Page 23 of Chasing Shelter

Harrison nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I’d love to take you out. Dinner? Maybe a little town tour?”

I braced as if we were about to get into a car accident. In a way,maybe we were. “Thank you. That’s really kind, but I’m not dating right now.”

Harrison arched a brow at that. Nothing about the gesture was rude or unkind, but he was clearly surprised.

“I just got out of something pretty serious. I need a little time to get my sea legs back,” I explained.

Sympathy washed over Harrison’s expression, softening the lines of his face. “I get it. Tell you what, the offer stands. You feel like you’ve gotten those sea legs back? Give me a call.” He pulled out his wallet and handed me a business card. “My cell’s on the back.”

I took the piece of cardstock and shoved it into my pocket. “Thank you.”

Harrison grabbed his food and coffee. “Good luck filling in for Joey.”

“I’ll take all the luck I can get.”

He chuckled and saluted me with his coffee before heading for the door.

I rounded the counter and turned toward the kitchen, but someone blocked my path. Thea’s green eyes twinkled as she grinned at me. “That looked like an offer of a date.”

“Small towns,” I grumbled.

“Hey, I just have eyes. Small towns have nothing to do with it.”

“Do you know that half the people I served today knew who I was, where I was from, what I did for work, and probably had my social security number?”

Thea laughed. “I feel your pain. It tweaked me when I first moved here, but I’m used to everyone being in my business now.” She studied my face, trying to read beneath whatever expression I wore. “So…did you say yes?”

I shook my head, fighting the urge to rock back and forth on my feet. “I’m not ready. I need a little time.”

Thea’s expression fell, but she instantly moved closer, squeezing my shoulders. “Take all the time you need. It’s gotta be hard moving on from what you thought your life would be.”

What I thought my life would be.I wanted to laugh at that. Notonce in twenty-six years did I have control of my life. Not in any meaningful way, at least. It felt like every molecule of it had been decided for me, from what I ate to who I was set to marry. Telling Bradley we were over was the first time I’d stated whatIwanted since the day I wished for a rainbow on my bedroom wall.

Sometimes, it felt like I’d died right alongside my mom. That my will to fight slipped away with her. Instead, I walked a tightrope, trying to keep everyone happy but me.

“I think I just need to stand on my own for a little while,” I said, not agreeing or disagreeing with Thea’s statement. Either path would give her information I didn’t want her to have.

She squeezed my shoulders before releasing them. “I get it. And I’m always here if you need to talk.”

“Thanks,” I said, side-stepping her. “Better get the next order.”

I dipped into the kitchen before she could respond. Walter had moved on to dishes now that we were through the worst of the breakfast rush. “One last order for ya,” he called over the spray.

“You got it, boss.”

“Now that’s the kind of respect I love.”

I chuckled as I grabbed a veggie scramble and headed for table five. I was already learning the map of the bakery and found weaving through the tables to drop off food or pick up empties was sort of a meditative practice.

As I approached table five, I took in the man sitting at it, poring over a newspaper. He wore a familiar Bloom & Berry T-shirt. A handful of years older than me, his tan skin had smile lines around his eyes, only accentuating the amber color.

“Veggie scramble?” I asked, holding out the plate.

The man looked up, his gaze sweeping over my face as if trying to place it. “That’s me.”

“Here you go,” I said, sliding the meal in front of him.

“New to The Mix Up?” he asked.

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