Page 70 of Comforting the Grump

The casual touch sent a shiver down my spine. I stood there, frozen, as Ennio and Patty chatted away like old friends. Which,I supposed, they were. Ennio had a way of charming everyone he met, and his roots were deep here in town.

“…isn’t that right, Marnin?” Ennio’s voice broke through my thoughts.

“Hm? Oh yeah. Sure,” I said, having no idea what I was agreeing to.

Patty laughed. “You’ve got it bad, don’t you?” she said, looking at me with a knowing smile.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I mumbled.

Ennio glanced between us, confused. “What am I missing?”

“Nothing,” I said quickly. “We should get going. Lots to do today.”

As we said our goodbyes and left the store, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something fundamental had shifted between Ennio and me. Yes, I had publicly affirmed we were seeing each other, but it was more than that. That statement had been a mere formality, a confirmation of what I’d known already, of the…

Jesus fucking Christ, I had feelings for him. Actual feelings. The soft, fuzzy kind that made me all discombobulated—and I didn’t do discombobulated. Period. Except apparently, I did, along with all kinds of other feelings I’d never done before. What the hell was happening to me?

“I wanna see if Collins has my tea,” Ennio said.

“Tea?”

“It’s a special blend they order for me.”

I frowned. “Wouldn’t it be cheaper off Amazon?”

“Probably, but not by a lot, and I want to keep them in business.”

I followed him as he stepped into Collins Family Grocer. The store was decorated in fall themes for Thanksgiving, with a veritable explosion of orange and brown with the occasional yellow thrown in. It came straight from the nineties, if not theeighties, yet it had a certain charm. The whole store was a throwback to an era long gone, and I had no idea how it had survived this long.

Ennio made a beeline straight for the counter. “Dottie, did my tea come in?”

“It sure did, honey.” Old Dottie—the woman had to be pushing eighty by now—slowly rose from her high chair and reached for a little orange tin on the shelf behind the counter. “Came in last week.”

“Sorry, I was in Seattle,” Ennio said with a sigh.

“Why on earth would you do that? People here are much nicer,” Dottie said, and for once, I agreed with her. I didn’t like people, but if I did, the ones in Forestville were more tolerable than the population of Seattle. Well, those I’d met anyway. Small-town friendliness was a cliché for a reason.

Ennio’s face fell. “I have a job there now, so I have little choice.”

Dottie made a sympathetic sound. “I’m so sorry The Lodge closed on you, honey. Maybe the new owners will want you back once they reopen?”

“Maybe. Could take months though.”

“You should open your own place. From what I heard, you did a stellar job catering your dad’s birthday party.”

Ennio swallowed, pain radiating off him. “I wish I could, Dottie, but that costs a lot of money.”

“Hmm, I suppose you’re right. It’s a shame because the building next to Brianna’s is empty, and it would be perfect for a restaurant.”

Ennio straightened. “That catering business left?”

Dottie snorted. “You knew they wouldn’t survive here. We’re not fancy enough for what they offered. We need a family restaurant with real, home-cooked food. None of that fancy rich people stuff. Couldn’t even pronounce half the dishes.”

I repressed my smile, instead leaning forward. “So the building already has a kitchen?”

Ennio nodded. “It has a full kitchen with a walk-in freezer and everything.”

“And there’s enough space for tables?”

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