Page 94 of Digging Up Love
She took one step and wrapped her fingers around the barbell. “I want to be with you, Quentin.”
Swinging under the bar, she took another step toward him, and he waited, standing firm. His gray-green eyes darkened to black, the sky before a summer storm. She took another step, and an opportunity unwound itself in her mind like a scroll.
Still a pace away, she halted. “My grandpa’s birthday party is tomorrow. After it’s over, I’m going to tell him and Granny about my plans.”She uttered the words like an oath. “Will you come with me and stand by my side when I finally tell my grandparents I’m moving on?”
“I dunno, Alisha. A family function?” He grinned, but he stayed planted, steady and sure. “You’re asking a lot—”
Closing the last inches between them, she cut him off by pulling his gorgeous face down for a kiss. Breathless moments later, they broke away, and his eyes crinkled under the force of his smile.
Alisha gazed up at him. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
He nodded. “Yes, Alisha. I’ll gladly be your backup, just so long as you know you can do this, with or without me.” His eyes roamed her face, and her breathing quickened. “But yeah, I’ll stand in your corner. Always.”
Unable to resist, she bunched his shirt in her hands, the grit in the fabric rough against her fingers, and tugged him down. She brushed her lips against his, the kiss tentative and exploring at first, then hot and insistent, their mouths melting together in a fiery alchemy.
Grandpa’s seventy-fifth birthday party was in full swing, Honey and Hickory packed to overflowing. The setting sun cast an apricot glow on the crowded room through the front bank of windows. So much for a small friends-and-family affair. More than half the town had shown up and reduced Alisha’s towering three-tiered devil’s food cake, Grandpa’s favorite, to scraps.
While she carved up the cake, Quentin fed her bites of his slice. The decadent richness of the dark chocolate combined with his attentiveness sanded down her rough edges. No longer tied up like a pretzel, tonight her spirit stretched free and unburdened.
After serving up the last piece of cake, she mingled hand in hand with Quentin, introducing him to old friends and frenemies. With an exit strategy in place, she could acknowledge the good parts of her lifehere. But she was ready to say farewell and carve out her own place in the city. Grandpa didn’t need her here any more than she wanted to stay. And Granny never stopped nudging her toward the door with admonitions and encouragements.
Now or never, and she chose now.
“Listen up, everybody!” Grandpa clapped his hands, and a hush fell over the buzzing room. “I know half of ya are expectin’ a speech, and the other half are hopin’ I keep my trap shut. Well, some of ya are about to be sorely disappointed, and I think you know who ya are.” He winked, and laughter rippled through the crowd.
Alisha tugged Quentin to the side, where she could get a better view, and pulled out her phone to record a video.
People parted, and Grandpa backslapped his way toward the center of the room. “I’m getting on in years. No need to specify just how far along—lookin’ at you, Hank.”
“Seventy-five!” he shouted, and Grandpa waved him off.
“As I said, old enough. Back when I first started out, I set up my smoker in an empty lot off Second Street. I was just a kid, with a wife, a toddler, and a half-decent recipe for barbecue sauce.” Tears shining in his eyes, he pivoted in a slow quarter turn to face the propped-open front door, sidewalk full of celebrants holding food on paper plates.
“I’d say I’ve come a long way since then. Hope I got a ways yet still to go.” Applause rang out, pierced by a drawn-out whistle. She wished Simone could’ve made the trip. “Still, I’m getting old.”
“Naw, you aren’t old.I’mold!” a voice rang out, and next to her, Quentin chuckled.
“All of you know my granddaughter Ali. She’s been workin’ at this place longer than she’d like to admit.” He winked, and someone whooped. He beckoned to Alisha, and she passed Quentin the phone, then scooted through the crowd, expecting Grandpa to give her the floor for a toast.
Instead, he grabbed her shoulder and dug in his fingertips. “Sweetheart, I’ve come to rely on you more’n you know these past few years. Can’t imagine this place without ya.”
Clearing his throat, he swung away to address the crowd. “It should come as no surprise that from here on out, our own sweet Alisha will be runnin’ the place. I’m steppin’ down. Honey and Hickory is all hers now, and I have every confidence she’ll be serving up world-class barbecue for decades to come!”
The room erupted in cheers. Alisha stood there, mouth open. Rooted to the spot.
CHAPTER 34
QUENTIN
“So that’s it?” Quentin couldn’t believe Alisha hadn’t said a word to Wayne except, “Thank you.”
Thank you?The man had slammed the lid on her box of hopes and dreams and threw away the key!
Now they faced off in the alley by her grandfather’s—no,herrestaurant—except they were on the same side, fighting for the same future, if only she could see that. Why wouldn’t she speak up? Despite the oppressive stillness of the night air, Quentin ached to reach out and wrap Alisha in his arms. He wanted to hold her close and soothe away her distress. But he couldn’t, not if she wouldn’t let him.
“That’s what?”
The front door of the restaurant dinged open, and laughter spilled out. He waited until the partygoers’ conversation had faded away. “You’re going to take over for your grandpa and stay in Hawksburg forever?”
