And I Love You (39 page)

H
unter Abbott loved to sleep in on Sunday, his favorite day of the week. It was the one morning he didn’t have anywhere to be, no one looking to him to solve all their problems, no one needing him for anything until late-afternoon dinner with his family. Lately, he loved his Sundays even more because of his Saturday nights with his fiancée, Megan.

Since she’d moved in with him a couple of weeks ago, every day felt like Sunday. Hell, every day felt like Sunday and Christmas and his birthday all rolled up into one big dose of perfection. Sleeping with her in his arms every night was the best thing to ever happen to him. If only she didn’t have to be up and out so early to get to the diner.

So far she seemed to love her new role there, managing the business and making it her own. She’d even implemented one of his ideas by offering prepared takeout meals during the day rather than staying open for dinner service. That one small change had resulted in a significant boost to the bottom line, which Hunter kept a close eye on as the chief financial officer for his family’s businesses. It also got her home much earlier in the day, which suited his desire to spend every possible minute with her.

Thanks to his grandfather, the diner was now one of their family businesses, and Hunter was looking forward to watching it grow under Megan’s leadership. Fortunately, the waitresses who’d once covered the dinner shift had been willing to move to mornings, so she hadn’t had to hire new help.

It was all working out rather well so far, and she seemed happy, which was the most important thing to Hunter. He was happy if she was happy, although he’d be a lot happier if she didn’t have to get up so damned early every day.

Shifting onto her pillow, he breathed in the jasmine scent of her shampoo and thought about their night together. He was officially addicted to her and couldn’t get enough of everything about her. From talking to laughing to cooking to working to sleeping to making love to driving in the car … It didn’t matter what they did as long as they did it together.

The ringing phone jarred him out of his thoughts to wonder who would be calling him so early on his day to sleep in. He reached for the extension on the bedside table. “Hello?”

“Hunter.” The frantic way Megan said his name had him sitting up in bed. “I need you.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Paige and Delia are both sick and Petey, the dishwasher, got arrested last night. I thought I could handle it on my own, but we’re getting killed with leaf peepers. Can you come?”

He was up and moving before she’d finished talking. “I’ll be right there.”

“Thank you.” The line went dead.

Tossing the phone on the unmade bed that would stay that way for once, he ran for the closet to find jeans and a T-shirt. He splashed water on his face, brushed his teeth and ran a comb through his hair and was out the door less than five minutes after she called.

He parked in the lot behind his family’s store and jogged across Elm Street, where patrons were in a line outside the door. He’d never seen that before. Since there was no way to push through the crowd at the front door, he went around to the back and in through the kitchen.

“Good of you to show up, CFO,” Butch grumbled, calling him by the nickname he’d bestowed upon Hunter after the Abbott family acquired the diner.

“What can I do?”

Butch gestured to a mountain of dishes surrounding the deep sink. “Better start there. We’re almost out of plates.”

Was it his imagination or did Butch seem to relish the idea of putting him on dish duty? Whatever. After growing up with nine younger siblings, Hunter certainly knew how to do dishes. He started with the plates and moved as fast as he could to get them clean.

Megan came in with an armload of dirty dishes. “Thank God you’re here.” She stole a quick kiss as she deposited the dishes and spun around to head back into battle.

Hunter washed dishes until his hands were sore and his back ached, but he never stopped, even when the elbow he’d fractured in a recent climbing accident began to fight back against the constant activity. The cast was long gone, his elbow was healing well according to his orthopedic doctor and he’d been undergoing physical therapy to get it working properly again. He probably shouldn’t be putting it through such a workout, but he tried not to think about what it would feel like later as he kept working.

“CFO,” Butch barked at him. “Grab a bin and start busing. We need tables, man.”

Judging by the gleam in his eyes, Butch was definitely enjoying giving him orders.

