The Birthday List(59)

“Guilty,” I grinned, “but my offer still stands. How about I come hang at the restaurant tomorrow for dinner and help you make a list?”

She gave me her brightest smile, making all the nights alone worth it. “It’s a date.”




“Try this one next.” Poppy set a jar down in front of me. On the bottom was what looked like chili and, on the top, a layer of corn bread.

I picked up my spoon from the tiny jar of quinoa salad I’d just demolished and dove right in.

“Well?” she asked as I chewed. “Good enough for the fall menu?”

I swallowed my bite and nodded. “Good. Really good. Add it.”

She smiled and took my jar away before I could take another bite.

“Hey! I was going to eat that.”

“One sec.” She held up a finger and disappeared back into the kitchen.

“Damn it, woman,” I cursed as she giggled from behind the swinging door.

She’d been making me try new recipes since I’d gotten here thirty minutes ago. Now that it was September, she was on a mission to get her fall menu settled and I was her test subject. Except the only thing she’d actually let me eat was the fucking quinoa.

Not that it wasn’t good. Just like everything she made, it was tasty. But I was a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. I wanted the fucking chili and corn bread. Or the beef stew she’d brought out. Or the homemade chicken noodle soup. Not quinoa with red peppers and zucchini.

When she came back out a few moments later, she had three new jars.

“If you take these away from me,” I gave her my best scowl, “I’m going to riot.”

She laughed, setting down a jar of what looked like baked ziti. The next one had my favorite chicken potpie and the last was filled with cheesecake and some type of caramel sauce.

“I didn’t want you to get too full during my tasting, but I’m all done. These you can just eat.”

“Finally.” I started with the cheesecake, polishing it off without delay before digging into the rest of my meal. When I was finished, she ran the dishes back to the kitchen and then came around to my side of the counter, bringing over a newspaper and her laptop.

“Okay.” She handed me the newspaper first. “Green stars are the rentals I like. Red are the maybes.”

It took me less than a minute to completely dismiss all of the red, since they were in mostly college-kid neighborhoods, and all but two of the green stars. “Don’t use that property management company,” I told her, pointing to one of the green stars that I’d crossed out. “I’ve heard they have a habit of keeping people’s deposits and are assholes when it comes to maintenance.”

She frowned. “Well, then we don’t need to look online. There wasn’t much else to see.”

“How desperate are you to move?”

“Not desperate.” Poppy studied my face, her eyes traveling from mine, down my nose and to my mouth. “Kind of desperate.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. I wish I had thought of it sooner before everything was taken by the college kids.”

“Yeah. Your timing is off.”

It was the beginning of September and college was back in swing. Coffee shops around town were packed full of studying students. Traffic was a nightmare if you got within a mile of the university. And available rental space was nonexistent.

“Sorry.” I covered her hand resting on the counter.

She turned her palm up and threaded her fingers with mine. “It’s okay.”

“Cole?” a voice snapped behind us.

Oh, fuck. I knew that snap.

Aly.

Just as I’d expected, she was standing five feet away when Poppy and I turned. Her eyes were locked on our linked hands.

I smiled, hoping she’d be cool and not make this awkward. “Aly.”

But no.

She screwed up her mouth and gave Poppy the death glare—the same glare I used to get whenever I left my towel on the bathroom floor.

Aly marched the remaining distance and stood right by my side. “Who’s this?”

“Poppy, meet Aly. Aly, this is Poppy, and this is her restaurant.”

Poppy untwisted her fingers from mine and stood, extending her hand to Aly. “Hi. Nice to meet you. Can I get you something to eat or drink?”

Aly glared at Poppy’s hand, then crossed her arms over her chest as she turned that glare on me. “That didn’t take you long, did it?”

“Aly, don’t.”

“No, you don’t.” She uncrossed her arms and jabbed a finger into my shoulder. “You could have at least waited a little while. We were together for two years, Cole. Two years. How could you have moved on already? Did our relationship mean nothing to you?”

I looked over at Poppy, hoping she could read the I’m sorry in my eyes. The last thing I wanted was to bring drama into her life, but knowing Aly, she wasn’t going to make this easy on me.

“It’s okay.” Poppy’s gaze softened “I’ll let you guys talk.” Then she backed away, disappearing into the kitchen and sending Helen out to watch the counter.

When she was gone, I stood, gesturing to the door. “Let’s go talk outside.” By some miracle, Aly followed me without a word, though she huffed behind me as we walked. By the time we reached the sidewalk outside, her anger had morphed to hurt.