Dawson's Stand (Welcome to Covendale Book 4) (9 page)

“How many times?”

“About a hundred.”

Gage laughed. “She’s not usually this neurotic, I promise. She just really loves Reese.”

“I can tell.” Kyla couldn’t help being thrilled for Luka. She’d met Reese briefly when he came to pick Luka up from the salon, and the two of them were ridiculously happy together. But with all the wedding talk, it was hard for her to avoid thinking about her own experience in that department. It’d felt so wonderful at the time, so real—but it was all a lie.

For several minutes, they rode in silence that wasn’t terribly uncomfortable. Kyla watched through the window as they passed through parts of the town she’d never seen. There was a residential area with close-set houses, a few roads with businesses and homes mixed together, a fairly big community park, and a street where there seemed to be nothing but churches. Then they went over a railroad crossing and the structures became further apart, a little shabbier than the main part of town.

“So,” Gage said eventually. “Do you have family in Covendale?”

The question threatened to bring her panic back, and she had to remind herself that it was a perfectly reasonable thing to ask. But that didn’t help her figure out how to answer it. “No one related,” she said. “But I…well, there’s Stella Fawkes.”

He glanced at her. “Miss Stella? I never would’ve guessed you’re from the South.”

“Oh, we’re not related. She’s my friend.” She had to change the subject fast, or this was going to get awkward. “Luka told me you have a family business with your brothers,” she said. “What’s that like?”

“A serious pain,” he said with a grin. “Mark likes to pretend he’s the boss all the time, not just at work. But he’s always been like that.” He shrugged, and added, “He just resents Jonah being in charge for so long, and now he’s trying to make up for it.”

“And Jonah’s the oldest brother, right?”

“Yeah. He’s the giant, cranky one.”

“I think it’s great that you have such a big family,” she said. “What about your parents? Do they live in town, too?”

He winced and stared out the windshield for a long time. At last he said softly, “They’re dead.”

“Oh God. Gage, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s all right. Everybody in town knows, but they don’t talk about it anymore. So you wouldn’t have heard anything.” He let out a long sigh. “Our father died when Luka was still a baby. He was driving drunk, and he…took a few people out with him.” His features hardened for an instant, but relaxed as he said, “Mom had cancer. Jonah was nineteen when she passed on, so he kind of took over from there.”

Kyla had to close her eyes to stem the tears that stung them. Her heart ached for him—for all of them, especially considering the way the town treated their family. No wonder they were all so close. They only had each other to depend on.

Yet both Gage and Luka had welcomed her without hesitation. It was funny how wrong people could be when they all thought the same thing.

“Hey, let’s talk about something less depressing. Like pie.” Gage smiled and gestured at her window, toward a bright red aluminum building with a cheerful neon sign reading
Pete’s Diner
. “This is the place. I hope you’re hungry, because they do everything big here.”

“I’m starving.” She pushed her darker thoughts aside, determined to enjoy this like a normal person. “Bet I can eat you under the table.”

He grinned. “You’re on.”

“What do I get if I win?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “What do you want?”

“Hmm.” She thought back a few minutes, and then smiled. “If I win, you have to tell me what you did to borrow Luka’s car.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” he said. “All right. And if I win, you have to tell me your last name.”

“Or I could just…tell you my last name.”

“Yeah, but it’s more fun this way.” He parked the car in front of the diner and turned off the engine. “Okay, how about this. If I win, we go on a real date.”

She was surprised to find her hesitation didn’t last long. “It’s a deal.”

* * * *

“Wow. They have a separate menu, just for pie?”

Pete’s Diner wasn’t what Kyla expected. But then, she really didn’t know what to expect. It was bigger inside than it looked, bright and clean, and it smelled wonderful—like a carnival midway. A sign by the door said
Please seat yourself!
, so she and Gage had taken a corner booth. And now she was looking at a menu with twelve different kinds of pie.

“They take their pies seriously here,” Gage said. “I don’t know about you, but I always have a hard time deciding.”

“Honestly? I don’t think I’ll ever be able to pick one.”

