Page 80 of The Other Guy

“Good deal. Ready?” he asks, putting his coat on and sliding his wallet into his back pocket. He pulls out a pair of leather gloves and puts them on.

“For errands? Always.”

“Weirdo.”

I laugh but don’t deny it and follow him to the garage after promising Toby to bring him back a treat if he’s good. Which I have no doubt he will be.

“There’s a Walmart in Liberty we can stop at for Toby after we go to the bank. That’s where the shop is that will sharpen the chains for my chainsaw, too. I’ll drop them off first so they can work on them while we take care of the rest and have lunch. We’ll grab groceries back here in town before we head home.”

“Sounds great. I’m just happy to be along for the ride.”

“Of course you are.”

I sit back and enjoy the scenery as Uncle Kyle drives. Liberty, Michigan, is the home of Southeast Michigan State, the university Jack’s cousin and brother-in-law coach for. It brings a smile to my face that I know that little bit of information about him.

“Anything you’re in the mood for?”

I assume he means lunch and since I really am not picky, I shake my head. “Not really. I’m up for whatever.”

“Balance is really good. A little fancier than I typically like, but they just changed up their lunch menu and made it more casual. There’s also The Flying Goat. Great sports bar.”

“Let’s do Balance since we’re eating at the bar tonight,” I suggest. “As much as I love bar food, I think I should probably find something a little healthier for lunch.”

“You saying my food isn’t healthy?”

“Considering eighty percent of the menu is fried? Nooooo,” I tease.

He thinks for a moment then glances briefly at me before returning his eyes to the road. “Shit. It is, isn’t it?”

“Not a bad thing, Kyle. The food is delicious and people expect that there. Helps soak up the alcohol so they can buy more alcohol. It’s a good thing. Plus, your wings are freaking amazing.”

“They’re from a bag,” he replies dryly. He steers his pickup with his middle and pointer fingers, looking relaxed but the tic in his jaw tells me otherwise. “You know, Jack went to culinary school.” I know. And I think it’s sexy as hell. “Think he’d be willing to help me out? Maybe add a few more things to the menu and find someone to man the kitchen?” I have no doubt he’d help and probably work in the kitchen for Kyle until he found a chef.

“You don’t have someone who does that for you now?”

He points to himself with the hand not on the steering wheel. “Me, or whoever’s managing the bar that night. Like I said, wings are frozen from a bag. Same with pretty much everything else on the menu. Our burgers are the only thing we make in-house and that’s not exactly rocket science.”

“Wow. I didn’t know that.”

He shrugs. “No one has seemed to mind and honestly, it didn’t bother me, either. Until you mentioned how much of the menu is done in the fryer.”

“Oops. Sorry?”

“Don’t be, sweetheart. I’m not sure if I’ll make a change, since like I said, no one has seemed to mind. But, I’d still like to talk to Jack. See if he has ideas.”

Jack. Jack. Jack.

I had kind of hoped that tagging along today would help keep my mind off Jack and the time we spent together. Hard to do when Kyle seems to want to bring him up constantly.

“I’m sure he’d help. He seems to still like everything about cooking and the restaurant business.”

“Good. Good. I’ll get in touch with him. Unless, of course, you’d like to take the lead on that one,” he says with a wink.

“Kyle,” I warn.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Uh huh. Sometimes it’s in what you don’t say more than what you do. Want me to bring up how quickly you jumped at the chance to invite Rebecca to dinner tonight?”

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