of the woods, he wasn’t as terrifying as he stood rooted to the ground in artistic indecision. Checking his phone again to see if maybe he’d missed a call from her, Graham gave up and drove Jake to Ash’s place, where his pup could spend the day outside with her.
Then, when there was nothing else Graham could do to avoid it, he dragged himself in to work.
Easton was a creature of habit, so he showed up at the diner around lunch, giving Graham someone to talk to other than the strangers massing through the doors. The relationship worked well for them. Graham gave East food. East dragged the trash can out and made people pick up their crap. In between still checking his phone and grudgingly serving customers, Graham told Easton about his impromptu afternoon with Zoey.
“You. Went whale watching. Voluntarily.”
Easton’s voice rarely changed in tone, but his lifted eyebrow spoke volumes.
As he worked, Graham shrugged. “Zoey was all alone. I kept her company. It’s not a big deal.”
“Whale watching. On one of those overstuffed tour boats.”
Graham shoved a burger at the next customer, only half listening to the order being told to him. “It was miserable too. I can’t believe they convince people to give them their money. But she loved it, man. Like a kid at Christmas.”
Easton’s eyebrow climbed higher.
“Okay, judgy. Like you’ve never gotten roped into some stupid crap because of a woman.”
“Name anything I’ve done that comes close.”
Hmm, point to Easton, because Graham couldn’t. East kept his mortifying experiences close to the chest and not for general consumption. “Well, it’s not my fault you have the emotional range of a tennis shoe.”
And then she was there, the next customer in line, hair falling over her eyes and that one strand stuck between her lashes and her glasses.
“Hi,” Zoey said shyly.
Feeling his face split with the widest, stupidest grin, Graham nearly dropped a burger patty on the floor.
“Hey there, Zoey Bear. We were just talking about you.”
“Should I be worried?”
“Always.” He flipped a burger higher than normal, maybe to impress her. “So what’s on the menu today?”
“Umm, just a…” She glanced at the prices on the menu board, hand fidgeting in her pocket. “Just a dog please.”
“That’s all you want?”
Pulling her hand out of her pocket, she added softly, “And a water.”
“Wow, you’re really paying into my retirement today,” Graham joked. When he glanced up from his grill, he saw her face had gone a particularly unhappy shade of red.
Graham told her the price, watching as she counted out her change. The next customers in line shifted impatiently as she dug deeper into her pocket. Her flushed face went even redder as it became clear to everyone in the room that the two dollar and change meal was more than she could afford.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m not as hungry as I thought.”
“Hey, I’ve got this one,” Graham started to say, but Zoey already had turned on her heel, hustling out of his restaurant as fast as she could go. Head held high, even though everyone was looking at her.
“Take the wheel, will you?” Graham clapped Easton on the shoulder.
“What?” Easton gave him a horrified look as Graham stripped off his apron and lobbed it at Easton’s face.