Page 51 of Tumbleweed Temptation
“No, it’s not like that. He got in a fight with Matt Dunfry, like, a fight. I feel like it was a long time coming, but Matt laid him out, Javi and I took him home. We watched a movie and I fell asleep on the couch. Nothing more than that.”
“If it is, I’m not judging you. I just would rather know if you’re not coming home.”
“Trust me, Grandpa. I’ll be coming home regularly.” Austin wasn't sure he wanted to be here, and she didn't need that kind of heartache.
*****
“SO. I HEARD YOU WEREwalking out of the doctor’s office after midnight last night,” Mrs. Lopez said, loudly, her attention on her menu as she sat at the counter, though she was here every Saturday morning and the menu hadn’t changed in years.
“Who?” Janine asked.
“Ginny.”
Ginny used every fiber of her willpower not to look up, but her face heated anyway. She was not going to respond. She wouldn’t defend herself, because anything she’d say would be twisted by the gossips. But she felt Janine’s eyes burning into her. Honestly she didn't know what Janine thought. The woman wanted her to stay here in town. Did she want her to be alone forever?
But she didn't look at either woman, just loaded her tray with plates from the pass-through and carried them out to the pastor’s table. She forced a smile as she passed out the plates and silverware. When she turned away, she saw, out of the corner of her eye, Janine and Mrs. Lopez with their heads together.
“Hey, are you going out with Austin?” asked Meredith Drexler at the next table. “I heard y’all were together last night.”
“Just friends.” God, were they going to have to keep a distance to quell rumors? Well, they couldn’t, because they had this project to work on. Who cared what people thought, anyway? “What can I get you today?”
“I don't know, I thought I heard you were coming out of his apartment this morning.”
Who the hell had seen her leave? She hadn’t seen a soul, and it had been awfully late for someone to be peeking out of their window. Whoever it had been had the gossip mill on speed dial. “Nope. You know what you want?” Ginny motioned with her pen toward the menu.
“I just remember you always fighting when we were in school. Of course, he was a real nerd then. He sure changed.”
Ginny made a noncommittal sound in her throat as she stood poised to write the order, hoping Meredith got the hint.
Finally she got the order and walked behind the counter to turn it in. When she turned back to look over her tables to see if anyone needed anything.
She accidentally made eye contact with Mrs. Lopez, who lifted a questioning eyebrow before Ginny snatched her gaze away.
Why wasn’t anyone talking about Matt punching Austin? If someone else mentioned her walking out of Austin’s apartment, she was going to throw both men under the bus to change the conversation.
She hurried away from the counter and was taking another order when a strange hush fell over the diner. Ginny took a deep breath and turned toward the door.
Of course it was Austin. And all eyes in the diner went from him to her and back again. If she could have shot lasers from her eyes, she would have, when he lifted his hand to give her a slight wave before taking a seat at the counter.
Thank God no tables were available in her section.
Why did he have to show up here this morning? Just what she didn't need. More speculation.
So she turned her back on him, determined to ignore him and hopefully put all the rumors to rest. But then she wondered how his black eye was. And really, let the people talk. She didn't care what they said about her, and they could hardly say anything worse about Austin than he’d heard them say twelve years ago.
So on her way back from turning in the latest order, she stopped at the counter in front of him, angling her head to inspect his eye.
“Doesn’t look too bad,” she said by way of greeting.
“No, I think I dodged enough that it wasn't too bad, and we got ice on it pretty fast.”
“Yay, us. Still was hard enough to ring your bell until we got you home.” She wanted to warn him about the rumors, but didn't know how to do that without saying so in front of everyone. He’d just have to figure it out the same way she did—by overhearing it.
“What time do you get off?”
“Two thirty.”
“Good. I’ll come back by and get you.”
