Eventually, though, she took a deep breath and returned to the bench but stood in front of it instead of sitting. She looked him right in the eyes. “Don’t apologize for being honest,” she said. “I asked the question because I wanted to know the answer, and you gave it to me.”
“It’s not you, Lily, believe me, it’s?—”
She held up a hand, flat palm. “Don’t even.”
He lowered his head, heard her sigh. Then she said, “Last night, you were also thinking about hiring a manager to run the place for you, freeing you up to go back on the road without having to sell the place.”
“Having my cake and eating it too?” he asked. “That’s unlikely. First off, where would I find a person I can trust while I’m on the road, on such short notice?” He looked up as he asked the question.
Lily squared her shoulders, and her chin rose a notch higher. “You’re looking at her.”
It took him a beat, then he said. “You mean, you’d want the job?”
“For now, hire me to help you get the place ready to open. You’re already using my ideas, right? I have experience managing a restaurant. Give me a shot. See what I can do, and how well we work together, and we’ll take it from there.”
“You’re that sure about giving up being a nurse?”
She lowered her head, no longer meeting his eyes. “That last day, I had a panic attack right before I went in for my shift. I did the right thing when I gave my notice.”
She had his entire attention. He was still sitting, but that put his head lower than hers, so he could look up into her downturned face. Her eyes had fallen closed. He thought her lashes were wet.
“I didn’t realize you were strugglin’ so much with this, Lily. Of course you can work with me, of course you can.”
She sniffled, twisting her nose, and it made him want to wrap her up and hold her close until she was all healed.
She thrust her hands into the pockets of her jeans and paced the path in front of him, four steps one way, then four steps back. “So we get it up and running and have a knockout grand re-opening. By then you’ll know for sure if I’m the manager you want, and I’ll know for sure if that’s what I’m s’posed to be doing with my life.”
He nodded slowly as her words and their meaning marched through his mind. But above everything she’d said, above logistics and her qualifications, and his own plans, all he kept thinking was that he’d be around her all the time. Every day, he’d be around this sunshine-haired, blue-eyed angel. And every cell in his body said yes.
Then he said it aloud, too, and something inside him lifted. “You’re on, Lily.”
He rose from his bench and went to put his hands on her shoulders, but she ducked to one side, gracefully avoiding contact with a little swoop that surprised him.
“We should keep it strictly business. You’re leaving again once we open. Anything between us is doomed anyway, and I’m not looking to break my own heart, so…”
“Oh,” he said. “Sure, that makes sense.” It should have given him relief. It wouldn’t be as hard to keep his hands off her if they agreed that anything else was a bad idea. And apparently they did.
But suddenly the notion of spending every day with her and not touching her felt like it might kill him. And he must be a glutton for punishment, because he asked for more. “Manny’s final night is Friday.”
“I know.”
“Of course you do, you and your dad have been helpin’ out there.”
“I’m not needed now that Manny’s back, but Dad’s still helping Rosa in the kitchen like before.”
“Manny’s saving some tables for the family. You’re joinin’ us, right?”
She lifted her eyebrows, and he saw something in her eyes, but he was damned if he knew what. Then she heaved a sigh, like maybe he’d exasperated her somehow, and said, “Yeah, sure.”
“Good,” he said. Then he couldn’t think of anything else to add. The birds were singing up a storm, and the sun beamed on the two of them like a spotlight. If he stood up, they’d be so close their bodies would be touching.
He didn’t stand up. He slid sideways on the bench first, then rose to his feet, and his whole body howled in disappointment. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll drive you home.”
The line was out the door when Lily and her dad arrived at Manny’s. Hyram had been cooking all afternoon, and both he and Cat Shaw planned to assist with the serving tonight. Still, he’d taken a break to dress up for the big event. He wore cowboy boots, jeans, and a brown shirt with onyx snaps. Lily had chosen a yellow sundress with a halter neck and a pale blue sweater. There were cars overflowing the parking lot and lined up along the roadside in either direction. There were tables set up in back, and spilling around the sides of the building to boot.
She clasped her dad’s hand.
“This place is going to do great,” Hyram said. “Look how many people love it.”
