Page 8 of Starting Over in Cedarwood

“You have one?” Jack nodded again. “I had no idea, but I’m not fluent with the Internet. That’s Henry’s domain.”

“I hear you. I thought I was print or nothing, but the web versions are nice.” He followed Jack down the hallway. “Is there space to eat in your shop, or is it strictly grab-and-go?”

“To-go is best. It’s small, so there’s not much room for eating in, but if you know when you’d like to come in, we can have a table available.”

“I’ll have to keep that in mind. I’m trying to find small places to go with Kevin for dates. Plus, I’ve got to try what I’m advertising,” Shaun said. “Can’t say it’s great if I don’t know personally.”

“Kevin?” Jack asked. “Kevin Keiser?”

“Yeah. Do you know him?”

“I do. He worked for me over one summer before college. He’s a nice kid, er, guy. Smart, too. He’s working for the food services portion of the baseball team.” Jack shrugged. “He’s the head of food services, I mean. Are you together?”

“We’re feeling each other out.” They hadn’t actually started dating, but he had hope they’d be able to take things to that level. He kept stumbling over himself while trying to ask Kevin out.

“Well, you can’t go wrong with Kevin,” Jack said. “I hope it works out.”

“Me, too.” He walked with Jack to the foyer. “Thanks for advertising with us.”

“Thanks. Stop by soon and we’ll make you something great.” Jack waved, then left.

Shaun returned to his office and work, but his thoughts never wandered far from Kevin. God, he was hung up already. He chuckled. It was so like him to do this—get caught up on someone so fast. When he decided he liked someone, he dove in head first.

Shaun finalized the ad for Jack, then called Stone. He wanted to stop by the shelter, too. Ever since he’d come to Cedarwood, he’d debated getting a cat or dog. Kevin had a cat. What if the cat didn’t like him? What if the cat loved Kevin and not him? Or what if the cat hated everyone? What if the critter was just what he needed to fill his chilly nights until he found the right guy?

Half an hour later, he’d shored up the details with Stone for the advertisement, plus set up time to meet for photos with the first prospective animal.

His phone rang and he didn’t bother to check the ID before he answered. “Hello, this is Shaun Fallows and you’ve reached the advertising desk for the Cedarwood Tribune, how may I help you?”

“Shaun, this is Kyle—Kyle Beglin.” Kyle laughed. “I thought you’d know me.”

“I didn’t look at the screen.” Shaun shook his head. “What can I do for you?”

“What are you doing?” Kyle asked. “This afternoon?”

“Working.” Shaun tapped the phone and set it to speaker, then worked on the type for the shelter ad. “You know, doing my job?”

“Okay, fair enough. What are you doing tonight?”

“Getting coffee with a friend.” He wished Kyle would get to the point so he could focus on the advertisement.

“Where?”

“I’m not sure because we’re still deciding.” He retyped the name of the shelter twice before getting it right.Damn.He didn’t need careless mistakes in this ad. “Does it matter?”

“Yes, it does, because I wanted to meet up.”

“Do you need to discuss advertising?”

“No, but you could use a friend in case the date goes sideways,” Kyle said.

“How do you know that will happen or that it’s a date?”

“I saw you eyeballing Kevin.”

“Oh yeah?” Everyone had seen him. He hadn’t been shy about his attraction and the folks on the staff at the paper had heard him ask Kevin out. “So?”

“He’s…you might want a hasty retreat.”

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