Hunter dried his hands and took a bin with him into the carnage that was the diner. “Holy shit,” he whispered as he took in the sight of dirty tables everywhere he looked. He started at the far end and filled the bin with the dishes from two tables. When he went to pick it up, his elbow fought back, and he nearly dropped it.

From out of nowhere, Megan swooped in, grabbed the bin and carted it away without a word to him.

Wow, talk about feeling like a useless dick!
He wiped down the table and moved on to the next one.

Megan returned with an empty bin, handing it to him with a saucy smile before she went to seat new customers at the table he’d just cleaned. She seemed to be everywhere, acting as hostess, waitress and cashier all at once while also doing the heavy lifting for him. Despite the crazy day, she never lost her smile or her sparkle as she moved effortlessly from one task to another. She was in her element here and kept everything running smoothly even in the midst of madness.

“CFO!” Butch barked through the window that separated the kitchen from the restaurant. “Need more plates!”

Hunter finished the table he was clearing, wiped it down and was able to cart a lighter load of dishes to the kitchen by himself this time. Thank goodness his elbow didn’t decide to suddenly give out. He could only imagine what Butch would have to say if he dropped a bin full of dishes.

Back at the sink, he had twenty plates washed and stacked next to the grill within ten minutes.

Megan came rushing into the kitchen. “Need mugs, stat.”

“On it,” Hunter said, falling into a groove now.

“Silverware, too,” Megan called over her shoulder.

Hunter was sweating as he worked harder than he ever had in his life over the next hour. He rotated between dishwashing and busing as the people kept coming and coming. Surely they’d fed everyone in a ten-mile radius by now, hadn’t they? He’d be hearing the ring of Butch’s bell and his bark of “Megan, pickup” in his sleep.

“Are we having fun, boys?” Megan asked when she came into the kitchen with more dishes.

“Best day I ever had,” Butch said sarcastically.

“Time of my life,” Hunter said with equal sarcasm. For once he and Butch were in total agreement about something.

By the time the rush began to die down, it was after noon and Hunter felt like he’d run a marathon. His lower back ached, his recently concussed brain throbbed and his elbow might never bend correctly again. How did Megan do this every day? He had a whole new respect for her, Butch and the others who worked here. His job was a piece of cake compared to theirs.

At the thought of cake, he realized he hadn’t eaten anything all day and was absolutely starving. Since Butch was still frantically filling orders, Hunter didn’t dare ask him for food. In two hours, they’d close down and he could eat then. If he lived that long.

Megan couldn’t remember a busier day at the diner than this one had been, and it figured that her two waitresses, who were roommates, had caught the same bug, on the day that Petey, her dishwasher, had been arrested for disorderly conduct. After the diner closed, she’d have to see about getting him out of jail. Or she’d send Butch.

She smiled at Hunter as he hauled yet another bin full of dirty dishes into the kitchen. She’d owe him big for this. Her adorable, sexy,
GQ
fiancé reduced to washing dishes and cleaning tables. Wait until his family heard about his shift at the diner.

The next time she looked up, Hunter’s grandfather, Elmer Stillman, was coming through the door with his best friends Cletus and Percy.

“What in the devil is going on here today?” Elmer asked after he’d given her a kiss on the cheek. Ever since she’d accepted Hunter’s proposal, he’d treated her like a member of his family, and she loved him for it.

“The leaves are what’s going on here. We’re at peak this weekend.”

“Damned peeper season,” Cletus muttered under his breath. “Never had to wait in a
line
to get in here before.”

“Sorry you had to wait, boys,” Megan said as she poured coffee for them, hoping to soothe their ruffled feathers. “Wait till you see the hottie busboy I’ve got working today.” She left them with a smile and moved on to refresh coffee at other tables.

Hunter chose that moment to come out of the kitchen looking sweaty and disheveled and absolutely adorable. She loved him more all the time, never more so than right now as he pitched in to help her out of a pinch.

“Are my eyes deceiving me?” Elmer asked his grandson.

“I wish they were.”

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” Percy said with a grunt of laughter.

