Page 47 of Love, Always and Forever
“Nothing you need to hear about. Just a rough shift at the firehouse.”
That was clearly an understatement. Whatever had happened had been bad. In fact, really bad. Later, after they got back from breakfast, maybe she’d look online to see if she could learn what had put those haunted shadows in his eyes.
“Since you don’t think my bulldog jammies are dressy enough to wear to breakfast, I guess I should go get changed.”
On her way down the hall, she called back, “I hope you have someplace good in mind. I want extra fancy French toast, scrambled eggs, and freshly squeezed orange juice.”
Mikhail nodded. “Got just the place.”
“While you’re waiting, take Panda out for me.”
“Will do.”
She paused outside of her bedroom door. “And, Misha, about whatever happened last night—I’m sorry.”
His handsome face reflected nothing but sorrow. “Me, too, Amy. Me, too.”
—
After a long drive out toward the mountains to the café he had chosen, Amy made good on her demand and ordered French toast, eggs, and orange juice. Mikhail settled for a Florentine omelet, hash browns, and a short stack of buckwheat pancakes. The look on Amy’s face when their order arrived was priceless. She stared down at the heaping plate sitting in front of her for the longest time before speaking.
“You didn’t tell me that the servings were big enough to feed an entire family.”
He picked up his fork and dug right in. “Not my family. My brothers and I can wolf down a meal this size in no time.”
“I’ll give you that much. My brothers would certainly devour more of this than I will.”
She smiled, but it was tinged with a touch of regret. “Chad would love this place. Actually, they all would.”
Funny how she always talked about her brothers with such affection in her voice, but they’d never come for a visit since he’d known her. She hadn’t mentioned making any trips home to see them, either.
“I think you said he was the one nearest to you in age. Are the two of you close?”
Amy took a bite of her eggs, thereby preventing herself from having to immediately answer the question. Interesting.
Finally, she swallowed. “Yeah, we are, although I don’t see him very often since I bought my house.”
“He’s never seen where you live?”
Just that quickly, her pretty eyes looked so damn sad. “He drove the truck for me when I moved in. He hasn’t had a chance to come back since. His job keeps him pretty busy.”
Would she make the same excuses for her other three brothers if he kept pressing? How about her parents? Other than that one time she went to meet her mother for lunch, she’d made no mention of seeing her parents, either. What could’ve happened to build a wall between Amy and her entire family?
Ordinarily, he would’ve pressed for details. How could he help if he didn’t know what the problem was? But right now he was having a hard enough time dealing with his own issues. Maybe he was being selfish, but this morning his own equilibrium was too damn fragile to take on anyone else’s problems. Eventually, though, he was going to find out what secrets his pretty neighbor was hiding. For now, he changed the subject.
“So, are we still on for Saturday night?”
She immediately brightened. “I am. In fact, I’m almost sorry that those dance cards they talk about in historical romances aren’t still in use.”
Even though he had his suspicions, he asked anyway. “Because?”
Amy’s smile was a bit smug. “Because mine would be filling up pretty quickly. I’ve already promised dances to Jack, Ricky, and Jay. I’m betting Tino might be willing to risk a turn around the floor with me, too.”
Mikhail ordinarily didn’t much like to share, but he couldn’t bring himself to protest. For a woman who’d never been asked to a dance, having so many men willing to make sure that she didn’t spend too much time sitting on the sidelines had to be exciting. He’d have to thank all those jerks for showing Amy a good time. However, she was his date, not theirs.
Well, technically, not a date. She still thought she was simply doing a favor for a friend by going with him. That was the deal they’d made. Now wasn’t the time to tell her any differently.
“Will there be any room left on that fictional list for me?”
