Page 8 of So Right
Chapter Three
It was dark by the time Luke walked into The Arch and Vine in downtown Ribbon Ridge on Tuesday night. It was Tuesday, right? He’d been working practically nonstop for more than a week. All the grapes would be picked by Sunday, and then he was going to take a day—or hell, maybe eventwo—off.
But right now, he’d settle for a burger and a beer, and not necessarily in that order. Okay, definitely not in that order. He strode straight for the bar, which sat in the middle of the pub. Behind it stood everyone’s surrogate fun uncle, George Wilson. A retired marine, he was as much a fixture of Ribbon Ridge as the grapes on the surrounding hillsides or the Archer family, who owned this pub and much of the town.
“Evening, Luke,” George said, coming forward and slapping his hand on the bar. “What’ll it be tonight, Arrowhead or Crossbow?”
Those were generally his go-to beers, but he was really digging their seasonal. “Actually, I’ll take a pint of the Hunter if you have it.”
“Of course we have it. It’s fall, silly boy.” George grinned as he grabbed a glass from the shelf above his gray, buzz-cut head and went to the tap. “Dinner while you’re at it?”
“Absolutely. You taking orders tonight, or is one of the servers around?” He peered around the restaurant in search of Kelsey but only saw Andy, who’d started here over the summer.
George adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses on his nose. “I think it’s just me and Andy right now. Kelsey’s here, but she just left for a break.”
Damn. Luke would’ve liked to invite her to join him. “I’ll just take a cheeseburger with buffalo tots.”
George set Luke’s pint in front of him. “You got it.”
Just then, Kelsey came from the back, carrying a salad in one hand and her phone in the other. She was looking at the screen as she walked.
Luke scooped up his beer and intercepted her. “Careful, that’s an accident waiting to happen.”
She jolted, and he reached out to steady the salad. Her gaze jumped to his, and she frowned slightly. “Were you trying to scare me?”
Shit, no. Now he felt like an ass. This was what happened when introverts tried to get cute. “No, sorry. Totally mangled attempt at flirting. I, uh, was wondering if you wanted to eat with me. George said you were on break.”
Her eyes widened slightly after he’d said flirting. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. Good reaction or bad one? She glanced around, perhaps looking for an escape route, but since her salad clearly wasn’t a to-go order, she was kind of screwed.
He didn’t want to be the cause of that. “Actually, maybe I’ll just get my burger to go.”
She shook her head, and her features relaxed into a smile. “No, don’t do that. I’m eating. You’re eating. We may as well eat together.”
He nearly exhaled with relief but instead simply smiled in return. “Excellent. Lead the way.”
She went to a table in the corner. It was dim and out of the way. “Is this okay? I tend to sit in the shadows on break. That way people might forget I’m here, and then I can enjoy my dinner.”
Made sense. “This is great. I’m just happy to sit. And drink beer. And eat.”And be with you.
Really? He asked himself if he’d come here with the hope of seeing her. He hadn’t consciously thought so, but in retrospect, it seemed obvious. He liked her, and he wanted to get to know her better.
She slid into the side of the booth that backed up to the wall. “Did George take your order?”
Luke took the bench opposite her and sipped his beer before setting his glass on the table. “Yes.”
She winced—it was quick, but Luke caught it.
“Should I be worried? He’s taken my order for years.”
“Duh, of course he has. You’ll be fine. He doesn’t do so well with special requests. Don’t ask for light dressing or extra pickles.”
Luke nodded. “I’ll remember that. Though it won’t matter to me. I’ll eat just about anything.” His stomach growled as if to punctuate his statement. He nodded toward her salad. It was huge and packed with all sorts of stuff he’d never seen together in a salad here. “Is that a new addition to the menu?”
She picked up her fork. “No. It’s the Kelsey Special. That’s one perk of being an employee—you can make whatever the heck you want.”
He considered making some flirtatious remark about wanting a Kelsey Special for himself, but thankfully realized he would butcher it the same way he’d done earlier. He settled for taking a drink of beer.
After crunching through a bite of salad, she waved her fork toward him. “How’s the harvest going? You about done?”
