Page 19 of Returning to Everton

“Oh, yeah, I love that bakery. That’s a great idea, Rowen. I’m sure they will like that,” Quinn replies.

“Is that the bakery you’re going to work at, Mommy?” Violet asks.

“I sure hope so, baby. Doesn’t it look amazing? I can’t wait to see it when it’s open. I love the smells of a bakery,” I say.

We finally get to the diner, and I open the door for Violet to go in first. I can hear her gasp as soon as she walks in. She looks up and sees a crystal-clear night sky. It really is a beautiful sight. I look around and am glad to see nothing has changed. This used to be my favorite place to eat. The ambiance, the people, the food. It all makes for a wonderful experience.

As soon as you walk in, you’re hit with the bitter smell of coffee and the sweet delicious smell of fresh-baked pies. You can smell a mixture of foods as each guest orders a different meal. There’s a counter where an older man sits alone drinking his coffee. The counter is a dark blue formica with white specks in it. It goes perfectly with the starry ceiling.

As we stand there, waiting to be seated, the door opens. I turn out of reflex to see who just entered, only to be met with the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen. I trail my eyes down the man’s face and quickly realize it’s not just his eyes that are gorgeous. This delicious stranger has short auburn hair and a full close-trimmed beard. My eyes roam down his body of their own volition. This guy must work out. He’s buff but not overly muscled. He has strong arms and his shirt fits snug.

Quinn clears her throat, and I finally come out of my daze, only to realize I missed part of a conversation. Lovely, Rowen. Great first impression. It’s then I notice a little boy standing next to him.

“Declan, Logan, this is my best friend Rowen and her daughter, Violet. She’s hopefully going to be living in your house,” Quinn introduces us.

Wait, Declan? Living in his house? Quinn, I swear to god I’m going to have to hurt you. I paste a smile on my face and try to smooth things over with Declan. “Hi! It’s so nice to meet y’all. I was going to call you when we got home from dinner to see if we could see the house. The one you’re renting. Not the one you live in,” I ramble.

Declan laughs at that, so at least he finds my ramblings amusing, I guess. “It’s nice to meet you too, Rowen,” he says with his hot as hell accent, and I finally realizethisis who I was talking to in bed the other day.JesusQuinn wasn’t lying when she said he was hot. Then he turns his attention to Violet. “How do you like the Starlight Diner, Violet? It’s Logan’s favorite place to eat.”

“It’s so pretty!” Violet exclaims.

Right then, the server walks up and asks us how many. I look around at everyone and settle my eyes on Declan. “Want to join us for dinner?” I ask him. He smiles at me, then turns to the server and says five. With that settled, the server shows us to our table. I sit with Quinn and Violet on either side of me. Logan sits next to Violet and starts talking quietly about the town and how much she’s going to love it here. That leaves Declan sitting right across from me.

The server takes our drink orders, and we fall into a not unpleasant silence while we look at our menus. I look over at Violet and ask her if she knows what she wants to eat.

“You should try the cheeseburger and fries. They’re really good. I like to get a milkshake with mine and dip my fries in them,” Logan tells Violet.

Violet looks up at me with those puppy dog eyes, “Can I, Mommy?”

I smile at her. She’s really asking if she can have a shake with dinner. We normally reserve ice cream for after dinner. But if she waits for her shake, she won’t be able to dip her fries.

“Yes. Just this once, you can get your ice cream with your dinner so you can try your fries with your milkshake. But don’t think it’s going to happen all the time,” I tell her.

“Okay, Mommy! I want a vanilla shake.”

“That’s what I get too!” Logan exclaims.

Violet looks at him and smiles. “We can be twins,” she giggles.

The server comes back, and we all decide to get the same thing: cheeseburger, fries, and a vanilla milkshake. I am so glad we decided to come. A burger sounds really good right now.

I look up at Declan and decide to try to break the ice a little. “It’s such an amazing coincidence that you and Logan came here at the same time we did. What are the odds of that?” I ask.

“Well, since it is about dinner time, and this is Logan’s favorite place to eat, so we come here all the time, I’d say the odds were pretty good,” he chuckles. My body reacts the same way it did when we were on the phone when he laughed. Except now my eyes are in on the action instead of just my ears, and let me tell you this is one sexy man. My eyes and ears are in complete agreement.

Quinn and I laugh too. It feels good to be around other people. It’s just been me and Violet for months now since Harris died. Though really it was just the two of us even before that. As we sit there waiting for our food, I hear Logan and Violet laughing and talking. Quinn and I share a look.

“Looks like she’s made a friend already,” I say. “Why am I not surprised?”

Declan looks over at the kids. “She seems very personable. I doubt she’ll have any problems makin’ more friends once she starts school. Heck, probably before that, as long as she doesn’t stay cooped up in the house,” he says.

“We saw a park on our way here from Quinn’s house. Is it far from your house? Er, I mean the house I’m hopefully going to be renting from you?” I ask Declan.

“Not at all,” he replies. “Actually, you passed the house on the way here. It’s just down Bright Avenue. Right before the park when you’re coming from Quinn’s. We live on the other side of the park on Fox Street.”

“Oh, okay, then I’m sure she’ll be there often,” I say.

“Oh, I’m sure. Logan goes there all the time. Don’t ya, bud?”

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