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“I always did like your father,” Gavin pauses then looks down at his boots. “Well, fancy see you again after all these years. I should probably see about getting this milk put away. I’d hate for it to spoil.”
Gavin had been one of the good ones—always a perfect gentleman, opening her door when they’d gone out on dates and holding her hand the entire time they were at the movie theatre. She can’t help thinking what if she’d ended up staying? Would they have remained a couple and eventually tied the knot?
“Okayyy,” she says, uncertain why the sudden need to change the subject.
“Any particular place you’d like to me to put all this?”
“Anywhere in there is fine. I’ll have my team restack it as soon as they get here. It’s their first day on the job and I’d like to get them into the habit of doing it the way the company recommends.”
“You can always leave your crates out back once you’ve emptied them,” he says and disappears inside the cooler.”
Had she said something wrong? She didn’t think so—or at least she couldn’t remember saying anything that could be misinterpreted—so she wasn’t sure why he’d suddenly gone from warm and glad to see her to cold and all business-like in a matter of seconds. Unless he was still mad at her all these years later? No one carried a grudge that long, did they?
She jumps again as soon as he walks out of the cooler.
“I’ve got your ticket in my truck. I can take your payment now or I can swing back by later in the week. It’s up to you.”
Deanna can’t help noticing the hint of gray along his temples and behind his ears. Though she’d began coloring her own hair years ago to hide those pesky grays, his actually blends quite nicely with his own natural shade. “The paperwork I was going upstairs to get had the information you needed. If you’ll give me a minute—”
“I’ll come back later,” he says, his hand already on the door. “I’m on a tight schedule this morning and need to make it to my next stop.”
The sun’s not even up yet, she wants to add, but bites her tongue. Using someone local for her milk delivery might not be such a good idea after all.
Without bothering to say goodbye, Gavin darts out the door.
Chapter Six
Gavin Winston scrubs his hand against his eyes. Was that really Deanna Carmichael? The, Deanna Carmichael, the one who’d broken his heart over twenty years ago.
Or was he dreaming? Itwasstill pretty early in the morning.
Not that he wasn’t used to being up this early anyway. His mornings began at three and four o’clock every day that he worked, so thinking he might still be asleep wasn’t going to work this time. Just to be certain, he pinches the end of his nose, because seeing Deanna after all these years is like a dream come true.
It made sense that he hadn’t recognized the name on the invoice. She would always be Deanna Carmichael to him regardless of what her last name was now. Come to think of it, he hadn’t remembered seeing a first name either, only York, printed in the upper right corner as the person to contact and well, that could’ve been anyone. All he was really concerned with at the time was that a new business was opening, and they’d reached out to the milk company he worked for.
After she’d moved away, he discovered she’d gotten married to some up and coming doctor in New York, bought a fancy house close to a golf course—yes, he’d tried to secretly keep up with her for a while—but that was really all he knew. It had been exhausting and yes, heartbreaking, the way he’d pined over her, to the point it had nearly drove him crazy.
Deanna had been his first true love, the woman he’d wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Even at eighteen, he’d known she was the one. But she’d slipped right through his fingers because he’d been so set on getting a job as soon as they were finished with school. He wanted the same kind of loving relationship his parents had, so it wasn’t any wonder he’d tried to follow in his father’s footsteps. So what if he was a little old-fashioned in his beliefs. There was absolutely nothing wrong with a man who worked hard, wanting to provide for his family.
Except he didn’t have a family.
It was just him, living in a beautiful cabin a couple of blocks up from the lake. He’d done a lot of the work himself, saving every penny he could, until the place was exactly the way he wanted it.
He should be ashamed of himself for darting out the way he did. It was like being in high school again and when he’d given her a hug…oh, boy! The feelings had come rushing back so fast, running away was the only thing he could think to do.
Sitting at the light, waiting for it to change from red to green, his mind is jumping from one thing to the next. It’s possible he could give this stop to one of the other drivers so he won’t have to face her again, but what happens when Jared and O’Neal are on vacation and he’s left to cover their routes? Or one of them calls in sick? What if he runs into Deanna at the grocery store and she asks why he never came back? Or even worse, when he wants a hot cup of coffee on one of these cold winter mornings?
He tries to shake it off, but it’s no use. By mid-morning he’s already driven past the coffee shop three times, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. He still can’t believe it. That Deanna is back in Lake Tahoe.
Chapter Seven
“Ms. Deanna, the large hot chocolates get four pumps right?” Katelynn asks, a generic paper cup extended out in front of her.
“Huh?” Deanna turns around and pushes her hair away from her face with the backside of her hand. “Say that again?”
“The large hot chocolates. I can’t remember if you said they get three or four—”
“Hot chocolates? Did we go over that already?” Deanna looks at the barista-in-training, a frazzled look appearing on her face.
