Page 4 of How The Mountain Man Stole Christmas
“Can’t talk now dearie, got a customer.” The woman jumped from her spot when the bell dinged on the countertop, but Harper caught the look of amusement on Elsie’s face as she turned.
She is up to something funny; I just know it.
*****
Fin sat at a corner table at the local diner staring at the cup of coffee before him, probably cold by now. He didn’t really want it, had no appetite whatsoever, and was extremely nervous. Maybe she wasn’t going to show up. Did he read the signs all wrong last night? Hoping by the rose tint that colored her cheeks each time he’d touched her, he made her slightly nervous which also hopefully meant she liked him. At least she hadn’t yelled and told him to get away. He’d procrastinated for the better part of a week about taking that Santa letter to the post office because his shyness always took over at inappropriate times.
The torture promised by the twins that he’d told her about was true and was his main source of motivation. He swore they had some freaky superhuman abilities to be able to tell when he was lying so he’d had to suck it up. Not that he could tell them no anyway.I really didn’t think our meeting went that badly yesterday. Except she still hadn’t shown up and he made sure to drop the note off plenty early too. No way would Mrs. Whiddamore not give it to her. She just didn’t seem that type.
“Hey sugar, how about you let me warm up that coffee. It’s gonna be a chunk of brown ice soon.” The waitress grabbed the cup, not waiting for his approval and plopped a fresh cup down, pouring more of the steaming brew.
“Thanks Bonnie, guess it’s just not holding my interest today.”
“Are you sure I can’t get you anything else, a piece of pie maybe?”
“No, it’s okay, I’m kind of waiting on someone. You know, like a late lunch date?”
He knew his meaning finally sunk in when her jaw dropped and her face paled. She recovered quickly, however.
“Well sugar, if you need anything at all, you just give me a shout, okay?” She winked, tapped her red nails on the Formica tabletop and sashayed away.
As Fin picked up the hot cup, someone knocked on the café window. His brother stood there; face plastered to the glass. Fin shook his head.
“I knew I should have gone somewhere else.”
On the way to Fin’s table, his brother Kaleb flagged down the waitress to pick up his to-go order.
“Hey little brother, if I would have known you were gonna be here, I wouldn’t have ordered my food to go.”
“It’s okay, I’m actually meeting someone.”
He tried to look away but came in contact with their waitress as she stared holes through him. He shifted in his seat, so his back was facing her direction. She was nice enough, but he wasn’t interested in her like that. Seems that she may end up being a bit relentless.
Unfortunately, his brother’s shit-eating grin told Fin that Kaleb was definitely interested in digging for more details.
I swear he’s like a hound dog looking for a buried bone.
“So, who are you meeting?” His brother would hound him forever about it.
“You don’t know her. Hey, don’t you have somewhere else you need to be?” His brother didn’t take the hint.
“If I didn’t know any better little brother, I’d think you were trying to get rid of me. Is this a date? What’s her name, maybe I do know her?”
“Damn it Kaleb, would you please just go, before she gets here?”
“Alright, alright. I gotta pick up the girls at the daycare anyway. Our trusty weatherman says we’re in for a doozy so don’t be doing anything stupid.”
Kaleb pushed in his chair, grabbed his food from the counter and turned back around to Fin. “Oh, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He laughed and headed out the door.
“That pretty much leaves the doors wide open then.” Shaking his head, Fin waved as his brother walked by thewindow and out of sight. When he looked ahead again, Harper was standing at his table.
“Hi. Mind if I sit down?”
“Oh hey, of course,” he scrambled to stand and get the chair for her. “Please sit.” He helped with her coat and pushed in her chair as she sat then returned to his own seat.
“Would you like something to drink?” Fin was already signaling Bonnie to their table.
“A coffee is fine, thank you.”
