Page 28 of The Lyrics of Love

Nancy appeared with their drinks. “I forgot to tell you today’s special is fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans with bacon.” She set down their glasses and pulled out her pad.

“The special sounds good to me,” Nash declared. He glanced to her and she nodded. “Make it two if you would, Nancy.”

She scribbled their order and said, “I’ll put this in right away.”

“Would you mind if I made a little announcement?” Nash asked her.

Rylie wondered what he was up to.

“What kind of announcement?” Nancy asked curiously.

“One which I hope will let me enjoy dinner with Rylie.”

“Fine with me, Nash. I’m just happy you came to Sid’s Diner.” She walked briskly away and handed their ticket to the line cook.

Rylie knew without Nancy as a buffer, the floodgates would open, as she skimmed the diner. Sure enough, before Nash made his announcement, a burly man wearing a Seahawks baseball cap ambled toward their table, his phone in hand.

“You Nash Edwards?” he asked. “I want a picture with you.”

“I’m on a date with my lady,” Nash told the stranger. “And you should always ask politely if you want to have your picture made with someone. Telling me doesn’t make me want to do so.”

The man’s face flushed brick red, and he cursed under his breath.

“Go have a seat, sir,” Nash ordered, his voice low and deadly.

The tourist shuffled away, returning to his table.

A woman stood and started toward them, but Nash held up his hand, palm out, indicating for her to stop. She returned to her table.

He squeezed Rylie’s fingers and then released them, standing and facing the crowd. Immediately, everyone present raised their phones and began taking pictures of him. Nash stood, waiting for the photo frenzy to die down, and then he spoke.

“I’d like to have a quiet dinner in peace with my girlfriend, but I’m going to be playing a couple of songs in the gazebo across the street once we finish our meal. That’s the trade-off. I hope you’ll respect it.”

Nash slipped into the booth again and took Rylie’s hand again. “That was the plan,” he told her. “Asked to be left alone in exchange for giving them something in return.”

“Is that a wise trade-off?” she asked.

His fingers tightened around hers. “It is if they leave us alone.”

Nancy returned, setting down two plates in front of them. “Enjoy,” she said, smiling. “That was a smart move, Nash.”

They dug into their meals, and he sighed a few times contentedly after taking several bites. “This is terrific.”

“I usually go for the special when I eat here. Nancy also has terrific pies, which is not something Ainsley usually bakes at the bakery.”

“I’ll need to go in to the bakery and look at the display cases. When I was there earlier today, I was focused on my mission—getting your phone number from her. What does she usually carry?”

“She does a great morning rush until about nine each morning. Donuts, croissants, Danish, cinnamon rolls—all those breakfast sweets. She always has a variety of cupcakes and cookies and will make a couple of cakes a day for sale. Then she’ll also make special pastries. Having trained in Paris, she has a large repertoire.

“She was icing a birthday cake when I stopped by this morning.”

“I’ll bet it was for Oswald. He’s a deputy here in town and an avid fisherman. Dylan is good about ordering a cake for anyone in his department when their birthdays roll around.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting him and Willow. And all your other friends,” Nash told her.

As they ate, Rylie was still conscious of people looking in their direction but did her best to focus on what they talked about. She couldn’t imagine every time Nash stepped into public how much attention he drew. He asked her several questions about SUP-ing and she offered to give him a few lessons.

“I SUP in the Pacific because I like the challenge, but I learned in still waters. If you’d like, I could take you out to a nearby lake and give you a few lessons.”

---