Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) (14 page)

Jenny huffed and spun on Mandy, who only looked down
at the floor.

I pulled Allison and Lily toward the cashier, leaving
Jenny standing where she was, looking stunned. Mandy walked away and headed for
their usual table.

I paid for their food, ignoring their protests. “
Come
on
, I owe you for having to listen to Jenny’s crap.”

“
Please
, it was worth it just to hear you tell
her off,” Allison said. “But okay, you can pay this once, but we’ll buy next
time.”

I smiled at them. I wasn’t used to being friends with
normal girls who genuinely liked each other and treated one another with
respect. I had a flashback of Jenny whining about smashing her car again and
almost laughed. The difference between my new friends and my old ones was
almost comical.

“What did I miss?” Lauren asked, sitting across from
me, beside Lily.

“
Oh, not much
, just Jenny insulting us and
Megan telling her off.” Allison held up a fry and took a bite.

Lauren’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really?”

Lily nodded and related the story to a very
disappointed Lauren. “That’s it! Next time you choose to tell any of them off,
wait until I get here.” She pointed a carrot stick at me as if threatening to
hit me with it.

I smiled, taking a bite of a cucumber. “I promise.”

I laughed, watching the girls tease Lauren about
missing the action.

I stopped at home on Friday before heading to Riley
House, telling Nate I’d meet him there.

I noticed his car in his usual spot parked behind the
shelter. I pulled in next to it and slid in the back door. As I entered the
kitchen I heard voices. When I heard my name, I stopped behind the wall where
we usually hung our coats, to listen.

“So what’s up with you and Megan?” I heard Eddie ask.

“Nothing, why?” Nate answer. I heard the clang of a
knife. It sounded like he was chopping something.

“I thought I got a vibe from the two of you last week
at the bar. But if I’m wrong, I wanted to see if you minded if I set her up
with a friend of mine.”

Oh God, I hope he doesn’t mean Danny.

“Ow!”

“Dude, are you okay?” I heard footsteps that must be
Eddie’s rushing over to Nate.

“Yeah, it’s just a cut.”

I slipped around the corner before Eddie said
something I’d regret.

“Hey, guys,” I greeted, stepping up to them. “What
happened?” I stared at Nate, who had a towel wrapped around a finger.

“I cut myself. I’m going to get a bandage.” While he
walked out, heading for the bathroom, I stuck my bag by the door.

“I’m going to see if Julia needs me for anything.”

“Okay,” Eddie said, smiling. I hoped he didn’t think
I’d go out with Danny after Saturday night. I left him chopping vegetables and
found Julia at the front desk.

“Is there anything you need me to do? Or should I go
help prepare for dinner? Nate’s busy right now or I’d ask him.”

“You can go set up the dining room. You know what to
do, right?”

“Yes. Everything’s in there?”

She nodded and went back to the papers she was
hovering over.

In the dining room, I took the plates out of the
cupboard and placed them on the serving table. I arranged the silverware in
front and put out plastic cups.

On the food table I made sure there were serving
spoons and turned on the heating plates. I took out the salt and pepper shakers
and went to all the tables and added more where needed. As I glanced around to
make sure everything was ready, I noticed that the tables were a bit dull. It
would be more cheery if they had flowers on them. I made a note to cut some
from our garden.

I went in the kitchen to see how dinner was coming.
“Do you need a hand? The dining room is all set.”

Nate looked up from his chicken and nodded. “The
potatoes are cooked. Do you want to mash them?” He pointed to the large pot
sitting on the stovetop.

I panicked. I didn’t want to look stupid, since he was
just starting to treat me like I wasn’t completely useless. My terror must have
shown on my face because he smiled. “Just take the masher beside the stove and
mash them.” He made a motion with his hand to demonstrate.

As I walked slowly over to the pot, I heard Eddie
chuckle quietly.

I can do this
,
they’re just potatoes
, I chanted in my head.
I looked inside the pot and saw a bunch of small pieces of white potatoes.
Picking up the masher I started to push down. It was kind of fun—I could pound
out my aggressions. I pictured Nate’s face inside the pot, telling me he didn’t
want me. It wasn’t long before those suckers were mush. I might have gone a
little overboard.

“Now what?” I asked Nate.

He smiled. “Add butter, milk, salt and pepper.”

All the ingredients were in front of me. I added each
one and stirred. It seemed too thick, so I added more milk. When they looked
like Mona’s, I took some garlic and added a little. I had seen Mona do that
many times. I took a spoon and tried them. I had to admit they tasted good.

I felt a presence behind me and turned to see Nate
grinning down at me. He took a bite with the same spoon. “Mmm, that’s good. You
added garlic. Did you get that idea from Mona?” he asked, smiling and leaning
back on the counter.

“Yes. So, what do you think?”

“They’re good. You should have Mona teach you to cook.
So you don’t look horrified next time someone asks you to do something simple.”

I gave him a swat on the shoulder and for a second I
thought I saw his eyes darken. He shook his head and turned back to the chicken
he had just taken out of the oven. “The chicken is cooked. What about the
vegetables, Eddie?”

“Done,” he said, giving Nate and me a strange look.

“Good, let’s bring them in.”

It’s About Time

We each carried in our dish and put them in the hot
plates. I stood between both guys while the first of the residents came in.

“Hey, Walter, how’s it going today?” Nate asked an elderly
man with white hair and wrinkles. He was wearing a sweater vest and holding a
cane.

“Can’t complain, Nate; not with you cooking. What’s
for dinner today?” He picked up a plate and silverware and walked over to us.

