Page 4 of Quietly Falling
“Here you go,” I singsong, placing the tray of drinks on the counter next to the bag of pastries.
Tanner holds out his card but Rhea just waves him away. “Tell my husband he owes me.” She winks and Tanner blushes before pulling some cash from his wallet and throwing it in the tip jar as Bodhi does the same.
“Have a great day!” I mean to say it to both of them, but I can’t tear my eyes away from Bodhi, his movements almost in slow motion as he grabs the bag and nods.
Those butterflies dip and swoop, making me swallow an infatuated little sigh as I watch him go.
Next time.
Next time I’m gonna make him talk to me…
“You’re drooling.”
“I am not,” I gasp, turning on Rhea as I slam my hands down onto my hips as she laughs. With her dark hair pulled up on top of her head, she’s gorgeous even though she’s wearing one of her ridiculous patterned aprons and covered in flour. She’s also one of my favorite people.
“You should go out with him,” she says, a wicked smile spreading across her face.
“That would require us actually having a conversation.”
“Sometimes,” she says knowingly, “actions speak louder than words.”
I roll my eyes because that might have worked for her and Sorren, but it definitely doesn’t work for me. I think I might still be tired from watching him grunt and growl his way into her heart, and they’re married with a little boy now.
“And some of usliketalking,” I reply, raising one eyebrow in challenge, but she only shrugs.
“All I’m saying is don’t discount something because it doesn’t fit perfectly into the space you’ve carved out for it. His life has been hard, but that doesn’t make him any less worthy of being someone’s person.”
“I know that,” I huff, the butterflies back to humming in my belly.
“He’s a lot like Sorren, and men like that don’t fit into a box, Ella. They’ll drive you crazy but once you’re in, you’re in for life, and let me tell you,” she says, her expression so incrediblyhappy,“there’s no place on earth I’d rather be.”
* * *
BODHI
“Why don’tyou ask her out?” Tanner asks as I take a sip of my coffee, the hot liquid scorching my throat, the question startling me into a coughing fit that has him smirking. “I’m just saying.”
“What?”
“Ella. She seems interested. You should ask her out.”
“You really wanna do this?” I ask him, holding my cup in my lap as he drives us back to Vetted Paws. “Because when the guy who came in last week asked for your number, you faked an emergency.”
He blanches. “I— Oh, fuck off.”
My lips twitch as I settle back in my seat. My brother had picked this spot on a map, and without knowing anything, we’d packed up our life and hit the road. It was more complicated than that—most things are—but I wasn’t prepared for the in your business, close-knit community that extended through not just one town…buttwo.
Our lives overlapped from Blackstone Falls to Clementine Creek, and with it came a menagerie of people who wanted to welcome us into their hearts and homes and otherwise smother us with the love we’d been denied growing up.
My brother had taken to it like a duck to water, embracing everyone’s well wishes and otherwise becoming the man I’d always known he’d be. I’d taken a different approach, and so far, choosing to be on the offensive and redirecting everyone’s attention elsewhere had worked for me.
Like at the first adoptathon where the guys had been on me about all the women trying to get my attention all night. I’d rather have sat through a root canal, but they’d thought it was all fun and games.
Until I started sending their girlfriends pictures of the dogs up for adoption, and in Montana’s case, I’d thrown in the threat of a goat for good measure.
Ah, that was a good one.
“I’m sure I can find that guy’s number. Or a blind date maybe? That sounds fun.”
