Sleigh Bells in Valentine Valley (10 page)

“The challenge?” Christina echoed.

Kate spread her hands. “Well, sure. He acted like I wouldn't be able to do it, and of course I can. Heck, I waited on his dad already.”

“Mario didn't think it sort of odd?” Tom asked.

“Sure he did. Everyone will. But I don't care. I can't just clean and shop and read for two months, guys,” she said with exasperation.

“Okay,” Tom said, and turned to ask Joe when his next game was.

“You haven't checked the wall calendar?” Christina teased. “Joe's entries are in orange.”

Tom and Joe rolled their eyes at each other, but Kate thought about how she'd learned to do the same organizational trick from her mom. Dinner resumed, but Kate knew Christina kept watching her.

“We girls can do the dishes tonight,” Christina said. “You boys can have a turn tomorrow.”

She shooed the boys away to their Xbox, and Tom to the computer. And all the boys, big and small, escaped.

Kate started loading the dishwasher. “I know what you're going to say.”

“You do?”

“You probably think it's a mistake for me to work at the tavern.”

“Only you can decide that, honey.”

Leaning back against the counter, Kate said, “It's been nine years, Mom. I don't feel the same way about Tony. It's like . . . we can be friends again.” When she wasn't looking at his body, she thought uneasily. He was still hot, and her insides weren't letting her forget it.

“But you were never ‘just friends' for long. Be careful of that. You won't hurt only the two of you if something goes wrong.”

“And our son is the biggest incentive for nothing to go wrong,” Kate insisted. “Try not to worry, Mom. I'm thirty-three years old, and I think I've learned a thing or two.”

“Y
ou're late.”

Kate was hanging up her coat on the hooks in the dry-storage closet when she saw Tony standing in the doorway.

“I am?” She pulled her phone out of her pocket. “It's five after four. I'm sorry. At the last minute, I decided to walk instead of drive and misjudged. Won't happen again.”

He nodded and gave her a look she couldn't read. It was a pause, barely a moment, but she could swear he looked at her mouth.

And hers went dry, and it took everything in her not to lick her lips. When he turned away, she let her breath out in a rush.

What was that?

She pushed it aside, reminding herself that there was no flirting. Besides being her ex, Tony was now her boss. He was never Mr. Punctual in his personal life, but apparently business was different. She got that—she even liked that. Everything she'd seen so far showed him to be organized, on top of things, and effectual. His employees liked him—okay, she wasn't sure about the chef, who didn't seem to like anyone.

But she certainly didn't want Tony to regret hiring her—hell, maybe he already did, and that was why he'd become the punctuality police. She was determined not to give him reason for regrets.

She took over tables from Erika, who was tall and skinny and anxious to go out on the town. As Kate went about her work, occasionally asking questions of Tony or Nicole (who wore a buttoned-down shirt with a healthy number of buttons unbuttoned), Tony treated her the same way he treated any other employee, pleasant and neutral, as if they hadn't known each other their whole lives. Then it dawned on her, as he mildly criticized the way she polished glasses or left some crumbs on the floor after serving a table with kids, that maybe he was being a bit more picky with her than was necessary. But as they got busy, she ceased noticing Tony and began to notice how some people looked at her.

Oh, Ned and Ted, the twin plumbers, teased her good-naturedly about coming down in the world, but all she had to do was spend a couple minutes bantering, and they were satisfied. But occasionally she waited on a table of her parents' friends or people she went to school with, and their sidelong looks and abruptly stopped conversations were very obvious. When anyone asked, she explained that she was on sabbatical, just enjoying being home with her son and helping Tony out, but that hardly satisfied the gossips' curiosity. And if there were deeper reasons—no, she shied away from even the thought.

Though she'd told Tony that rumors wouldn't matter to her, she found the blow to her pride a little deeper than she'd imagined. After all, these people were right: She'd done something her firm had disagreed with—she'd questioned their decision one too many times. It weighed on her, and more and more she wondered if she should do some investigation of her own into her client. She'd been tempted to ask questions when Michelle Grady had called about another case, but she'd decided that might get back to the partners.

“Kate!”

She heard Will Sweet's jovial voice and turned to see him and Nate Thalberg hanging their beat-up jackets on hooks by the door. They were both cowboys, one fair-haired, one dark, and she watched many feminine heads turn as they replaced their cowboy hats after shaking off the snow. They advanced toward the bar, their cowboy boots hitting the floor hard.

“Hi, Will, Nate,” she said. “Do you want a table, or will the bar do?”

“We'll take a table, thanks,” Nate said. “We need sustenance before the hockey game.”

