“Hey there, Tori. What will it be tonight?” Rose asked, leaning casually against the countertop.
Her eyes barely glanced at the menu before she made her decision. “How about the chicken pot pie and some hot tea?”
Rose smiled. “You got it.” She spun from the counter and disappeared into the back, returning a few minutes later with a teacup and a small kettle of hot water. “I’m surprised you didn’t starve over the holiday with us closed,” Rose said with a smile.
“I was able to depend on the kindness of strangers,” Tori admitted. “The Edens invited me over for dinner.”
Rose perked up in quite a peculiar way. “The Edens, huh? Are they all in town for Christmas?”
“Yes. At least they were. I met all of them on Christmas Eve. Some of them may have left by now.”
The waitress nodded, a hint of disappointment in her dark brown eyes. She turned and Tori followed Rose’s line of sight to where her son was sitting alone in a corner booth. The little boy was eight or nine, and whenever Tori came in, he was doing homework or playing his handheld video games while Rose worked.
“I always had a soft spot for Xander. We dated on and off in high school before he left for college. He had a smile that would make my heart just melt. Very charming. It’s no wonder he’s a politician. He has a way with people.”
Tori nodded in agreement. “He was very nice. I was more worried about Wade, though. He’s been giving me some trouble.”
“Worried? Why? My sister went to high school with him.” A sly grin spread across Rose’s face. “A lot of women in this town wouldn’t mind Wade Mitchell giving them trouble. Some say he’s the pick of the litter.”
Tori chuckled, a hint of bitterness beneath it. “Well, those people would say differently if they had something he wanted. He’s very persistent and downright irritating when he doesn’t get his way.”
“What could you possibly have that he wants? You just got here.”
“He wants my land.”
Rose frowned. “The land you just bought?”
She nodded and sipped her tea. “It belonged to his family and he wants to buy it back.”
“I don’t know why he’d want it. None of the kids have ever shown much interest in the farm. But I’ll tell you, if I had to have someone causing me trouble, I’d take an Eden boy in a heartbeat. At least you’d have something nice to look at while you suffered.”
That was certainly true. All the Eden boys were attractive. Even Brody, if you could look past the scars and the attitude. If given her choice of the lot, the decision wouldn’t be difficult. Wade was certainly her type: dark hair, soulful eyes, a wicked smile… Unfortunately, the magnificent view was a distraction she couldn’t afford. “As nice as that all sounds, he’s becoming a major pain in my—”
“Well, speak of the devil.” Rose straightened immediately and started fidgeting with her dark brown ponytail. Tori turned in her seat and found Wade there, hanging up his coat on a rack by the door. She turned back before he could see her, hoping he wouldn’t notice her. Unfortunately, Rose was strutting around so conspicuously in front of her that he was certain to look her way eventually.
“Hey, Rosie,” Wade said, sitting down at the counter a few seats away. “How’ve you been?”
Rose slid down the counter as if she’d been pulled in by his tractor beam. “Good. How about you?”
“Busy. How’s your dad doing these days?”
Tori watched the smile fade from Rose’s face. “He’s okay. I’m sure he’s bored out of his skull, but twenty-three hours a day in a cell will do that to you.”
Wade straightened in surprise. Apparently he hadn’t kept up with the latest Cornwall gossip. Even Tori knew that Rose’s dad had gone to jail last year. She didn’t know what for, exactly, but it didn’t sound as though he would be getting out anytime soon.
“Oh, I hadn’t heard he was, uh… I’m sorry. Um…do you guys have the pot roast special tonight?”
Rose smiled again and let the uncomfortable subject drop. “That’s only on Mondays. But we’ve got the sliced roast beef with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes. It’s almost as good.”
“That’ll do. And a lemon-lime soda, please.”
“You bet.” Rose shot Tori a wink and disappeared into the kitchen.
Alone at the counter with him, Tori couldn’t decide if she should shrink into herself and hope she became invisible or sit up tall and dare him to say something to her. She hadn’t seen him since Christmas Eve. Since they kissed. And now she didn’t quite know how to act. Was he still the enemy? Her body didn’t think so, but her brain disagreed. He could be exploiting their natural attraction to get his way. She would have to err on the side of caution and continue under the assumption he was the enemy, kisses or no, until he stopped asking to buy her land. She couldn’t trust his motives.