He started to giggle, his shoulders shaking just as the server approached our table.
I pointed at my tablemate. “Don’t mind him. He just found out you can’t make a statement in this town without it somehow tying back to Audrey Violet.”
The waitress standing in front of me was Lila Treba. We went to high school together. Now she was working here in the evenings and going to school during the day for welding. She looked incredible in a pair of short shorts and a tight t-shirt and yet, she could wear overalls and a welding shield with the best of them.
“Lila, this is Ellis David. He’s new to town.”
She waved her hand at me. “Girl, I know Ellis. He’s in here once a week to eat, at least. Right, boyfriend?” she asked, her tone teasing.
Ellis held his hands out, palms up. “I told you I get tired of eating from a can.”
“I guess you weren’t kidding,” I muttered, laughing at myself. “I forget you’ve been here longer than I think.” I glanced between him and Lila and laughed. “That sounded weird, but you know what I mean. Time flies. Anyway, I’ll have two tacos so I stop talking.”
Lila chuckled and tapped her pad. “Same for you, darling?” she asked, snapping her gum. When Ellis nodded, she put her pad away, not bothering to write anything down. “And a beer or two or wine or?” she asked patiently.
“I’ll have hot chocolate,” he said immediately, his eyes not making contact with mine. “I have to work in the morning.”
“Hit me with a glass of white wine. I don’t.”
“Coming right up. Now you two remember this is a PG establishment. No funny business back here in the corner and keep your hands where I can see them.”
I almost choked and my cheeks flushed with the heat of embarrassment. Ellis leaned back against the chair and raised an eye at Lila. “You’re like my grandma, only less fun.”
Lila winked as she turned and sauntered back to the bar, her backend waving in the wind with each step.
“Guess you told her,” I snickered, happy he wasn’t afraid to push back a little bit. I like a guy who knows when to be beta, but also how to bring out the alpha when needed. Sure, Lila was just playing, but I liked that he could give as good as he got.
I shook my finger at him. “You told me the only place you’d eaten at in town was the diner. I think you’re telling tales.”
He grinned, sheepishly. “You’re right, but I guess I think of this as a bar and not so much a grill. I stand corrected, now I have experience with three establishments in Bells Pass. The diner is still my favorite.”
I winked teasingly at him. “Mine too.”
“Tell me about your night,” he said, pausing when Lila brought our drinks back to the table. He sipped his hot chocolate and waited for me to answer, so I gave him the so-so hands.
“We had fun and Mel found a dress, but I’m not sure if we convinced her to have the wedding at the gazebo or not.”
He stared at me with a blank expression on his face. “Confused.”
I set my wine glass down and smacked my lips. “Man, that’s good. Okay, so Ivy and Shep got married at the gazebo last year, right?” I asked and he nodded. “Right, so that’s also where Mel and Mason kind of officially started dating and where Mason proposed on Christmas Day.”
“And you want them to get married in the gazebo but they don’t want to?” he asked, his head tilted to the left in concentration.
I waved my hand. “Backstory. Mel has bad arthritis in her feet. If they get cold, she’s done for and limps around. Rather than irritate her feet with the cold, they decided to get married at the courthouse and then immediately following their vows, Mason was going to sign the paperwork to officially adopt Holly as his own.”
He did a half-frown half-smile thing I couldn’t decipher. “That’s so sweet. I met Holly on Saturday at the birthday party. She’s a sweetheart.”
I nodded happily until I remembered what Mel told me about her. “She is, but she’s having a hard time right now.”
He nodded, tapping his mug. “I noticed she was having trouble staying in the moment with her friends. She wanted to, but something was tugging at her.”
“Did she enjoy the yoga portion of it?”
“She was pretty into it. Much more than the other girls who were hard to keep on the mats. For Holly, it was like she finally found something to focus on that was different from whatever else was going on. Do you think it’s the wedding?” I leaned over the table and explained to him what happened to Holly when she was a baby. When I sat back up, he grimaced, hard. “That’s brutal. The poor little thing. No wonder she enjoyed yoga. It’s very calming when you do it right.”
“Do you have room in any of your classes? Maybe Saturdays?” I asked, an idea forming.
“Sure, and I can always make room if there’s a day she wants to come but the class is full. She needs to be there more than some of the kids who are just there to say they go to yoga.”