Page 5 of Slow Kind of Love

Chapter Two

Elise was having a bad week.

On Monday, she missed her mani/pedi appointment because her washing machine decided to break down. In its defense, she’d had the darn thing for nearly twenty years, but still, Elise hated spending money on something like an appliance. It was almost as bad as spending money on a car repair or the furnace. It seemed like nothing was built to last these days.

Normally, she’d research the best deal possible, but with no time for that (on account of the mountain of laundry waiting for her), she’d walked into Winter’s Appliances and asked the owner, Wade, to give her the best deal he had on whatever was in stock.

The conversation had gone like this.

“Best?” Wade flashed his salesman smile and pointed toward the back of the store. “Darlin’, we’ve got latest models with all the bells and whistles back there and three new designer colors to choose from.” He’d winked at her and grinned. Like they were pals. Like they shared a secret. “I’m partial to the steel gray.”

“Are they on sale?” she asked politely.

He looked at her as if she had two heads. Elise had counted to five and exhaled.

Wade Winter was a few years older than Elise, which put him on the back end of forty with one foot over the fifty-yard line. He started contacting her three days after she’d buried her husband, and over the last six months had asked her out at least five times. All done through Facebook. All done through private messages. She supposed it was what married men did when they were looking to cheat. She called him out on it, and he’d proceeded with the same bullshit story she’d heard before.

Sorry, sweetheart, you misunderstood my intentions.

Elise blocked him after that, and as she stared up at his arrogant face, she considered clocking him. But she needed a washing machine, and since his store was the only place in town for her to purchase one, she took those few extra seconds to calm herself.

She knew what he was thinking. Her son, Boone, had made more money playing football than he’d ever need in one lifetime—probably two. Wade figured Elise Avery had a big fat bank account because of it. But it wasn’t her money, and Elise had never taken charity from anyone. Sure, she’d grudgingly accepted some of Boone’s extravagant gifts, like the updated AC and the new concrete driveway, but it was more or less because it made her son happy, and he was as stubborn as Elise.

Which made saying no hard sometimes.

Elise had always paid her way and made it a habit to live within her means. Her home was mortgage free, thanks to her frugality and her late husband’s life insurance—other than Boone, it was the only thing Ben had ever given her. Her trusty fifteen-year-old Dodge drove just fine, her two-decade-old furniture did the job, and she wasn’t paying three thousand dollars for some fancy matte-black washing machine when she could buy plain old white with one panel of buttons to press instead of three.

Seriously, a girl shouldn’t have to read a fifty-page manual in order to figure out how to work the damn thing.

“I need you to pay attention, Wade, and listen real close. Can you do that for me?” At his nod, she continued. “I’m not your darling, and I don’t need bells or whistles. I need a machine that can wash clothes. Period. End of period, actually. Nothing more. Nothing less.” She paused so her words could sink into his thick head. “I need something that’s reasonably priced, and I want it delivered and hooked up today, or I’ll go elsewhere.” She took a step closer. “And when someone asks me where I purchased my new washing machine, I’ll tell them where and why I didn’t buy from you.”

Wade backed down and meekly sold her a plain old washing machine with an extra twenty-five percent discount off the sale price. It was up and running two hours later.

By Wednesday, she was ready for the week to be over. In addition to the washing machine fiasco, there’d been a crisis at the senior support center where she volunteered, an elderly gentleman had collapsed and been taken to hospital, and her neighbor’s dog kept leaving “presents” on her front lawn, which in turn drove her dog crazy.

Of course, if she were being honest with herself, she’d acknowledge the fact that her rotten mood had started Sunday night when Link showed up at her door. And not because she didn’t want to see him. It was, in fact, the opposite. The sight of him made her heart sing. Made her blood pound. Made her breath catch.

And that was a problem.

She didn’t want her heart to sing at the sight of his crooked smile. Didn’t want her body to come alive at the sound of his voice or her pulse to quicken at the look in his eyes. And she sure as hell didn’t want the memory of him invading her dreams. Which had happened every night since.

“Why the hell are you so grumpy?”

Elise sat back in her chair and considered her answer as she looked across the table. Heather Blake, her best friend since the first grade, shook her head and tossed her napkin, one eyebrow raised imperiously as she waited.

“He’s back,” Elise finally said quietly, reaching for her fork so she could move the food around her plate more than she already had. Heather was the only person who knew about Elise’s involvement with Link Major.

“I heard that,” Heather replied. “So what’s happening with you two?”

“Nothing. I told you it couldn’t work.”

“You did. And like I told you weeks ago, I don’t understand why. I think it’s time you opened up a bit more.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Bullshit. You just brought it up.” Heather signaled the server, who came over immediately. “We’re going to have some wine.”

“Certainly.” The young woman smiled. “Six-ounce or nine-ounce glass?”

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