“Spicy chicken, mixed vegetables and Megan’s famous
mashed potatoes.” Nate smiled, glanced at me and winked.
What was with him
?
Yes, he’d been a lot better this week, but tonight it seemed like he was
flirting and that was
so
not like him.

“The rich girl?” His eyes went wide as he glanced at
me. “I don’t know. You don’t look like you’ve cooked that much,” Walter said
with a smile which made Eddie laugh.

I sneered at Eddie. “Don’t worry, I only poisoned
Eddie’s potatoes.” My words only made him laugh harder. We loaded Walter’s
plate while more people filed in.

I noticed the family from the fire. I had heard they
were staying with the mother, Anna’s, family. But since the renovations on
their house were taking so long, they moved in here after Natalie and her
mother moved out. I hadn’t had a chance to speak to them yet.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I made my way
over to where they were picking up plates. “Excuse me?” I said as I approached
them.

Kara and Billy looked up at me.

“Hey, guys, how are you?” I ruffled their hair with my
hands.

Billy just smiled while Kara hugged my leg.

“I wanted to tell you how sorry I was about what
happened,” I said to the kids’ parents. “If there is anything I can do to help,
just let me know.”

Mike and Anna both smiled. “Thank you. And we also
wanted to thank you for what you did. We heard that you tried to get in. I know
that Nate wouldn’t have heard the fire if you hadn’t been banging on the door,”
Mike said, picking up a cup.

“Yes and I know how hard it must be to stand up to
your friends. I just want you to know we appreciate what you did.” Anna gave me
a hug. I was so touched by their forgiveness that I had to walk away before the
tears that stung my eyes fell down my cheeks.

As I stepped past Nate to take my place again, he was staring
at me.

“What?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

When all the residents were finished eating, we made
up plates and ate in the kitchen with Julia. She and I were discussing the
latest movie she had seen when I overheard Eddie whisper to Nate. “I guess the
answer to my question earlier would be no?”

Nate just shoveled potatoes into his mouth, ignoring
Eddie.

Once we finished eating, we began to clean up. I
washed the dishes while Nate dried. Eddie brought all the food and serving
dishes in from the dining room. Nate was quiet again until Eddie came back in.
“When are Steve, Markus and Frannie coming back?” Eddie asked, scooping the
leftover food in Tupperware dishes.

“Who?” I placed a plate in the sink for Nate to dry.

“They’re other volunteers. They’ve been off for a
while.” He looked at Eddie. “They’re starting back next week.”

“Good, then maybe I could take a few days off. I need
to study for an exam.”

Nate frowned at him. “Eddie, if you need more time to
study, why don’t you take the next few months off until school is out? We
really appreciate your help, but your studies should come first. Besides, now
that Megan’s here we can manage better without you.”

Eddie smiled. “I might take you up on that. Exams are
starting soon and I’m a little stressed out.” He stepped up to us to dump a big
bowl into my dishwater. Water splashed all over the front of my shirt.

“Ugh.” I turned to Eddie and scowled at him. “Thanks a
lot. Now I’m soaked.”

He just laughed, headed out the door and into the
dining room.

“Here,” Nate said, lifting up a towel. I turned to him
as he started to wipe the front of my shirt, touching things that were off
limits at the moment. I stared at him in a daze, unable to stop him. He looked
up, oblivious to what he was doing. When he gazed into my eyes, he realized his
mistake and dropped the towel. “
Oh God,
I’m so sorry—” He didn’t finish
his sentence because my lips were suddenly on his and my hands were gripping
his thick, wavy hair.

He froze for an instant, obviously as shocked as I was
at my sudden move. I thought he was going to push me away, but when he finally
recovered, he took a deep breath, wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me
closer. His kiss was wild and hungry, but his lips were surprisingly gentle as
they moved over mine. I closed my eyes and sunk into the kiss. He opened his
mouth and I felt sparks fly as his tongue teased mine. He moaned softly as he
backed me up against the counter, the granite edge dug into my back.

Someone cleared their throat. We froze mid-kiss and
turned around. Eddie stood in the doorway with a huge grin on his face, holding
a serving platter. “Am I interrupting?”

We pulled apart quickly. “No, we were uh…just
finishing the dishes. Better hurry, I have homework,” I stammered, stepping
away from Nate. I wiped my shirt with the cloth that he had dropped to the
floor before I kissed him. When I took the platter from Eddie, I thought I saw
them exchange a grin.

When we were finished cleaning, Nate went to the
office to do some paperwork. I said goodbye to everyone and headed home.

As soon as I got home, I rushed into the kitchen,
where Mona was putting the dishes away.

“Mona, guess what?” I said in a sing-song voice.

She looked up from the silverware drawer just as she
placed a fork in. “What?” A grin spread across her face.

“I kissed Nate.”

“You hussy.” She winked at me as she pushed the
silverware drawer closed with her hip. “How was it?”

“Amazing,” I sighed as I threw myself into a chair.

“I’m happy for you, honey. I knew you’ve always liked
him.”

“Yes, I did. But he’s so confusing. One minute I think
he likes me, the next he pushes me away.”

“That’s men for you. You can never tell what they’re
thinking.”

“That’s for sure. For the last two weeks I thought he
might ask me out or kiss me, but every time I think he’s about to do
something,
he suddenly clams up and pulls away. So, even though I didn’t plan to, I kissed
him.”

She stacked a pile of plates on the counter. “I’m
guessing he kissed you back.”

“Not at first. I think I shocked him as much as I did
myself, but when he pulled himself together he kissed me and I mean
kissed
me.
Until Eddie walked in and interrupted us.”