Theo nodded. “I’m only looking out for Daniel, bro. He a good guy and he likes hisprivacy.”
And so the wackadoodle stranger who lived in the woods became a good guy who valued his privacy. Only inO’Leary.
“All I wanted were the fucking pancakes I earned,” I muttered to myself as I crossed the restaurant. “Pancakes and coffee and no more rollercoasters. Apparently, this was too much toask.”
The woman was pretty. Really pretty. And I’d peg her as a little older than Daniel, but not by much. Forty or something. Her dark hair was smoothed back in the twist thing Sam named, but instead of looking harsh, it just highlighted her high cheekbones and big brown eyes. She was wearing what looked like a pantsuit, which on a Saturday morning around heredidmake her stick out like a sore thumb, but which fitted her perfectly, showing off her petite frame and what evenIhad to admit was an impressive chest, so I was pretty sure Daniel would appreciate the view. All in all, this looked like the kind of woman Daniel might have dated…before.
But that was then, right? He’d left that life behind. He lived in O’Leary now. He had aboyfriend.
I swallowed hard as I approached the table. “Hey,” I said. “I’m JulianRoss.”
She blinked at me expectantly, volunteering nothing, so I continued, “I heard you were looking for DanielMichaelson.”
“You know him?” She tilted her head to the side. “Because no one around here seems to know much about him at all.” Her eyes scanned the room, and I saw Jay Turner at the next table carefully pretending he wasn’t overhearingus.
“I do. I’m, ah…” I balked at introducing myself as his boyfriend. Claiming the man in front of the entire dineroncewas plenty, and it wasn’t my place to out Daniel, in any case. “We’re close. Who areyou?”
She studied me for a second, then shrugged. “I’m Sabrina Sanford.” She dropped the name like a pebble into a lake, expecting it to make a ripple, but the name meant nothing tome.
“Sabrina Sanford,” she repeated. “His agent? Honestly, if you guys are that close, I’m surprised you haven’t heard of me, if only because I harass him twice a week.” Shegrinned.
“His agent,” I repeated blankly. Some corner of my brain told me I should be glad that this wasn’t a former flame, but I couldn’t quite get there. Weren’t agents for, like,big nameauthors?
“His agent. For his books.” She mimed typing in the air in front of her, like I was a kindergartener who might not understand her otherwise. “His dad said he’s writing again and I want first dibs on whatever he’s got. I’ve got offers he would notbelieve.”
“Oh. Yeah. Of course.” I rubbed at the back of my neck. “His newbook.”
“Have you read it?” Her eyes narrowed. “Is it as good as his otherstuff?”
I shook my head wordlessly. I hadn’t bugged him about reading it or any of this other stuff. I’d been too busy enjoying the way we fit together like puzzle pieces once more, now that all our cards were on thetable.
“Well, I’m gonna make sure he sends you a copy after we get this baby published,” she said. “One for everyone in the whole town. I’ve been trying to get him to write again for months. No,years! Shit.” She chuckled. “Time flies when you’re chasing after DanielMichaelson.”
Yeah, it suredid.
Jay Turner leaned over, like he just couldn’t stay silent anymore. “Pretty sure Jules won’t need your help getting anything from Daniel, miss. Man’s gotta expect somethin’ for being Daniel’s boyfriend.” He gave me an encouragingwink.
I rubbed at my eyebrow. So much forsubtlety.
“Boyfriend?” Sabrina looked me up and down, and all at once I became aware of the ratty boots I was wearing, the sweatshirt I’d borrowed from Daniel’s closet that morning which hung on me, and the fact that I didn’t have an ounce of styling product in my hair. “Well. That’s an interesting development.” She shrugged. “You’re cute, honey, I’ll give you that, though you’re no Norwegian supermodel. But you’re a damn sight friendlier than Ingrid ever was.” She leaned across the table and widened her eyes. “I’m pretty glad she’s hisex-wife, to be frank,” sheconfided.
I found myself nodding woodenly, the muscle memory of an appropriate response. But inside, a sound not unlike the torpedo warning on a submarine echoed through my ears.Battle stations,men!
Just because Daniel hadn’t mentioned an ex-wife didn’t mean he wasn’t going to tell me about it. I knew that. I knew he’d dated women—dozens, thousands, millions—and it stood to reason that some of them would have been serious relationships, too. This shouldn’t have been such a big deal. But I’d been so sure I’d laid all our issues to rest when Daniel and I started talking openly, and this woman with her scientific appraisal of me had just pulled back the covers and showed me that they were very much still awake andalive.
“Daniel is, um… He’s helping a friend,” I said, trying to smile though my cheeks were numb. “He’ll be coming in—Oh.” I glanced out the window and saw Daniel walking past the diner window, listening to a stocky guy I recognized as Bob Henderson, Sam’s father, and Paul Fine who ran the movietheater.
God, he looked good. Tall, blond, perfect. Even though he wasn’t dressed much differently than I was—old jeans, bed head, sweatshirt—he wore it confidently, making the messy look deliberate andcool.
For as long as I’d known Daniel, I’d looked at him and thought,He belongs with me. Even whenhedidn’t know I was thinking it, even whenIdidn’t want to acknowledge I was thinking it, it rested at the back of my brain. And yeah, part of the reason I’d never pushed him to talk about things before because I didn’t want to rock the boat, but that wasn’t the only reason. There was also a part of me that didn’t want to think about where he’d been before orwhohe’d been before. Here in O’Leary, he wasmyDaniel.
But now I looked at him and thought,‘Holy shit. He could have so much more.’ So much more than this shabby diner and the neighbors who inserted themselves into your conversations. So much more than piña colada pancakes and a tiny cabin in the woods. So much more than a derpy dog with three legs and fresh town drama every ten minutes. So much more than…me.
He’d been married to a Norwegian supermodel for God’ssake.
He opened the door and strolled inside and paused to look around the room. He seemed a little uncomfortable and my heart clenched with the knowledge that he was looking forme.
But the second after his eyes lit on mine, they scanned past me to Sabrina, who waved at him animatedly. Studying him closely, I saw his expression go from pleasure, to surprise, then to worry as his eyes flicked back tome.
