“Hey Mom, aren’t you ready to go?” Linc asked.
I glanced from my computer over to him. “I’m sorry, sweets, but I’m running behind today. I might have to stay until seven to catch up. You want to call Papa to come get you?”
The devastated look on Linc’s face made me feel like Mother of the Year. The reason I was running behind on paperwork was because I’d spent over an hour at Harts and Flowers, hashing and rehashing Gabe’s visit with Kennedy and Ellie. By the time I had gotten back to the shop, I was needed out on the floor to oversee some insurance adjusters, and I’d even eaten lunch sitting at my desk with my head buried in my computer.
“But we always go to dinner together on Monday nights,” Linc protested.
Not only did he have the most pitiful tone in the world, he also somehow managed to stick his bottom lip out. “You really want to go out to eat with me instead of seeing what goodies Stella cooked?”
“Yessss.”
My gaze trailed back over to the computer screen. It wouldn’t kill anybody if I did cut out early; the paperwork would still be there in there morning. I hit save on the file I had open and turned off the computer then held up my hands in defeat. “Fine. You know I can never say no when you pick me over Papa.”
A guilty look flashed in Linc’s eyes before he quickly replaced it with pure happiness and rushed over to tug on my sleeve. “Come on, Mom. I’m starving.”
“Okay, okay, keep your stomach at bay. I have to close up.” I grabbed my purse out of the desk drawer and then rose out of my chair. Usually when I got ready to leave, Linc would be running around the shop or outside playing with Demo. Today, though, he never left my side. I had a shadow as I checked to ensure all the equipment was off and the doors were locked. I started to think he was going to come in the bathroom with me, but thankfully, he waited outside the door.
Once Hart and Daughter was thoroughly closed up, Linc and I headed over to the car. As I pulled out onto Main Street, I noticed a clanging noise. Just when I started to think I had a mechanical issue, I realized it was the zipper on Linc’s backpack hitting the underside of the dashboard as he bounced his knees. It was something he did when he was anxious—a little nervous habit. I wondered if something had happened at school. Maybe Mrs. Lockhart had hated his solar system project. Inwardly, I groaned when I thought maybe he was upset about Donuts with Dad. Was he really okay with my dad going with him, or was he starting to wish he had a father? Even though I was dying to press him about what he might be nervous about, I decided I would wait until we sat down to eat.
I eased the SUV up to the curb outside of The Hitching Post. It was one of the three restaurants in town, and since it was on Main Street and close to the house, we usually ate there at least twice a week. I’d barely put the car in park when Linc bounded out of the door. “Linc, be careful! Watch for cars!” I shouted.
Ignoring me, he was already around the front of the vehicle, and he managed to open my door for me before I had the chance.
“Wow, what’s brought on the chivalry tonight?”
“Nothing. I’m just hungry.”
“Whatever, buddy,” I replied as I reached out to ruffle his hair.
After I hopped out, my gaze caught a dark-haired figure standing inside the restaurant. Whipping my sunglasses off, I squinted at the man. At the realization of who it was, I gasped.
Oh no. It wasn’t possible that Gabe Renard was waiting to be seated at the very restaurant we were going to eat at. The last thing on earth I wanted was to see him again, especially not with Linc since I didn’t know how Gabe would react.
When Linc’s hand reached for the door, I swatted it away. “What would you say if we skipped out on The Hitching Post and drove over to Preston for some Chinese?”
“But we always eat here on Monday nights.”
I shrugged. “So? We can mix things up and get your favorite Chinese.”
Linc stared at me like I’d grown horns. “But I want a burger tonight, not Chinese.”
Inwardly, I groaned. “Okay. I just thought I’d suggest it.”
Without another word, Linc pushed on inside. When the bell tinkled over our heads, Gabe turned around, and my breath hitched as I waited to see his reaction. Surprise flooded me when he gave me a genuine smile—the kind of smile you reserve for people you like, not ones who had turned you down for both a date and to be your musical muse.
“Oh wow! It’s Gabe Renard!” Linc shouted before pointing at Gabe.
Jerking Linc’s hand down, I said, “It’s not polite to point.”
Linc stared up at me, wide-eyed. “But he’s famous! Papa said some famous rocker named Gabe was in town, but I had no idea it was Gabe Renard.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Gabe said, throwing out his hand.
Linc stared at it in awe for a moment before shaking Gabe’s hand. “I can’t believe I just touched Gabe Renard’s hand. None of my friends are going to believe this.”
“Why don’t we take a selfie together? Then you have photographic evidence.”
Linc’s eyes bulged. “You’d really do that?”
“Sure. I’d be happy to.”
Thrusting his phone at me, Linc said, “Will you take it, Mom?”
“Uh, sure,” I replied. As I brought the phone up, Gabe threw his arm around Linc. I tried to hide my utter shock at Gabe’s behavior as I snapped a few pictures of the two. “Okay, there’s your photographic evidence.”
