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“The moment one of you magically obtain a partner you might have to skip a year, could you imagine that?” He gasped, still childishly swinging on his chair.
Lori harrumphed, snapping her book shut. “And shouldn’t you be studying and doing something with your preadolescent life?”
He kicked up a cocky boyish grin. “I can do both. Shouldn’t you both be running your oh so very important businesses and lives back home? But no, they always find this as a little escape and sanctuary.”
“You both own your own business?” I asked curiously.
Lori sighed, defeated by her little brother. “We do, I run a catering company in LA and Eric runs an IT company in Chicago.”
Eric seemed uninterested in the discussion. IT, huh? I would’ve never picked him as an IT kind of guy.
“After the Christmas and New Year’s period I give my team a break. My second-in-charge organises all the small events and venues while I’m recouping for a few weeks when I come back home. It works for both of us,” she said, shrugging her shoulder.
Thomas snorted. “Her ‘second-in-charge,’” he quoted. “More like her very handsome assistant who she hasn’t been able to make a move on yet.”
“Watch it.” She pointed a finger at him. “Or I will come around there and pull your hair out.”
“I’ll tell Mom.” He poked out his tongue.
Part of me was sad that he didn’t mention anything further about Eric’s’ business, but I could tell by his brooding demeanor it wasn’t something he wanted to talk about much during his visit away.
“But I think he’s right, Eric, we should close up and go home before the snow gets worse,” Lori said, looking over her shoulder at Eric casually scratching under Shadow’s chin.
He sighed, agreeing. “Then let’s close up.”
Thomas clapped his hands together, celebrating being let off shift early. I liked him; he was goofy and childlike but had a certain inviting charm about him which I imagined made it very easy for him to make friends.
Lori shook her head as she stood up and began closing the café. Admittedly, it looked like she’d already done most of it before we returned. “What are you making for dinner tonight?” Lori asked Eric.
He shrugged. She sized him up and he gritted out, “What?”
“You have a guest, cook something.”
Both of their gazes landed on me. “Oh no, don’t worry about me. By all means, in fact I should be cooking for you, since you’re letting me stay.”
“You can cook?” Thomas asked sounding impressed.
“Well, I could only cook him an omelette this morning, and that’s as far as the skillset goes.” I felt rather deflated by the admission.
“She made you an omelette this morning?” Thomas perked up in his chair, raising an eyebrow between us.
Eric slipped a disapproving glare at Thomas before walking into the hidden kitchen.
“I can give you a recipe and a few ingredients for a casserole if you’d like?” Lori suggested.
“She doesn’t eat meat,” Eric’s voice echoed through the door.
“That’s no problem,” Lori sung back. “I can make it a vegetarian one. If you’re up for the task?”
Excitement and nerves began to flutter in my stomach. What if I was really bad at it? But if I could be useful and show my appreciation, then I was more than happy to experiment. “I’d love to. Thank you.”
Chapter 9
Cassidy
Silence yet again filled the truck. He didn’t seem grumpy and so I tried to embrace the silence as much as possible. I was so used to people who were always talking, trying to grab the spotlight with their bigger, more extravagant story, and I found myself oddly enjoying the quiet and companionship.
I sat with the small hamper on my lap that Lori had given me, particularly eyeing the two bottles of red wine. I peered out from the corner of my eye at Eric, curious as to how he handled his alcohol. Or was he an “only beer” type of guy. Studying his profile, I noticed the few specks of gray through his black beard. I’d been around older men before, but I never felt this unusual sensation around them like I did Eric. It wasn’t intimidation but something close to. It unnerved me. My head still whirled by the bizarre encounter and how I’d ended up halfway up a mountain in a small town, stranded for a second night.