“Is it Wednesday again?” That meant she'd been in town a week already. And Tony would probably be leaving soon for the game. “Do you guys want water with your menus?”

“Tony knows what we drink,” Will said, sitting down and taking the menu, but not looking at it.

He eyed her casual uniform—or maybe he was eyeing her. It didn't bother her, but she saw Tony looking at them from behind the bar, his expression genial, but his brown eyes a bit more intense. She shot him a bemused look, and he bent to the reach-ins to grab a couple bottles of beer.

“So the rumors are true,” Will said.

At the next table, the elderly town doctor and his wife stopped talking to listen.

Kate grinned. “Tell me the rumors first, and I'll confirm or deny.”

“You're actually working in our favorite local dive.”

“Don't let Chef Baranski hear you say that. His food is better than at any old dive.”

“True,” Nate said, scanning his menu. “Hope he's got the shepherd's pie today.”

“He does.”

But Will kept his gaze on her. “So you haven't confirmed or denied. You're officially working here?”

“Temporarily, but yes.”

“Why would you want to do that? I hear you're on sabbatical, but that usually means you're still getting paid.”

“Way to be personal, Will,” Nate said, shaking his head.

Will chuckled. “Kate here knows I just have her best interests at heart.”

She smiled. “My best interests? How's that?”

“Well, someone needs to look out for you, to make sure the gossips don't have the wrong story.”

“And what story do they have?”

“That you've been fired, that you mismanaged your money so you're desperate for a job, and only your ex will take you on.”

Kate blinked at him.

Nate winced. “Will!”

Will spread his arms wide and just missed knocking a tray out of Nicole's hands. “Sorry.”

The server winked, and kept on going.

“As I was saying, I don't believe it. Anyone who knows you from high school would know you'd never mismanage your money. Get yourself fired? Well, you can be pretty stubborn.”

“And ambitious, let's not forget that,” Kate said dryly. “Considering you were a few years behind me at school, you think you know me pretty well. Or maybe it's just Tony you know well.”

Nate snorted, and she couldn't decide if Will reddened a bit.

“Now, Kate—”

“No, I have not been fired; I'm merely taking a sabbatical after years of working too much. And I'm working here because I'm going stir-crazy. Shopping and reading were getting old fast—and one of the waitresses had to take a few weeks off. You have my permission to tell that to anyone you'd like.” She leaned toward the next table. “Mrs. Ericson, you can tell your friends, too.”

Doc Ericson looked abashed for both himself and his wife, who diligently began to eat her kale salad, as if she was oblivious.

To Will and Nate, Kate said, “Gentlemen, I'll let you look at the menu now.”

When she caught sight of Tony frowning at her, she left the table quickly, but to her surprise, his disapproving gaze remained on the table rather than her. Or maybe it was focused on Will.

She stopped at the bar. “They said you know what beer they like?”

“I'll take it to them,” he said, a fixed smile on his face as he looked at Will.

“Uh . . . he was just teasing me. I didn't mind.”

“Uh-huh.”

Though she would have liked to stick around and watch, the kitchen bell rang and she knew an order was ready. Since she was closest to the kitchen, it was up to her to deliver it. But the whole time, she couldn't help wondering—was Tony upset about the rumors on her behalf? Because there was certainly no reason for him to be jealous she'd spent time chatting with his friends, one of whom happened to be single. But sadly, not her type, if she went by recent history, anyway. She suspected Will owned only one suit, since he was a cowboy by trade. She didn't think she could qualify the men she dated by their number of suits, but it sure looked that way. She felt pretty shallow.

When she came back to take their order, Tony had sat down at the four-top with Will and Nate.

“Are you trying to make me nervous, Boss?” she said.

“No need to be nervous if you do your job well. Describe the Lo Mein Tofu Stir Fry.”

Will grimaced. “I'm not ordering that. I need meat. I can't believe Chef makes that.”

“He's full of surprises.” Tony still looked at her, waiting.

She remembered he wasn't certain she was up to the challenge, then gave him her sweetest smile. “Chef makes it with sweet and sour tofu, bok choy, soy sprouts, lo mein, garlic, and ginger, finished with scallions.”

Will whistled while Nate took a sip of his beer and grinned.

“I take it you'll be having that now?” she said to Will.

He shook his head and reluctantly admitted, “Although it does sound good.”

“I'll have it,” Nate said, closing his menu. “I'll save shepherd's pie for next time.”

Will ordered the flatiron steak and Kate went off to place their order. Forty-five minutes later, they were shrugging into their coats.