“It would be rude of me not to say thank you again for getting my Jeep unstuck yesterday,” Gabe said.
Waving my hand, I countered, “It was nothing.”
“Oh, but it wasn’t. It meant a lot to me.” I knew Gabe was no longer talking about the tow.
“Are you here by yourself?” Linc asked.
“Yep.”
My son turned to me. “Can Mr. Renard eat dinner with us?”
“I’m sure Mr. Renard doesn’t want to eat with us, sweetie.” I narrowed my eyes at Gabe. “Do you?”
“As a matter of fact, I would love the company. Besides, I never like to let my fans down.” He winked at me. “Where are we sitting?”
I fought the urge to reach over and smack the smug look right off of Gabe’s face. Instead, I took a few deep breaths and tried to keep my temper at bay. “Linc, why don’t you go wash your hands while Mr. Renard and I get a table?” I suggested.
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”
As soon as Linc was out of sight, I turned back to Gabe. “What are you doing here?” I hissed.
With a shrug, Gabe replied, “The same thing you are—grabbing some dinner.”
“I mean, what are you doing still in town?”
“I booked a room at the Grandview for a few days. I thought I might stick around and see if I could rekindle the writing vibes, even without you.”
Slowly, I shook my head. “You’re going to stay in Hayesville?”
“Yep. Mrs. Paulson was kind enough to rent out the entire third floor to me so I wouldn’t be disturbed.”
Of course Mrs. Paulson had. As Aunt Sadie would say, Rejune Paulson had come out of the womb man-crazy. She might’ve been in her fifties, but she would have been more than happy to make Gabe one of her cougar cubs. I wrinkled my nose at the thought.
“But you’re a big city boy…there’s nothing for someone like you to do here.”
“If you mean the town doesn’t have distractions, you’re correct, and that is exactly what I need.”
I stared at Gabe for a few moments before huffing in frustration. “You’re impossible.”
“Right now, I’m hungry, so what do you say we get a table?”
“Fine,” I grumbled.
The owner of The Hitching Post, Kenneth Maxwell, sat propped up on a stool at the register. He doubled as both the cashier and host. “How many?”
“Three.”
“Follow me.”
I couldn’t hide my surprise when Gabe motioned for me to go ahead of him. “And here I thought you didn’t have a remotely chivalrous bone in your body,” I remarked.
“I’m full of surprises.”
“I’d say it was more you were full of shit.”
Gabe threw back his head and laughed. Just as Kenneth pointed out our table, Linc arrived back from the bathroom. When I started to pull out my chair, Gabe once again shocked the hell out of me by stepping in front of me to do it himself. “I believe that makes me two and oh when it comes to chivalry points,” he mused.
I rolled my eyes before allowing him to push me up to the table. When I reached out to take a menu from Kenneth, he was staring open-mouthed at Gabe. “Yes, he’s a famous country rocker. I’m sure he’ll sign something for you after dinner.”
Kenneth head jerked back at my response. “I didn’t realize that. I was just surprised to see anyone under sixty pulling a chair out for a woman.” He then turned his interested gaze over to Gabe. “Are you really famous, or is she just pulling my leg?”
Gabe laughed. “She’s telling the truth. I’m the drummer for the band Jacob’s Ladder.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. I think the last time we had anyone famous in town was years ago when they were filming that movie about the circus with the guy who played the sparkly vampire.”
“Sparkly vampire?” Gabe questioned.
“Robert Pattinson. They filmed some scenes for Water for Elephants at a farm not too far from here.”
With a grin, Gabe replied, “I see. He did play a sparkly vampire in the Twilight series. He’s a pretty cool guy though.”
I sucked in a breath. “You know Robert Pattinson?”
“I met him at a party a few years ago right after the last Twilight movie came out—Breaking…whatever it was.”
“Breaking Dawn,” I replied breathlessly.
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
Linc snickered. “Mom thinks he’s hot.”
“I do not,” I protested as I felt warmth flooding my cheeks.
“Yes, you do. You and Aunt Ellie are always talking about how you’d have his babies when there’s a Twilight weekend on Freeform.”
Refusing to look at Gabe, I turned to Kenneth. “Linc and I will have sweet tea.”
After bobbing his head, Kenneth looked over at Gabe. “And you?”
“I’ll have the same.”
“Three sweet teas it is. I’ll let May know. She’ll be your waitress tonight.”
“Thanks, Kenneth.”
After staring down at my menu for a few seconds, I could feel Gabe’s eyes on me. Finally, I dared myself to look up at him. “What?”
“Robert Pattinson?” he asked with a smirk.
“Shut up. I should be able to have my celebrity crushes without any judgement.”
Gabe held up his hands. “No judgment, just surprise. It makes sense now why you turned me down.” With a wink, he added, “I must not be your type.”
