Love By Accident (12 page)

Shaking her head, Lauren powered off her laptop and shuffled back to her room. Staring out the window to the starry night and the three-quarter moon, Lauren's thoughts tumbled wildly. So much had happened in such a short time.

Matt was in her life again but he wasn't the same,
they
weren't the same. While some things were familiar and comfortable, like their bantering, others had changed significantly. Like how her body responded to his nearness. How he wasn't only a guy friend anymore. He was a man. A man she found very attractive.

Since the accident, Lauren hadn't been attracted to anyone. Hadn't even considered it after Gil. It was as though her body and her soul were sleeping. But now…

Lauren pressed her forehead to the cool window, closed her eyes.

She wasn't sure what to do next but she knew one thing, her soul, her body, were very much awake.

***

The Friday morning before Thanksgiving was surprisingly quiet in the Mountainview. Coffee beans had been ground and the smell of dark roast followed Lauren as she slipped the second batch of cinnamon buns into the commercial oven. Betty was in the office, her radio tuned to her favorite country western station with the volume loud enough for the two-step beat to swing through the restaurant.

"Don't tell me you still listen to that crap," Matt muttered from the door.

She spun around, surprised she'd missed the bell chime. Her heart beat against her rib cage. He was in full uniform and, like every other red-blooded female, her pulse quickened. Crisp sage shirt and tie lay beneath his forest green Parks Canada jacket. Long legs clad in the same color ended in sturdy hiking boots. Add the thick belt with the tools of the trade and he was a sight, one which could only be described in one word: scrumptious.

"Paul Brandt is not crap."

Matt rolled his eyes and swept his hat into his hand. "Country music's all the same, Lauren. You can ride a horse to the beat."

"Let me guess. You're still lost in the eighties?"

"John Fogerty and Dire Straits are classics."

"And the Go-Go's?" she teased, pouring him a cup of coffee.

He pointed at her. "If you tell anyone, I'll deny it."

"Yeah, yeah," she chuckled. He sat with a sigh and Lauren looked a little closer. There were shadows underneath his eyes, like he wasn't sleeping enough.

"Are you all right? You look tired."

It seemed to take a lot of energy for him to smile. "Yeah, just working long days."

"Is there a problem?"

He was quick to shake his head. "Nah, just trying to get my bearings, learn my territory."

"Okay," she said, though his answer didn't ring a hundred percent true. But then, she hadn't heard any gossip about anything going on in the Park either, so maybe she was just being paranoid.

"Hey, Lauren!"

"Yes, Elsie," she called back over the empty tables.

"Bring that nice young man over here and introduce him."

Matt looked from the coffee gang to her. "Please don't," he begged. "I know how little old ladies work. They'll be trying to marry me off to one of their granddaughters. Trust me, Baba does it all the time," he said, referring to his grandmother.

She snatched his coffee cup before he could hold onto it. Laughing, she carried it over to the ladies. From the corner of her eyes she saw Matt hang his head a second before walking over.

"Ladies, this is Matt Skarpinsky. He's transferred from Waterton. Matt, if you plan on coming in here regularly, you'll be seeing a lot of these women. That's Lois on the end, then Elsie, Alice, Mary and Donna."

"Nice to meet you," Matt said.

"Oh, pull up a seat. We don't bite," Alice said.

"Well, not right away," Mary added with a soft chuckle.

"Are you married, Matt?" Lois asked. She leaned forward, blue eyes like lasers across the table.

Lauren bit her lip to keep from laughing when Matt squirmed under the five pairs of eyes staring at him like he was about to divulge the secrets of the universe.

"No, ma'am."

"Ever been married?"

"No, ma'am."

"Are you one of them men who prefer other men, 'cause if you are we're all right with that. My nephew is gay. It would just be nice if you told us outright, though, so we don't get our hopes up." Elsie winked at Matt, who promptly jerked so quick he spilled his coffee.

"Well?"

"No, ma'am. I, um, prefer women."

"Can I get you anything else, Matt?"

"Oh, yeah, a cinnamon bun. But I'll take it up at the counter." He grabbed his mug. "I have to talk to you about something anyhow. Nice meeting you, ladies."

Lauren could feel Matt breathing down her neck the whole way back to the counter.

"That was mean."

"No," Lauren chuckled. "That was fun."

Matt's mouth twisted in a grin. "I'll get even."

She set his bun before him. "It's on the house. Now we're even."

His eyes gleamed. "Deal."

She watched him devour the confection until it was done. "Are you doing anything for Thanksgiving?" he asked.

"Juliet wants a few hours off on Monday, so I said I'd work a double shift."

Matt stared at her. "You aren't going to anyone's house for the holiday? You're working here all weekend?"

"Yep." She re-filled his cup even though it was only half-empty. She wasn't comfortable with the way he was watching her. Yes, it was pathetic to work the whole weekend and not have any place to go, but him knowing she had nowhere and nothing better to do made her feel like a loser.

"How about you?"

"I'm heading to my parents' for the weekend."

A loud Ukrainian holiday. She knew Matt's family and they used any occasion to assemble and serve copious amounts of food. She'd been to a few of their get-togethers and they were always loud and fun. Longing to be part of something so big and wonderful filled Lauren.

"Too bad you're working, you could've--"

The bell chimed over the door just in time. Otherwise she suspected Matt would've finished the thought with the idea of her going with him and there was no way in hell she'd ever do that. Matt had come back into her life and she'd been forced to face him. She'd accepted the verbal lashing she'd deserved and now they were working their way back to a friendship. She doubted his parents would be as willing to let the past go. Besides, they likely didn't want her anywhere near their son after what she'd done to him.

