Chapter 4
Gage feltas though he’d grabbed onto an electric fence the moment his hand connected with Holly Grace’s. They’d shook hands last night and nothing remotely like this had happened. So, what had changed? He didn’t know and wasn’t sure he liked it. There were too many variables in his life right now to add romance to the mix.
Holly Grace looked as stunned as he felt, and they hastily released each other’s hand.
“Well.” Holly Grace said. “I better get this baby to the rescue office so we can get her ready to go to the vet for a thorough work up before we figure out if she can go into a foster home.”
“Uh. Right.” He said.Real smooth, man.Could he be any more awkward? “I guess I’ll see you around, then.”
Holly Grace nodded, then got into her car and drove off. He stood in the road where she’d left him watching her go.
Gage got into his own car and drove into the town square. He’d told Ian and Piper and Ian’s mom he’d get breakfast for them from some place there called Grits and Gravy that was apparently their favorite place to eat. He’d gotten distracted when he’d spotted Holly Grace leaving heading out of town and been curious enough to stop and involve himself in her rescue. Now he suspected that the Elliott’s might be wondering what had happened to their breakfast. Looking at the dash clock on his rental he realized he’d been gone almost an hour.
Damn. This was going to take some explaining on his part. He picked up his cellphone from the cup holder and saw that he’d missed two calls from Ian. Might as well face the music now.
Ian picked up as soon as the call connected. “Hey, man. Where are you?”
Gage sighed. “I got distracted. I’m heading to the café now and will be there with breakfast as fast as they can cook it and bag it up for me.”
“So, what have you been doing instead of getting breakfast?” Ian wondered.
“I ran into Holly Grace trying to capture a stray and stayed to help her.”
“You don’t say.”
“Well, the ladies will no doubt forgive you for helping a damsel, but I’m starving, so you better get some food and get on back here.”
“It’s not like that.” Gage grumbled. “And hold your horses. I’ll be there with the food pronto.”
A parking spot opened right in front of the café as he drove up. Finally, a bit of good luck. Inside, he found a huge Christmas tree right by the counter holding the cash register. It nearly reached the ceiling and was absolutely covered in Christmas ornaments of every shape, size and color. Multi-colored blinking lights ran around the room at the ceiling casting pretty colors along the walls. A short, older woman with a braid that reached to her waist met him at the register. Her name tag said Helen.
“What can I do for you, Hon?” She asked him, taking a pen from behind her ear and an order pad from the back pocket of her jeans. “Don’t believe I’ve seen you around here before.”
“No.” He answered. “This is my first time in town. I’m visiting Ian and Piper Elliott.”
Her eyes gave him the once over. “You work with Ian at that protector place out in Montana?”
He’d heard about the small-town phenomena of everyone knowing everyone else’s business, but this was his first experience with it. It seemed a bit creepy to him. But being from a big city environment made him suspicious of everyone.
“Yes. I do work with Ian. He invited me to spend the Christmas holidays with him and Piper here.”
“I guess you’re all right then. Any friend of Ian and Piper is a friend of mine. What’ll you have?”
He gave her the order and waited. It didn’t take long before Helen was back with everything bagged up for him. “Tell Missy Elliott I’ll see her tomorrow for breakfast.” She said as she handed him the white paper bags.
“You’ll see her tomorrow?” He questioned.
Helen laughed. “On my, yes. Missy and several other ladies here in town meet for breakfast here every Thursday. Right over there at the big center table.” She grinned at him. “You might say it’s the second-best place in town to get all the gossip. Next to the It’ll Grow Back, of course.”
“Of course.” He echoed, taking the bags and exiting as quickly as was polite.
