Page 11 of Trophy

The next morning Allison went into work slightly anxious.

She’d been exhausted the night before, after all the yard work she’d done, so she’d gone to sleep right away.

But she’d woken up in the middle of the night, thinking about Rob, replaying the kiss they’d shared, imagining what would have happened if they’d taken it further, reminding herself of all the reasons it was a good thing she’d put a stop to it.

He’d said they could still be friends, and he hadn’t looked too unhappy or annoyed with her as he’d left her house. But she was still worried. Rob was the best thing about living in Fielding right now, and she didn’t want to lose him.

There were more early customers than usual, so she’d barely had time to show Chelle her new shoes—which she’d bought with Vicki on Saturday—when she was pulled away to take a large family with very loud kids.

A steady stream of customers came in from six to seven, and she couldn’t help but wonder why a Monday morning was so busy at the restaurant.

Surely more people would want to sleep in as long as possible on Mondays.

She kept glancing at the clock, waiting for Rob to make an appearance. If he didn’t come in today, then she would know things had changed between them.

She really hoped he’d show up.

At five after seven she was getting jittery, trying to get the exuberant family refills—they’d finished eating a half hour ago but still hadn’t left their table—and take the order of a group of elderly women who had come in for what looked like a Bible study.

He always came in between six thirty and seven.

Surely Rob wasn’t that awkward or disappointed in her.

He was obviously attracted to her, but it wasn’t like he had anything else invested in her.

He could have any woman he wanted in this town.

She saw all the admiring looks whenever he walked into Dora’s.

It wouldn’t hurt him to just be friends with her.

When she turned around after taking an order, she almost slumped in relief when she saw him come in, grinning at someone behind him.

It was Ernie, the old guy in overalls who came in by himself most mornings. Rob was saying something friendly to him. He was nice to everyone.

Allison had never met anyone like him before.

When he saw her looking in his direction, he gave her a warm smile, and Allison relaxed completely. It was fine. Everything was going to be fine between them. One random kiss wasn’t going to get in the way.

She was up to serve him, so she walked over to his place at the counter with the coffeepot and a mug.

“Your yard is looking good today,” he said with another smile.

“I know.” She couldn’t help the silly thrill of pride at the memory of how nice and neat her yard had looked when she’d left that morning. “I dread when all those weeds start coming back. You want your usual?” His usual was eggs, bacon, and wheat toast.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

She scrawled out his order and carried it back to hang on the rack in the kitchen, feeling pleased with the world again now that things were settled.

Her satisfaction only lasted a minute, since the huge family still wasn’t leaving their table, and the toddler had dumped his milk.

Then one of the Bible study ladies changed her mind about her order, so Allison had to run back and make the adjustment.

Then three tables came in at the same time, and two of them were hers, so she juggled taking orders and bringing beverages for a few minutes.

Then she realized that Rob’s plate had been ready for a few minutes, and she hadn’t brought it over to him.

“I’m sorry,” she said, hurrying it over. “Is it still hot?”

He took a bite of the bacon. “It’s just fine. Why is it so busy today?”

“I have no idea. What is it about Monday mornings that makes people want to eat breakfast out?”

“I can’t answer that question. I eat breakfast out every day.”

Before she could reply to this, he said, “If you want to keep the weeds down in your beds, you should mulch them.”

She blinked at the abrupt shift. “Oh. Yeah. I should, I guess.” She sighed. “That’s probably more than I can afford right now, though.”

“It’ll wait,” he said easily, chewing his toast thoughtfully.

“Yeah.” She gave a little laugh. “Who would believe the day would ever come when I lusted after mulch.”

Rob chuckled appreciatively, and she couldn’t help but shiver at the look in his eyes.

He certainly wasn’t looking at her like he remembered they were supposed to be friends. He was looking at her like he wanted to kiss her again.

A man across the room was making the scribbling sign at her, obviously asking for his check. Allison waved to acknowledge him and quickly ran back to get it.

It wasn’t a good idea for her to focus on Rob too much. If she didn’t do a good job serving tables, Trey might be unhappy with her. Not to mention her tips would go down.

When she brought the ticket over, she had to listen to the man complain about the wait.

Her first instinct was to point out that he’d waited less than two minutes, but she managed to bite back the response.

No one had to tell her that talking back wasn’t a good idea for a waitress.

She dropped her eyes and murmured an apology.

The man grumbled as he got up to pay, and Allison was glad to see him leave. She glanced to Rob automatically and saw he was watching her. He gave her a little wink, and she hid a smile as she hurried to the kitchen.

When Rob left his tip, the note on his napkin said, You look great in those jeans. R .