Cougar Denton walked to the counter and took the stool next to Matt's. He plunked his red beret on the counter next to Matt's ranger hat.

"Morning, Officer," then he extended a hand peppered with age spots. "I'm Jack Denton. Folks around here call me Cougar."

"Cougar knows everyone and everything that happens around here. I keep telling him he should work for you guys. In fact," she added with a mischievous grin, "he has quite a few stories you'd be interested in."

"Is that so?" Matt asked.

Smiling to herself, Lauren poured Cougar a coffee and slid a double-iced cinnamon bun under his chin. With everyone settled, Lauren slipped into the office.

Betty was working on the books.

"Need my help out there?" she asked, punching in more numbers into her adding machine.

"No, it's pretty quiet. Can I get you a coffee?"

Betty ripped the tape out of the machine, compared numbers to what was on screen. Satisfied, she stapled the tape to a pile of receipts then spun her chair from the computer. "Sounds good."

When she had the mug cradled in one hand, Betty studied Lauren. "Something's on your mind."

Lauren shuffled her feet. "I was hoping to ease into it a little slower."

"Ah," Betty nodded sagely. "You're about to hit me up for a raise."

"How did you know?"

"I've owned this café more than twenty years, you're not the first person to come in here blushing, asking to talk to me."

Lauren blew out her bangs. "Oh."

"Just because I know what you want doesn't mean you won't get it, Lauren. Did you have a number in mind?"

"Sort of. My house needs some long-overdue fixing and I could use the money for the extra expenses."

Ever since Matt had fixed her tap, Lauren had looked around her house, realized there were many other things needing fixing.

"I've seen your house, Lauren, and it's needed repairs for many years before you bought it. I've wondered how you could live there."

"I never really cared before but lately..." Lauren shrugged. "Lately I've realized how bad it really is."

Betty grinned over her coffee cup. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the handsome new man that's been coming in here, would it?"

There was no way to lie under such a direct gaze.

"Maybe."

"Well, it's about time!"

"What?" Lauren gasped.

Betty set down her mug. "Lauren, you know I like you, but from the moment you came looking for work, it was like watching a robot. You said the right things, did the right things, but there was no feeling behind any of it." Reaching over, she took Lauren's hand. "I stayed out of it, because I figured you had a reason, but I have to tell you, I am loving the spark in your eyes these last few days. It's good to finally meet you, Lauren."

Betty's words left Lauren speechless. Had it been so obvious that something was wrong? She'd thought she'd hidden it well. Clearly, she'd only been fooling herself. She rolled the truth through her mind the way a wine taster would roll the drink over his tongue, and came to a conclusion that lifted her heart. She felt her old self stretching and waking within her and thought,
it's good to be met
.

NINE

From the din belting out when Matt opened his parents' back door, he knew the whole gang was already there and waiting inside. He'd barely walked in the door before his mother rushed him, wrapped him in a hug.

"You're not eating enough," she said as she stepped back and looked him over. "I'll send you back with some food."

She pulled him to the living room which had so many warm bodies in it they were nearly shoulder to shoulder. His father unfolded a metal chair and jammed it beside his La-Z-Boy.

"Uncle Matt, Uncle Matt!" Six kids circled him before he could sit. The youngest, Emma, had him by the leg. He reached down and scooped her up, pressed a kiss to her black curls.

"Hey guys, miss me?"

A deafening chorus followed his question. Once it had died to a dull roar, his sister came over.

"Hey little brother."

"Hey Anna," he said, returning her hug.

"You look good," his other sister Helen said.

"No, he looks too thin," Baba answered.

Giddo, his grandfather, hid his smile behind his pipe.

"Hello Aunt Mary, Baba," he said and dragged the posse of kids across the room so he could kiss his aunt's, then his grandmother's cheek.

"You eat all my food yet?" his grandmother asked.

"I finished the last of the perogies yesterday, Baba," he said as he untangled the kids so he could sit down.

She nodded, the creases in her face going along for the ride. "Good, I'll send you with more."

The rest of the afternoon played out as it usually did. There was cribbage played, food eaten and kids fussed over. It was after eight before his sisters took their families and his aunt home and it was just him, his parents and grandparents. The house settled into blessed quietness.

"I forgot how noisy it can be," Matt muttered, sprawled out on the couch.

Giddo was downstairs. When his paternal grandparents hadn't wanted to look after a house and yard of their own, Matt's dad had invited them to move in. The walk-out basement had been converted into an apartment for the elderly couple.

It was just the four of them left in the living room, although judging by the yawns coming from his father, the number would soon dwindle.

"So the new job is working out?" his mother asked as she dug an unfinished cross-stitch from the bag next to her rocking chair.

"So far so good."

"Any nice girls?" she asked, always hopeful the last of her brood would settle down.

"Oh, well, I haven't had time yet for stuff like that," he answered.

He sensed the stare and met Baba's watery eyes. It was uncanny the way she looked at a person without saying a thing. It was like she saw right through to whatever it was you may be hiding. He started to sweat.

"You found one," she said matter-of-fact. "What's her name?"

His mother set down her needle work. "Did you really? Already?"

"Uh, not exactly." Matt looked to his father for help but the man smiled and slouched back in his chair. Matt was on his own.

"Well..." Baba prodded.

"It's just an old...friend."