Page 24 of Lovewell Lane (Honeyfield Dreamers #1)
Margo
After two whole months of building anticipation for this one day, it felt euphoric for it to finally be over. My nerves had me working overtime for the past week, cleaning every inch of the diner in preparation for opening day. Even Mike, my chef, told me to chill out.
If anything, the actual day proved my preparation was necessary.
We had a full house nearly the entire day straight.
The morning time brought in mostly Honeyfield residents like Derek, who woke up early and went right to work.
Midday brought in stay-at-home moms with kids and workers on their lunch break from neighboring cities.
At dinner time, we saw entire families coming in to support our opening.
It was emotional, to say the least. My mind and body were exhausted. Even so, I was excited at the prospect of doing it all over again tomorrow. Everyone was so nice, and excited to be able to support a local business. It felt so special to create my own community of sorts.
By the time I got home, I was hobbling like someone who’d just finished a marathon. My feet ached, and I was sure I had at least twenty blisters on each foot. At my door, I found a small package. Weird, I hadn’t ordered anything.
I groaned, bending over to pick it up. I brought it inside with a huff.
Dropping everything I carried, including the clothes off my back, I stumbled to my bathroom to take a hot steamy shower.
It was heavenly and everything I needed.
I came out of it feeling like a phoenix that had died and risen from the ashes.
The package caught my eye as I returned to my living room area to get some water from the fridge. I gulped down the whole glass and sat down on my couch to stare at the thing. I didn’t even want to sit up to reach for it, that was how tired I was.
I did anyway, curiosity getting the better of me.
Ripping open the brown wrapping paper, I gasped.
Inside was a framed news article of the grand opening of Lucky’s.
Except it wasn’t my Lucky’s, it was my dad’s.
In Boston. There was only one person who could have known about this, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to face him again.
Derek rejecting me on the boat was painful.
The shock of him rejecting me, even more so.
Usually, I was the one doing the rejecting, so wanting someone only for them not to feel the same, was rough.
Seeing him at the diner today was even more complicated.
I was happy to see him, but also angry and pissed off at him at the same time.
Swallowing down my pride, I walked out of my house and stormed up the back steps of Derek’s house, only to find him already sitting on his back porch. He had a beer in one hand and his phone in the other. Those unreadable eyes watched me walk up the steps with intensity.
I stopped when I was standing right in front of where he sat on a rocking chair. He held up his beer slightly higher.
“Want one?”
I thrust the framed announcement of Lucky’s opening in his face. “What is this?”
“It seemed like it fit your other wall decorations. I figured you would put it in the diner.”
I couldn’t decide if I wanted to pull my hair out or scream. “The last time we spoke, you told me how ridiculous it would be for you to like me and said I was ‘hiding behind a mask.’ Clearly, you do know me because otherwise, you wouldn’t have known to do this.”
“I said you tried to hide behind a mask. I know you, though.” Derek lazily took another swig of his beer.
Too tired to argue any further, I collapsed into the chair next to him. “Want ibuprofen or something?”
“No, Derek. Thank you, though,” I huffed.
“You did great today.” I whipped my head around to face him. He wasn’t being sarcastic, or an asshole, he meant it.
“You give me whiplash. It’s either scowls and asshole-like behavior or you’re a kind and thoughtful person. You can’t be both.”
“People don’t fit into boxes, Margo. I am an asshole.
” He set down his drink to face me, too.
“But not to you. With you, I want to be better, and nicer. With Tessa, I’m a total pushover.
To my brothers and Calliope, I’m an unbeatable force that can fix anything.
With you, I just want to be Derek, which is all of those things all at the same time. ”
I was suddenly grateful I was sitting. “Why me?”
He looked up at the night sky. I wasn’t sure what answers he would find there, but I looked up to see if I could find them too.
“There isn’t one reason. You don’t tick off all the boxes on a checklist. I could say you’re smart and funny.
Or you drive me absolutely crazy. Or you’re good with Tessa, and you care about my family and this town.
It isn’t any of those things individually, it’s just— you.
The way you dance when you’re alone like you’re having the time of your life.
Your obsession with the movie Parent Trap.
Your incessant need to always have a ridiculous amount of baked goods on hand. ”
I looked at him, stunned into silence for potentially the first time in my life. My bones ached, my muscles screamed, my head spun, and yet I still wanted to run into his arms. Kiss him. Tell him I would solve all his problems and make his life better.
“You were right, about me being the one that’s closed off,” I blurted. “I don’t know if I can do it.” I waved my hand around in the air. “All of this. I’m so afraid of messing it all up.”
“You don’t need to,” he answered. “Not now.”
I nodded. I had no fucking clue what he meant, but the silence between us was comfortable and calm and I didn’t want to change that by thinking too hard.
“How did it feel?” Derek asked. “Your first day of opening the restaurant.”
“Great.” I smiled. “It was everything I dreamed of. People were happy to see me. Everyone was so kind, and people who had never even met joined together at tables to eat. It was my own little community. I’m lucky I get to do it again tomorrow.”
“We’re going to need more parking spaces if you keep this up.”
I couldn’t help but burst into laughter at his words. It was so classically Derek, I felt a little delirious with giggles. “Maybe.” I traced the edge of the ornate picture frame in my lap with a finger. “There were a lot of sad emotions too. Nostalgia, I guess. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Because of your dad?”
I nodded. “He would be proud. It’s weird to think of him now. I guess he doesn’t fit into a box, just like you. Growing up, I thought he was the greatest man in the universe, but now I know he cheated on my mom. And I kind of hate him for that.”
Derek winced and rocked his chair with a foot planted on the ground. “Not that you’re a cheater, sorry, I didn’t mean to compare you to my dad. What you said just reminded me of him.”
“I know, Margo,” Derek said softly. “Everyone has their vices, I guess. Though, I will never understand that one.”
“What’s yours?” I stole his beer to take a drink of it. “Your vice, I mean.”
He sat back and tilted his head thoughtfully.
“Control. It was what kept us all alive after my mom died and Slick got injured. I took care of everything, and always knew what everyone was doing. Especially Jack and Calli, since they were so young. I could probably loosen the reins now, but it’s not easy. ”
“What’s yours?” He asked after another beat of silence.
“Running. Anytime I feel someone isn’t doing right by me or I’m unhappy, I just leave.” I watched as Derek visibly tensed up in his chair. “This place, though, I haven’t felt the urge once.”
“What if you do?”
“Huh.” I looked back at the stars. “I think I would stay anyway. I guess it depends. I don’t want to waste my life somewhere I’m unhappy.”
Derek finished his beer and set it down a little too roughly. The clang of the beer glass on the metal table made me blink at him. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Can I ask you something else?” I asked.
“Of course.”
“Has Tessa done that before? Tried to set you up with anyone?”
“No.”
I couldn’t help my peal of laughter that followed his grumble of an answer. “Funny that she chose the one woman you can’t stand the most. Poor Tess. You know, most single dads would encourage their kids to pull that shit more often.”
Derek stared at me inscrutably. I felt like a bug under a magnifying glass under his gaze. There was no quirk of his lips, no crinkles next to his eyes, nothing. No hint of any amusement.