“Well, just pick more than one,” he said, smiling. “You do have a bet to lose here. I’m going to feel bad about winning if you only have one piece.”

“Oh, that’s what you think. It’s on now.”

Before she could say anything more, a young waitress seemed to materialize beside their table. Her nametag said Frankie, and her eyes said she knew one of her customers very well—and it wasn’t Kyla. “Hi, Gage,” she said brightly, her gaze completely focused on him. “I haven’t seen you in a week. Where’ve you been?”

“Working.” He shrugged and cast a slanted smile. “How’s the grasshopper pie tonight?”

“Seriously, is that all you can think about?” The waitress leaned over and plucked at the menu in front of him, serving up a revealing view into her shirt. “I thought you might have something else in mind for dessert.”

Gage sighed sharply. “Frankie, this is Kyla,” he said. “She’s more or less new in town.”

“Oh…hi. Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” Frankie straightened slowly, looking not in the least apologetic. “You sure do work fast.”

“Frankie.”

“Okay, okay.” The waitress pouted a little, but her smile was warm and friendly. “Hi, Kyla,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”

“Um. You, too.” It wasn’t easy to ignore the obvious, but she was going to try. Besides, they’d already agreed this wasn’t a date. And that was what she wanted…wasn’t it?

Gage pushed his menu across the table, as though he didn’t want to get too close to the waitress. “So I’ll have a slice of the grasshopper, and one of the mud. You can put them on the same plate.” He turned to Kyla. “Make up your mind yet?”

“I think so,” she said. “I’d like turtle pie, and the peanut butter one.”

“Nice. And two coffees,” Gage said. “Er. I mean, do you even like coffee?”

She laughed. “Who doesn’t?”

“Yeah, so two coffees.”

“Gotcha,” Frankie said, collecting the menus. “All right, I’ll have this for you pretty quick. Back in a minute.” She smiled again, and sent a hopeful glance at Gage before heading back across the diner.

When the waitress was gone, Gage deflated a bit. “I am so sorry about that,” he said. “You must think I’m a real tool. Frankie’s a sweet kid, but…” He shook his head slowly. “If it helps any, she does the same thing to Mark and Jonah. She’s like some kind of weird groupie, and we don’t even have a band.”

“It’s fine. Really.” She caught his gaze for a moment. “I could tell you were uncomfortable. Besides, it’s not hard to see why any girl would…um…”

Oh, no. She definitely hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

Before she could slump under the table and die of embarrassment, he grinned and said, “It’s my charming personality, right?”

“Yes, that must be it.” She managed to relax as some of the heat drained from her face. Time to change the subject. “So what’s a grasshopper pie?”

 He gave her a strange look, but it vanished quickly. “It’s like meringue, only mint, with a chocolate crust and crushed Oreos.”

“Wow. Maybe I should’ve ordered that.”

“Nah, it probably wouldn’t go too well with peanut butter.”

She made a face. “You’re right.”

Just then, Frankie returned with a big plastic tray. She set the pies, coffee, and a bowl of creamers on the table, then winked at Gage. “You just let me know if you need anything else, all right?”

“Goodbye, Frankie,” he said.

“Okay. I can take a hint.”

“Can you?”

She laughed. “Just messing with your girlfriend. You guys enjoy.”

“Oh, man,” Gage said when the waitress was out of earshot. “I hope you’re ready for this.”

Kyla arched an eyebrow. “Ready for what?”

“The rumors. But mostly, the pie.” He grinned and picked up a fork.

She did the same. She had to admit, this looked amazing. Just like the photos on the menu. And when she tried the turtle pie, it tasted even better—like heaven in her mouth.

“Well?”

She realized Gage hadn’t touched his yet. He was waiting for her reaction. With a straight face, she said, “This is not the best pie I’ve ever had.”

“It’s not?”

“No.” She broke into a smile. “It’s the best anything I’ve ever had.”

“Phew. I thought I was in trouble there for a minute.”

For a while they just enjoyed the desserts, not speaking. Kyla was finished with the first piece and halfway through the second before she put her fork down with a regretful sigh and picked up the coffee. “Think I need a break,” she said. “I haven’t had this much sugar since…never.”