A week later, Rob was sitting at the counter in his normal position, waiting for his breakfast. Allison’s attention was occupied by an elderly couple he didn’t recognize in the corner, who appeared to have questions about every item on the menu.

He wondered how she could keep smiling when she must be getting impatient, but she was really good at the waitress face and her friendliness never wavered.

“Hey, man,” a voice came from behind him.

Rob turned to see Keith take the stool next to him. “Hey. What are you doing here?”

“Martha and the kids are visiting her mother, so it’s either this or a moldy piece of bread for breakfast.”

Rob chuckled. “How long is she gone for?”

“They left Friday, and they’ll be back on Wednesday.”

“That’s not too bad.”

“I guess I’ll survive.”

Allison finally finished up with the couple, and she grabbed a menu on her way toward them, offering it to Keith. “Would you like some coffee?”

“Definitely.” Then Keith turned to Rob. “You’ve got to help me build this shed. I told Martha it would be done by the time she got back, and it’s not progressing the way I thought.”

“How far have you gotten?”

Keith gave him a dubious look.

Rob shook his head with a huff of dry amusement. “I can come over after work, if you want. But you’re responsible for the beer.”

“Done. I dread what she’ll say if it’s still half finished when she gets back.” Keith accepted the coffee Allison brought him and took a large gulp. “Speaking of wives, they say that Dee’s been hanging out at Trevor’s every night this week.”

Trevor’s was the bar in the next town over, more rowdy than most of the establishments in the county. Rob had hung out there when he was young, but he hadn’t enjoyed it in years. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

“I don’t know. That’s just what they’re saying.”

“She goes through spells. She’ll drink herself into a stupor and then sober up and try to be good. It’s mostly Cali I’m worried about.”

“Did you hear she’s been seeing that Nelson boy?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve heard stories that he’s not a good guy.”

“I’ve heard the stories too. Cali says he’s great to her.” Rob shrugged. “Maybe the stories are wrong.”

Keith scowled. “If he’s a Nelson, I doubt it.”

All of the men in the Nelson family were losers or criminals. So far, there hadn’t been any exceptions. Rob wished Cali hadn’t hooked up with that boy.

He was so distracted that he didn’t even see Allison coming over to him with a plate. She looked pretty and polished, as she always did, and his eyes did a quick once-over, taking in her body before he raised his gaze to her face. “Thanks.”

She gave him a smile, showing a little dimple to the side of her mouth. “Has anyone ever had a chat with you about cholesterol?”

Rob blinked, and Keith gave a snort of amusement.

“You eat eggs and bacon every day,” Allison added, as if she weren’t sure he’d followed her line of thinking.

“I hate cereal,” he explained.

“There are a few other breakfast options besides eggs and bacon and cereal, you know.” Her eyes were laughing, and Rob couldn’t help but be pleased that she’d thought about his health, even in a teasing way.

“Not very many. I’m not a smoothie kind of guy.”

Her eyes were still resting on his face. “Yeah. I wouldn’t have thought you were. Enjoy your eggs and bacon, and say a little prayer for your arteries.”

Rob was grinning like a dope as she walked away, and he had an uncomfortable sense that Keith could read his mind.

“Well, obviously you’re into her more than ever,” Keith said once she was out of earshot, “but you haven’t had much luck interesting her.”

“She likes me.”

“Sure—just like she likes Trey and Ernie over there. She hasn’t said yes to a date yet, has she?”

“Not yet. But I haven’t asked.”

“You might as well give up. She’s never going to fall for someone like you.”

Rob knew his friend was joking, trying to rile him up, and he knew he shouldn’t fall for it. But he felt defensive anyway. “You don’t know that.”

“She’s used to dating rich guys who can buy her yachts and shit.”

“She doesn’t want a yacht. She wants mulch for her yard.”

“Right now, maybe. But a girl like that…” Keith nodded toward Allison, who was bringing two plates out from the kitchen for the indecisive couple against the wall. “She’s going to get tired of mulch and eventually want a yacht.”

Rob didn’t respond, but he didn’t think that was true. Allison was different. She enjoyed simple things. She wasn’t a snob like she might have seemed initially. She actually tried to get to know the people who came into the restaurant, and she was happy with her little house.

She might be beautiful and elegant and more sophisticated than the people around her, but she didn’t belong on a yacht.

She wasn’t a mistake—the way the women he’d hooked up with before had been. She wasn’t going to humiliate him or turn him into a fool in the eyes of the town. He wasn’t going to feel powerless with her, the way he had in his previous relationships.

Allison was different.

Rob wanted her more than ever, and he wasn’t going to give up after just a couple of weeks.