Hunter’s good-natured grin never faltered. “Yeah, yeah. I’m taking one for the team today, and it’s all your fault, Gramps. It was your idea to buy this place.”

“I knew you were the right man for the job,” Elmer said.

“He’s saving our lives,” Megan added. She took a closer look at Hunter. After spending a full week with him following his climbing accident, she’d learned to tell when he was in pain. “Are you okay?”

“I’m good.”

“Did you eat anything?”

“Not yet.”

“Hey, Butch,” she called. “Get me a grilled corn muffin stat.”

“Fill out a slip.”

“Kiss my ass.”

Hunter let out a low growl that made her laugh. “No one kisses your ass but me.”

Elmer raised his hands to his head. “My ears, my ears.”

Megan introduced Hunter’s ribs to the sharp end of her elbow. “Not in front of the customers, Abbott. Get back to work.”

He leaned in close to her, so only she could hear him. “Revenge is a bitch, my love.”

Megan’s entire body flushed with heat as she thought about his particular brand of revenge.

“Whatever he said made her blush,” Percy said.

“Better that we couldn’t hear it,” Cletus said.

“When are you two kids tying the knot anyway?” Percy asked.

“Mind your business,” Elmer said.

“It’s fine.” Megan rested her hand on Elmer’s shoulder. “We’re hoping to set a date soon.” They didn’t want to wait to get married, but hadn’t been able to settle on a date despite weeks of going round and round about when to do it. She hoped they could figure it out soon because she couldn’t wait to be married to him.

Nolan and Skeeter came in from the garage, stopping short in their tracks when they saw Hunter clearing tables.

“Well, if this don’t beat all,” Skeeter said.

“No kidding,” Nolan said. “I’ve got to get Hannah over here to see this. Can I use the phone, Megan?”

“You know where it is.” The words were no sooner out of her mouth than the phone rang. “Take an order while you’re at it, Nolan.”

He waved to indicate he’d heard her.

With hardly a lull between the breakfast rush and lunch, they got busy again and had no time for the usual tomfoolery with the patrons.

Hannah arrived about twenty minutes after Nolan called her and went straight into the kitchen to see her twin brother washing dishes. Because Megan was right behind her with another full-to-overflowing bin, she got to watch Hannah whip out a camera and take some pictures.

“Go away, Hannah,” Hunter growled at her.

“In a minute,” she said, snapping away.

After she’d had her fun at her twin’s expense, Hannah went to join her husband and Skeeter in one of the booths.

“CFO,” Butch said, ringing the bell, “your muffin’s ready.”

“Took long enough,” Hunter said.

“I had real customers to take care of first.”

Hunter downed the muffin in four huge bites.

Megan handed him a large carryout cup of coffee, fixed with cream and two sugars the way he liked it.

He guzzled the coffee. “Thank you, Jesus—and Megan.”

She went to him and leaned against him, resting her hand against the damp fabric on the back of his T-shirt. “Are you okay? Really?”

“I’m fine, babe.” He kissed her.

“I’ll rub all your sore muscles later.”

His brown eyes widened with pleasure. “I’ll wash your dishes anytime for that kind of service.”

“Thought you might say that.”

“One muscle in particular is
really
aching.”

She pinched his rear. “You are so predictable, CFO.”

“Only Butch is allowed to call me that. It’s his pet name for me.”

Butch grunted behind them. “Pet name. Whatever. Try pussy name.”

“I’m wounded,” Hunter said.

“Be nice to him, Butch,” Megan said on her way out of the kitchen. “He owns the place.”

“I wasn’t nice to your sister when she owned the place.”

“At least you’re consistent,” Hunter said, amused by Butch’s gruffness. During his five-minute “break” the dirty dishes seemed to have given birth to more. He dove in and kept at it until the dishes stopped coming shortly after two. Thanks to Hannah’s big mouth, most of his family stopped by before closing to take their digs at the diner’s new dishwasher.