Gage had finished about the same amount, and he pulled his mug closer to add more cream. “In that case, I think you could use more sugar in your life,” he said. “It’s the second best thing there is.”

“What’s the best?”

His gaze met hers. “Something a lot sweeter.”

She shivered all the way down to her toes. The look in his eyes was like nothing she’d ever seen, and it set her on fire from the inside. No one had ever looked at her like that.

“Kyla…” He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, he seemed more in control. “So,” he said. “I can’t help noticing that every time we start talking about you, the subject gets changed.”

She bit her lip. “Is it that obvious?”

“Only to someone who really wants to know you better.”

“Oh.” She drew a deep breath. “Well, I…”

“Listen,” he said. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, okay? If we’re headed in a direction you’d rather not go, just tell me to shut up.” He smiled, and added, “I’ve got two older brothers. I’m used to it.”

She gave a grateful nod. For some reason, him telling her she didn’t have to talk made her more willing to share—at least, to a point. “All right,” she said. “What would you like to know?”

“Well, let’s start with something easy,” he said. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

She debated saying no. It’d been a long time since she’d thought about her family, and she didn’t really want to now. But it wasn’t like they were ever going to be a part of her life again. “I have a brother,” she said. “We’re not close.”

“Oh.” Gage smirked. “You know, sometimes I wish I had a little more distance from mine. But maybe that works for you?”

“It does.”

“Is your family the reason you came here? To Covendale, I mean.”

She hesitated. “Not exactly.”

“You’re not really into this, are you?”

“Huh?” A frown tugged at her mouth. “Into what?”

“Talking about you.”

She held back a sigh. There was no good way to handle this situation—she could either hold back almost everything and come across like she wasn’t at all interested in being with him, or spill her guts and make everything impossibly awkward. How did you tell someone you barely knew that your husband used to beat you?

“All right, let’s try something different,” Gage said. “How about we grab a couple of boxes for our pie, and go for a drive? I’ll bet you haven’t seen much of this town. Not that there’s much to see, really—but I know what there is of it.”

She smiled. “Actually, I’d like that. Thank you.”

Gage signaled the waitress, and Kyla breathed an inward sigh of relief. At least this way she’d have a little more time to think about how to handle this. Telling Gage the truth about why she’d come to Covendale would be inviting him into her life. And while part of her wanted that, the rest was scared to death.

Because she could see herself falling for him…and she’d vowed that would never happen again.

Chapter 9

Gage had a specific destination in mind, but it worried him even as he headed there. On the one hand, most people went up to the ridge for a single purpose—it was the perfect place to get hot and heavy. He’d brought more than one date there himself. That wasn’t his intention this time, though it was getting harder by the minute to deny his attraction.

On the other hand, he was sure Kyla would appreciate the view.

He wanted to get to know her more than anything. But he’d sensed that whatever she didn’t want to talk about, it was painful for her. So he didn’t want to push. The problem was, everything about her seemed to be tied to the pain. It wasn’t easy finding subjects she was comfortable discussing.

Still, he was determined to try.

“Okay,” he said when they started up the big hill. “Close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to show you something. It’s a surprise.”

She did, with a bemused smile. “Is it going to jump out and scare me?”

“Nope. Just don’t look until I tell you.”

“All right.”

It didn’t take long to reach the ridge. He parked the car a safe distance back from the edge, and turned the engine off.

“Can I look now?” she said.

“Not yet.” He had an idea. “Do you trust me?”

She hesitated for just a moment. “Yes.”

“Don’t move.”

He got out of the car, circled around and opened her door. “Still not looking, right?”

“Right,” she said, a little uncertainly.

“Okay. I’m going to help you out of the car. Then we’re just going to take a few steps here.”

She nodded and held her arm out.

When he took her hand, a jolt of heat slammed through him—the same as it had the night he’d met her. He couldn’t help wondering if she felt it, too. Probably not. Trying to ignore the heavy sensation in his gut, he led her a slight way from the car and turned her gently, until she was facing the edge of the drop. “Ready?”

“I think so.”

“All right…look.”