Page 12 of Second Chance Spring in Paradise

“Mrs. Thomsen won’t be working. She’s had some health issues so her son has taken over.” Rowdy shoves his hands in his pockets and shifts his weight back and forth.

“That’s so sad.” I glance at the door again. “I was hoping to tell her how much it meant to me that she remembered me year after year.” I stop myself from saying more. Rowdy obviously doesn’t want to eat at The Garden of Eatin’, and the whole point of the dinner is to thank him for rescuing me.

But as I turn from the door, he yanks it open.

“You know what,” he says. “We should stay. I’ll introduce you to Mrs. Thomsen’s son. All her kids help out, but it’s Adam who owns the restaurant now. I’m sure he’d like to hear some compliments about his mom. She really is a great lady.”

He guides me through the door while he talks. The blonde woman at the hostess station sends me a smile, but it quickly drops when she looks over my shoulder. I follow her eyes to Rowdy, who won’t meet her gaze, and wonder if she’s an ex or something. I also wonder at the feelings of jealousy that suddenly sprout at that thought.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be here, Rowdy.” She comes from behind her hostess station and rushes to Rowdy. Just as she tries to turn him around, the same Zach I met yesterday rushes from the kitchen wearing a chef’s checkered pants and holding a spatula.

He stops a few feet from Rowdy and, pointing his spatula at him, yells, “Out!”

“Let me explain.” Rowdy raises his hands, palms up.

Unlike Rowdy, Zach looks ready to swing. He’s already got a good start with the spatula he’s waving around. “There’s nothing to explain!”

I beg to differ. I feel like there’s lots of ‘splaining to do here. Zach’s face is flaming red. Any hint of the smile he gave me yesterday is long gone, and I’dreallylike to know what happened between him and Rowdy in the last twenty-four hours. Because all I know right now is that I should have listened to Rowdy when he tried to get me to eat somewhere else.

Chapter 6

Rowdy

I don’t want to fight Adam. Mostly because I don’t want to hurt him anymore than I already have, and I know I could knock him out. He’s got half a foot and at least thirty pounds of muscle on me, but he didn’t grow up breaking horses or wrestling steers. Not to mention the fact that beneath this rage, he’s all heart.

“Adam, calm down!” Britta, Adam’s sister and restaurant hostess, steps between the two of us. “You’re going to scare all the customers away,” she whispers through clenched teeth and wags her head to the people lined up outside the door.

“Oh!” Tessa exclaims. “You and Zach must be twins! I was so confused for a minute.”

Her bright voice lets the air out of Adam’s temper. He glances from me to her, his face still a dark cloud, but the thunder’s gone out of him.

“Who’s this?” he growls at me.

“Tessa Blake.” I motion my hand from Tessa to Adam. “This is Adam Thomsen.”

“You’re Mrs. Thomsen’s son.” She states the information as the fact it is, not as a question, then grabs Adam's hand. “I used to come here with my aunt every summer when I visited. Your mom was so sweet. She always remembered my name. I’m so sorry to hear she’s sick.”

Adam’s face goes soft, and he swallows hard a couple times before speaking. “Thank you. She’s always been good at making people feel loved.”

His words are soft and quiet. Britta draws a breath, then goes back to the hostess station and grabs a couple of menus. “You’ve got orders, Adam,” she says with a gentle firmness. “Come on, Rowdy. I’ll get you a table.”

Adam doesn’t look at me again, but I catch the hurt in his eyes before he walks back to the kitchen. For the first time, I question whether I made the right decision about helping Dakota leave the wedding. Maybe things would have worked out okay between them. At least long enough to get him through everything going on with his mom.

Even as I think it though, I know it’s not true. Dakota was always going to leave. Adam’s a good guy. I hate seeing him reeling from all this, but it would have been harder for him later on.

Tessa and I follow Britta to a table, where she hands us menus. “Took some nerve for you to show up today.,” she says flatly, and I can’t tell if she’s mad at me too.

“Don’t blame Rowdy,” Tessa jumps in. “I begged him to eat here. I had no idea it would be a problem.”

“That’s alright,” Britta says to her. “They were bound to run into each other sooner or later.” She turns back to me. “If it makes you feel any better, he’s angrier at Zach and Georgia than you. He knows you didn’t have a choice, with Dakota being your cousin and everything. He won’t admit it, but he knows it.”

I nod and pick up my menu. “I appreciate that. If I thought I could have talked her out of leaving, I would have.”

Britta shrugs. “He’s the only one who didn’t see it coming.”

I scan the menu, looking for the specialty Danish dishes Adam has been promising The Garden of Eatin’ would offer. We have enough hamburger places here in Paradise. I’ve been looking forward to the kind of chicken pies my grandma used to make. “Where’s the good stuff?”

Britta scoffs. “That’s only for locals and people not currently on Adam’s you-know-what list.”

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