Page 34 of Knight's Desire

“Of course, you can. It’s your house. Do as you please. I’ll have a sampler plate too.”

Before she could protest more, he snagged two plates from the cupboard and started dividing the portions until they each had a sufficient sample of each meal. She wasn’t sure she could put away that much food, but the idea of treating herself was too good to pass up. It was comfort food at its finest, and comfort was exactly what she needed.

When they settled at her kitchen table, Hope dived into the fare, taking small bites of each item and savoring the flavors. The pot roast reminded her of her mother’s, and she smiled at the memory.

“Enjoying your dinner?”

She looked over at Brick, her smile widening. “Yes, it’s delicious. Thank you. Did you say this came from the diner? The one just off Main Street?”

“That’s the one.” He seemed surprised that she would know of it, but everyone in Grayson Cove knew the diner. She learned about the small-town staple early on after she moved here.

“The diner is the first restaurant I tried when I moved to town.”

“Really? The diner doesn’t seem like the kind of place you’d go to.”

Her smile widened. “Oh really? I’d ask what you mean by that, but I don’t think I want to know. I love it! I was homesick when I first came to Grayson Cove. I noticed on the diner’s list of specials that they were serving chicken and dumplings that day. That was my GranPoppy’s specialty. She made it for us whenever we were sick or sad. So I ordered it, and I was not disappointed. It wasn’t as good as GranPoppy’s, but it was pretty great.”

“Gran Poppy?”

“My grandmother. She refused to be called anything resembling grandma or grandmother. She said those names were for old women who had lost their edge, and she’d never be like those women. She decided her grandchildren would call her GranPoppy because it sounded special and wouldn’t be a name anyone else would have. Poppy Keller is someone who refuses to blend in when she was made to stand out.”

“A feisty grandmother who makes chicken and dumplings. She sounds perfect.”

“She’s one of my favorite people in the world, but she’s far from perfect. If she lived close to the diner, she’d never cook again. She’d just buy the chicken and dumplings from the diner and pass it off as her own.”

He chuckled. “I can’t blame her. The diner’s meatloaf is my favorite, outside of their pastries that is. It’s just me, so I end up at the diner or Torch for my meals most of the time.”

“Torch is that bar, right? I haven’t been there yet. I don’t eat out a lot. I cook some, but mostly it’s takeout and leftovers for me. Are you from Grayson Cove?”

He shook his head. “I moved here when Tryst was opening up the firm. He needed someone to head up investigations, and it was what I was looking for at the time.”

She smiled. “We used to visit here when I was younger. My oldest brother, Henry, was a starter for our high school basketball team, and there was a tournament every year in this area. My mother had a fondness for bed and breakfasts, and her favorite one was in Grayson Cove. We’d stay there when we came for Henry’s tournament, and the owners knew us by name. When we weren’t in the gym watching games, Mama would take me and my sister exploring. There used to be an antique store that carried vintage clothes. We would find some of the most wonderful pieces, and we would deconstruct them and make something new. That’s how I started designing clothes.”

“Did your mother teach you to sew and stuff?”

Hope sipped her water as she shook her head. “No. That would be GranPoppy. She always told me if I could make my own clothes and cook my own food, I’d never want for anything. She was a spitfire, and I always wanted to be more like her. The closest I ever came was opening my Bridal Shoppe here. It’s the riskiest move I’ve ever made, but I don’t regret it. Even with all of the trouble I’m having now, I love it here.”

“We’ll stop the trouble.”

She held his gaze, saw the determination in his eyes and knew he’d keep his promise or die trying. She didn’t know him well, but she recognized that’s who he was. Just as she thought, he was a man of his word.

“I appreciate that. Is there more I can do to help figure this out? You said you had some questions.”

“We need to know more about the people in your life, so we can rule out anyone you know as the person behind the harassment. Everything that’s happened feels personal. Whoever is behind this is targeting you specifically.”

Her brow furrowed. “For what purpose? I own a Bridal Shoppe in a small town. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Tell me more about opening your Shoppe. How long has it been open? How did you decide on the location?”

“I opened the Shoppe about seven months ago. It was a slow start, so we did more online sales and appointments in the beginning. I went through the real estate firm where my boyfriend works. That’s how we met, but he wasn’t my realtor at first. I worked with his boss, David Leonard, but then he assigned me as Parker’s client. Parker suggested the space next to KSI. It was perfect. It had been a boutique before, so the set-up didn’t require much work to suit what I needed. It had been vacant for a couple of months. Parker and David made it seem like no one was really interested in the space, so I was able to buy it without an issue.”

“When did you and Parker start dating?”

She took her time chewing a bit of grilled chicken as she considered his question. “Well, I can’t say for sure. He flirted with me when we first met, before I went to the realty looking for store space. He asked for my number, but I turned him down. I didn’t think I had time for anything other than starting my business.

“We had lunch and dinner a few times after we started working together, but we always talked real estate. It was never personal or romantic. Then there was the Christmas party. The real estate office hosted one and invited their clients. Parker asked me to go, but he barely spoke to me while I was there. He was networking with several people, so I spent most of the evening talking with David and his wife. Then when I was ready to leave, my car wouldn’t start. Parker gave me a lift home. We ended up talking for an hour. We started a friendship and eventually it turned into something else.”

“Have you dated anyone else since you’ve been in town?”

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