When August Ends(9)

His expression softened. “I’m not here to chastise you.”

“No? Then why did you come here of all places? You know this is where I work.”

“I came here intentionally, yes…but not to make trouble. I came to apologize.”

I inhaled and calmed down a bit. “Really…”

“Yes. I was hard on you earlier. You were looking out for me. I snapped at you for no good reason. I’m sorry. I can be an insensitive asshole sometimes. It’s who I am. I don’t hide it very well.”

“Well, I’m glad you see that. Not that you’re an asshole—which, yes, you can be sometimes—but that I was only trying to look out for you.”

We stared at each other in silence before he spoke.

“Look, not that I owe you an explanation, but I didn’t come to Lake Winnipesaukee to fuck around with women or complicate my life. I came to get away from stuff like that. So you don’t need to worry about me and what’s her name. I don’t even remember what her name was, to be fair. All I want is to be left alone—some peace. That’s the truth.”

“I seriously feel like you think I’m this crazy buttinski.”

“A what?”

“Buttinski. You’ve never heard that term?”

“No. Is that a New Hampshire thing?”

“No.” I laughed. “It means someone who meddles in other people’s business.”

“Oh. Well, then, you’re definitely that.”

He smiled. I felt goosebumps all over my body. This guy had the strangest effect on me. One minute I was dreading talking to him, and the next all I wanted to do was get lost in his big brown eyes.

I cleared my throat and grabbed the pad of paper out of my apron. “What can I get you?”

“I’ll take whatever you recommend. I didn’t even look at the menu. I just came to say sorry, actually. But since I’m here, I might as well eat.”

“I’ll hook you up.”

He cocked a brow. “Should I be concerned?”

“No. I’m not gonna spike your food or anything, although maybe I should after the way you spoke to me today.” I winked so he didn’t think I was still hung up on that whole thing.

I ended up asking the chef to make Noah one of his specialty burgers with mushrooms, Swiss, and fried onions.

I handed Noah the plate with a heaping portion of garlic parmesan fries and watched as he devoured his meal. It gave me a strange pleasure to be feeding him, which was not something I could say I’d ever felt before. Look at the way he’s inhaling that food. Poor guy must have been starving after slaving away all day.

I imagined what other things he might do with such vigor. I shook my head and forced myself back to work.

Later, when he tried to give me his credit card, I held up my hand. “It’s on me.”

“I can’t let you do that.”

“Seriously…it’s on the house. Told the chef you were a friend. He insists.”

I paid for his meal with my own money. It was the least I could do after everything he was doing around the property.

“Well, thank you. It was really good.” He put his card back in his wallet before throwing down a twenty, which defeated the purpose of my treating him.

“You okay getting home later?” he asked.

“Yeah. I have my car.”

“That clunker I see parked in front of your house?”

“Yeah. It runs well enough, at least to get me here and back.”

“Well, be careful driving home.” He stood. “I’ll see you around.”

He wasn’t even gone yet, and immediately my brain began plotting my next opportunity to see him. Without knowing exactly what I was going to say, I called after him.

“Noah…”

He turned. “Yeah?”

What now?

I had nothing to say. I just didn’t want him to leave.

After a pause, I fabricated a story.

“My mother wants to meet you…to thank you for your help with the house painting. She asked me to invite you over for dinner this week—on Thursday, my night off. I’ll do the cooking, of course, because she isn’t capable of making more than a sandwich lately. I told her you would probably say no, but I promised her I’d ask.”

Noah chewed his bottom lip and seemed hesitant. He finally shrugged. “Okay.”

“Really? You’ll come?”

“It’s just dinner, right? Why not? Thank you for the offer.”

I smiled wide. “Great. Say seven?”

“Yeah. Okay.” He nodded. “Goodnight.”

“’Night.” I watched as he walked away and disappeared out the door.

I was still in a haze when Marlene crept up behind me.

“Spill. Are you fucking that guy or something?”

I shook my head, eyes still on the door. “No.”

“Then why are you grinning like a fool right now?”

“I am?”

“Yes. So why aren’t you fucking him?”

“Because he won’t go near me with a ten-foot pole for starters. He treats me like a kid.” I sighed. “God, he’s…I don’t know…different. I can’t figure him out… Well, except for the fact that he doesn’t seem interested. That part is pretty clear to me.”