“Trust me, whether or not you’re my type had nothing to do with me turning you down.”
May returned with our drinks. “Rae, can I get you and Linc your usual?”
I looked at Linc for confirmation before replying, “Sure.”
“What about you?” she asked Gabe. At that moment, she got a good look at him then proceeded to freak out. “Oh my God, you’re Gabe Renard. You’re in Jacob’s Ladder.” Her usually porcelain face flushed to a tomato red.
Gabe flashed her a genuine smile. “I am. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I’ve listened to you guys for years. I even have some of your CDs from when Micah was still in the band.”
“That is a long time.”
With her free hand, May fanned her face. “Whatever you want to eat is on the house—my treat.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
She giggled. “I insist. Then I can tell everyone I bought Gabe Renard dinner!”
“While I’m still not agreeing, I’ll take the chicken and dumplings, macaroni and cheese, and the fried okra.”
With a trembling hand, May wrote down Gabe’s selections. “I’ll be right back.”
“Looks like if you play your cards just right, May might take you home with her tonight,” I mused.
He grinned. “She’s not my type.”
“Because she’s old?” Linc questioned while wrinkling his nose.
Shaking his head, Gabe replied, “Because she’s tall and blonde.” His gaze came to me. “I like petite brunettes.”
I rolled my eyes in reply to his come-on. “Linc, do you have any homework you could be working on?”
“Nope. I got it all done at the shop.”
“You’re absolutely sure? We’re not going to get home and you realize you were supposed to do another project like the solar system one?”
Linc laughed. “No, Mom. I promise.”
“Good.”
Gabe broke apart one of the cornbread muffins in his hand. “Tell me, Linc, do you play any sports?”
“Soccer.”
Gabe glanced from Linc to me. “Not football like your mom?”
“I’m really not comfortable with him playing until he’s a little older,” I said.
“He’s got plenty of time. I didn’t start playing until I was about twelve.”
“Was it because your mom was a scaredy-cat and thought you’d get hurt?” Linc asked while shooting a look at me.
Before I could respond, Gabe shook his head. “No. It was more about the fact that we were living overseas at the time.”
“Was your dad in the military?” I asked.
“No. My parents were missionaries.”
I stilled my fork midway to my mouth. “You’re the son of missionaries?”
“What does that seem so shocking to you?”
“I guess I never stopped to imagine it.” I gave him a pointed look. “Maybe it was because of your behavior when we first met.”
“How did he act?” Linc asked.
“Uh…” While Gabe smirked at me, I quickly answered, “Not very Christian.”
May interrupted us by bringing our food. “Let me know if you guys need anything else.”
“Thanks,” Gabe replied as he picked up his fork. When we were once again alone, Gabe stared intently at me. “As I said this morning, I am truly sorry for the way I acted yesterday.”
I cocked my brows at him. “And this morning?”
With a scowl, Gabe added, “Yes, this morning as well.”
“Whatever,” I muttered before taking a sugary sweet sip of tea.
“You are going to forgive him, aren’t you Mom?” Linc asked.
As Gabe leaned forward expectantly in his seat, I slowly set my glass down. “You know, Linc, that’s really between me and Mr. Renard.”
“But they always say in Sunday school that we’re to accept sincere apologies and love our neighbor.”
For the first time in my life, I regretted that my son paid attention in church. I obviously couldn’t tell him that part of me not forgiving Gabe stemmed from the fact that he was a sex fiend who wanted to get in my pants. He also wasn’t old enough grasp the enormity of a man being a sexist pig either. “Fine. In light of what you said, I forgive him.”
Gabe smiled. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“Let it be noted for the record that it was only under duress,” I hissed at Gabe.
“I’ll take it in spite of that.”
Even as we began devouring the Southern goodness on our plates, the conversation never died down. Like an obsessed member of the paparazzi, Linc wanted to know every facet of what it was like to be in a band, and Gabe was kind to humor Linc’s incessant questions about what it was like to get a record deal and to go out on tour.
Of course, as I watched Linc’s eyes light up as he heard about the antics of life on the road, I couldn’t fight the uneasy feeling that came over me. It was the same feeling I got whenever Linc talked about music and wanting to play the guitar. My heart had been broken too many times because of music. I’d ultimately lost my mother and my boyfriend because of music, and I would be damned if I lost my son as well.
With his plate empty, Gabe leaned back in his chair and rubbed his belly. “Damn, that was good. I can’t remember the last time I had really good Southern food. I guess it was the last time I was at my mom and dad’s in Texas.”
“They really do have the best food in town. I guess that would be obvious since we eat here at least once a week,” I said as I wiped my mouth with my napkin.
“Yeah, Linc told me you did.” The moment the words left his lips, a panicked look took over Gabe’s face. At the same time, Linc gasped next to me.
