Page 50 of Still Yours
Word has gotten round that the new French restaurant,C’est Trois, offered professional cooking classes to couples as a friendly introduction into a close-knit town. Because I’ve grown up with the residents, it’s a given to them I’d be attending, but what’s become most curious is who I’m taking it with. My last boyfriend was two years ago, and he was from Sutton Falls, the next town over. At the moment, everyone assumes Mrs. Stalinski will accompany me, and when I show up with Stone tonight, I’m basically confirming myself as the talk of the town tomorrow.
It’s worth it, I think as I turn the ignition and pull out of the Barnes’ driveway. This is an impossible dream come true, a decorated chef deciding to put down roots in a town like ours. A chance like this shouldn’t be possible, yet it’s staring me right in the face and I’d be an idiot to let pride impede me from learning from someone so accomplished.
I’ll deal with Stone by considering him my assistant, or an intern, or any other number of labels besides an ex-boyfriend who cratered my heart. He may be known to the world, but to me, him crying over the chopping of onions can be the topic of the hour, nothing more.
With a curt nod of confirmation to myself, I pull into Mrs. Stalinski’s property and hop out with the car still running. I changed at the Barnes’, opting for worked-in jeans and a loose black T-shirt. My hair’s twisted up into a bun, held together with a claw-clip.
The screen door creaks as I pull it open, but the wooden door opens silently, telling me Stone’s oiled the hinges. I’m noticing minor improvements around the home while he’s been living here, things Mrs. Stalinski misses, but become noticeable when Stone walks away from them. Like the hinges around the house, doors, and windows, and the dripping faucet in the powder room no longerplinkingthroughout the day. Not to mention Moo’s litter changed before I get to it. Those minor improvements and Stone’s presence has brightened Mrs. Stalinski’s demeanor in ways nothing else could. While Stone’s return to Falcon Haven was under less-than-ideal circumstances, I’m so glad he came when he did.
The very man I’m thinking about tiptoes down the stairs with a finger to his lips, dressed in loose blue jeans and a charcoal Henley shirt. His hair curls damply above his brow and I get a whiff of his woodsy, clean scent before he reaches the bottom.
“Is she okay?” I whisper, still holding the door open.
He nods. “She’s sleeping. I knocked her out with a bike ride.”
My eyes widen. “Was it too much for her? Did she get hurt? Her bones…”
“The opposite.” Stone grabs his black wool coat off the hook and quickly steps outside like I’m about to lecture him for spending time with his mother.
It gives me pause. Does he think I’m a stick-in-the-mud nurse? That I don’t know how to have fun and don’t want my patients to find any joy? And why should I care what he thinks?
“I’m glad you two had a good time,” I say.
Stone glances at me like I’m being sarcastic.
Jeez. I give up. Heading to the driver’s side of my car, I ask, “You ready for this?”
“Yeah, why not.” Stone shrugs, then stops short in front of my headlights.
I look at him. “What?”
“Why are you getting in your car?”
“…Because I’m going to drive it.”
Stone stares at my blue hatchback. “I won’t fit in it.”
“Oh, come on. You had no problems with it ten years ago.”
“I was a scrawny trash compactor back then. Now I pump weights and eat the amount of protein an MMA fighter does. If I get in there, my knees will hit me in the face.”
My mouth drops in a fakeO. “Oh no, not your pretty face.”
“And if I remember correctly, the last time I could squish in there was when we rolled the passenger seat all the way down and you straddled?—”
“Your car it is!” I cut in a little too loudly. Opening the door, I shut off my engine and follow Stone to his space-age technological advancement of a vehicle.
He smirks. “Nice jeans, by the way. Don’t think I’ve seen you outside of scrubs since coming here.”
I brush off his compliment—and the warmth in my cheeks—by retorting, “I work a lot.”
“I’ve noticed.” His black beast unlocks with a beep and flash of angry-looking headlights. He opens the passenger door for me. “And what I’ve deduced is, everybody loves you and wants you as their nurse, and you don’t have the heart to say no.”
“Are you saying that’s a bad thing?” I ask suspiciously.
Stone’s lips purse into an innocent frown. “Just observing that you’re young, intelligent, and beautiful, with a long life to lead.”
“What am I supposed to do with a statement like that?”