“Left you a big tip,” Will told her.

“For my son's college fund, where Tony's depositing my earnings. Thanks!”

He laughed.

Tony came out of the office, throwing his big hockey bag over his shoulder.

“Maybe you should have left that outside,” she said. “Hockey bags smell. Remind me to stay out of your office on Wednesdays.”

He only arched a brow to that. “You've met Stephen, the manager. He's in charge. If you need help, ask. I'll be back in a couple hours.”

She almost felt like a married couple again, for he didn't tell any other server or bartender that. But she was new, she reminded herself. “Aye aye, Boss.”

He rolled his eyes and turned, coming to such an abrupt halt that she ran into his bag and stumbled. He grabbed her arm before she crashed into a luckily unoccupied table. As she righted herself, she came face-to-face with Lyndsay.

Lyndsay stared at her in confusion.

Kate patted Tony's hockey bag. “There, you almost dropped it. Glad to help.”

“You here to come to my game, Lynds?” Tony asked.

“Nope, here for dinner. And it looks like I'll get my fondest wish—Kate can serve me.”

Will looked disappointed, like he wanted to stay for the show, but Nate dragged him out the front door. Tony gave Kate a last look, as if in silent apology. She waved.

“Hi, Lyndsay, would you like to sit at the bar or at a table?”

“A table, please. Lamar looks far too busy behind the bar.”

Ned and Ted were watching them with open fascination when Kate led Lyndsay past.

“You guys catching flies in those mouths?” Lyndsay asked.

Kate covered a laugh as she pointed to a two-top.

“You want me to get this, Kate?” Nicole asked, walking past with dirty dishes.

“No, I can manage. Lyndsay, give me a moment and I'll be back with a menu and some water.”

Nicole looked around. “We're getting slower. Why don't you take your break right now? I'll cover your tables.”

Nicole looked sympathetic, as if she knew the entire history between Lyndsay and Kate. Did this town know everyone's story?

Kate forced a smile. “Thanks. I'll take care of Lyndsay, though.”

She ended up running food to another table first, but that only took a moment. When she returned with the promised items, she said, “Hi, Lyndsay.”

Lyndsay nodded, eyeing Kate with interest. “This isn't the uniform of a well-tailored lawyer.”

“Nope, I'm on sabbatical right now and needed something to pass the time.”

Lyndsay arched a brow, saying pleasantly, “So you asked your ex-husband?”

“Technically, he asked me. It was a challenge—I don't think he thought I'd agree.”

“Pretty stupid of him.”

“I thought it was nice.”

“Yeah, he's too nice.”

“Stick around. You can watch people point and stare and whisper. They're not so nice.” Kate sighed. “I'll let you look over the menu.”

She turned her back, then heard Lyndsay sigh.

“Kate, sit down. I'm not here to make trouble.”

Kate turned around. Lyndsay was picking at a corner of the menu, not meeting her gaze.

Kate sat opposite her and said softly, “I'm glad to hear that. It was a long time ago, Lynds. I'm not asking for forgiveness for causing Tony pain, because that's up to you.”

“Would you be able to forgive someone who broke your brother's heart?”

Kate gave a twisted smile. “I don't know. I would hope so. Maybe after nine years—”

“You didn't just break
his
heart, did you? You never told me a thing, never confided in me, when I told you everything,
everything
!” Her voice rose a bit at the end, and she flushed and sat back as several customers glanced at her.

Kate sighed. “How could I talk to you about the troubles I was having with your brother? It wouldn't be fair to you.”

“Well, Tony took his cue from you—he never confided in me either.”

That probably hurt worse than Kate's betrayal, but she didn't point that out. “Tony and I discussed it all those years ago, wondered who we should tell we were having problems. We kept hoping we could work things out so no one would have to know and worry about us. That didn't happen. But can we at least leave it in the past?”

“Because he has.” Lyndsay shook her head. “He's pretty amazing.”

Kate nodded, but she felt uncomfortable. Was she supposed to agree that her ex was amazing? That could send mixed signals. And she wasn't so sure he thought everything was in the past.

As for herself, she sometimes wondered if she gave up her high school girlfriends after law school because she hadn't deserved them—she'd failed at her marriage after all, and had to devote all her time to her career to prove it had been worth it. For a long time after the divorce, she hadn't done anything for herself, and that included having friends.

Lyndsay sighed. “All right. I'll take the Cobb salad.”

Kate went and placed the order, then stood by the wait station, watching Lyndsay. Her head was bent, but she didn't look at her phone, like so many solitary customers would.