Glancing between the two of them, I asked, “Wait, when did you say that?”
Linc swallowed hard. “Uh…back when Gabe was asking what was good.”
Although I didn’t remember Linc mentioning our dining habits to Gabe, I merely nodded. After clearing his throat, Gabe asked, “So who’s up for dessert?”
“Yes, pie!” Linc exclaimed as I said, “No, I think we’re good.” Of course, my son wanted to get dessert, which would equate to having to spend even more time with Gabe. Truthfully, it wasn’t that bad spending time with Gabe. I certainly liked the side I was seeing of him tonight more than the one I had the previous day or that morning, even if Linc’s eyes were a little too star-struck for my liking.
“Come on, Mom, we always have pie.” Linc waggled his brows at me. “I’ll even get the lemon and let you have some.”
I laughed at his antics. “You sure know how to sweeten the pot, don’t you?” With a sigh, I added, “Fine. You can have a piece of pie, but don’t get lemon just because of me. I can get my own.” I’d barely raised my hand off the table to wave May over when she came charging forward.
“Is there something I can get you?” she asked, ignoring me and staring straight at Gabe.
While I rolled my eyes at her actions, Gabe merely smiled politely. “Yes, we’d like dessert.”
“Yes, yes, of course. What kind would you like?” Once she scribbled down our orders for two slices of chocolate pie and one of lemon, May scurried off to the kitchen.
“You handled her pretty well,” I remarked.
“After all these years, I’m kinda used to it.”
“Are fans always that way?” While I wanted to ask if women were always that way around him, I decided it was best to stick to fans in general—I didn’t have any doubt in my mind what women were like with Gabe Renard. It was part of why he’d seemed so horrified yesterday when I’d told him no.
“Most of the time, yes. While I try to just handle it politely, my brother Eli goes way over the top. He starts conversations, asks about their families, what they do for a living.” With a smile, Gabe shook his head. “He was born to be a politician. He’s all about the shaking hands and kissing babies.”
I laughed. “He sounds pretty cool.”
“He is. He and my sister are so much alike—all sunshine and roses. Me, I’m more Oscar the Grouch when it comes down to it.”
Tilting my head at him, I teased, “You? Never.”
Gabe grinned. “Whatever.”
May returned with our pies. When Gabe practically inhaled his, Linc and I stared at him in shock. “That was amazing. I think I’ll get another slice.”
Loud chatter interrupted us. At the sight of my Aunt Sadie’s silver bouffant peeking out from under her wide-brimmed red hat, I fought the urge to dive under the table and hide. I’d forgotten she and the other silver-haired ladies loved to come by The Hitching Post for desert after their Red Hat Society meetings. There was no way in hell she wasn’t going to come over and demand to know what I was doing with Gabe. She might’ve been an old maid, but she was bound and determined that her nieces would tie the knot.
When she met my gaze, her blue eyes widened. After saying something to the other women, she made a beeline to our table—well, as much of a beeline as a ninety-two-year-old woman can.
“Well, well, look who it is—my darling niece and nephew,” Aunt Sadie said. Her gaze bobbed from us over to Gabe. “And I don’t believe I’ve met your handsome companion.”
“This is Gabe Renard. He’s just passing through from Atlanta,” I replied.
Aunt Sadie smiled her usual cat-ate-the-canary smile. “Why, I’m aware that he’s not from here, sweetheart. I know everyone in this town, and I’ve certainly never had the pleasure of meeting him before.”
Although Aunt Sadie had never married, she certainly had never lacked for male attention. After her fiancé had been killed in World War II, she’d vowed never to marry. While she might not have ever donned the white dress and veil, she was not going to die a virgin. She was probably one of the first liberated women of her day in Hayesville.
When Aunt Sadie dangled her hand in front of Gabe’s face, he politely shook it. “It’s very nice meeting you as well. In my short stay in town, I’ve met several of Rae’s family members.”
“I’m sure the pleasure is all mine.”
“Would you like to join us for dessert?” Gabe asked.
“I would love to.”
“But what about your friends? Surely it would be rude to leave them,” I piped up.
Aunt Sadie waved her hand. “They certainly won’t mind me jumping ship to have dessert with my niece and her handsome friend.”
My mouth gaped open when Gabe rose out of his chair to pull out the chair next to him for Sadie. Was he seriously that thoughtful and considerate? It was too hard to believe the same egotistical jerk-wad from the previous day and that morning was acting like he was a gentleman out of a Jane Austen novel. It was like he had pulled a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
“If you don’t close your mouth, Reagan, you might catch a fly,” Aunt Sadie chided as she took a seat.
After clamping my lips together, I made the mistake of looking at Gabe, who had the audacity to wink at me like he knew exactly what I was thinking about him.
God, he was such an egomaniac, and man, I hoped he didn’t make a reappearance in my dreams that night. Well, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad…