to notice Paige McKaslin from the corner of his eye.
Not that he was interested, of course. She was at the front, ringing up the teenagers’ orders, giving them a serious discount by the sounds of things, as the kids chorused their thanks and clamored out the door.
An icy wind skiffed down the aisle and he shivered. It felt like snow.
“Crazy weather, isn’t it?” Paige had a hot cup of coffee and set it on his table. Along with his meal ticket. “As promised. Is there anything else I can get you?”
“Nope. The chili was excellent. It always is.”
“Why thanks. It seemed like a good special to run what with winter thinking it can make a comeback. You just take your time here.”
“I noticed your son earlier. Seems he managed last night out there driving.”
She flushed. “I’m a worrier, I admit it. Lord knows I try to control it, but it gets the best of me. He’s out there driving right now and it’s snowing. Look at that. It’s the last day of April and coming down like it’s December.
“What about your boys? Do they make it home much for the weekends?”
Evan stared at the white slash of snow veiling the world that had been promising a sunny spring. Somehow, the snow keeping things frozen and isolated seemed appropriate. “You know how busy they get.”
“I already do.” Understanding gleamed warm and rare in her eyes as blue as a spring sky, and she set the coffee carafe on the corner of the table, a deliberate movement, as if she had something to say on the matter. “Alex isn’t even gone from home yet, and he’s so busy he might as well be. The youth group this morning, off with his girlfriend this afternoon. They’re going to the mall and then the Young Life night at the church. I’m catering their supper.”
“If I remember right, your diner does a lot of catering for our church events.”
“I do what I can.” She shrugged a slender shoulder, the movement drawing his gaze to the elegant grace of her movements as she crossed her arms around her middle and gazed out the window in the direction of the main road through town, as if her thoughts were firmly with her son. “I don’t think I’ll know what to do with all the peace and quiet once he’s on his own, and that will be too bad, because I’ve gotten to like the chaos.”
She was gently teasing, he realized, his throat strangely aching again with emotions that he, like her, did not want to reveal. “Believe me, the quiet isn’t as nice as the chaos.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that. You’ve confirmed what I’ve already guessed.”
It was the way she confessed that, with a genuine flash of what looked like both regret and a mother’s deep love. Maybe that’s what hooked him like a fish on a line and tugged him so hard through the current of his own wounds that he wasn’t prepared for the speed of it. He wasn’t prepared at all.
He gaped at her, as if he couldn’t breathe the air, seeing the truth in Paige McKaslin in a way he’d never had the time or the reason to before. She was the woman who’d stayed when her husband left, everyone in town knew the story. She made a success of the diner with courtesy and hard work. She raised what appeared to be a great kid, and treated everyone she came across with courtesy and respect.
Why the words spilled over his tongue, he couldn’t say, or where they came from, but he couldn’t believe his own ears, even as he heard himself speak. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to know about that Bible study over at the coffee shop on Wednesdays? I know it’s hosted by a woman from our church.”
“Sure. Katharine is my cousin—”
“I’ve been thinking about going—”
“You have?”
He paused. What was going on? Why was he trembling like a teenager asking a girl out on his first date?
He didn’t want to date. He didn’t want a woman, but he liked Paige. He couldn’t seem to stop himself from asking the question. “Would you come with me?”
“Oh,
Not that he was interested, of course. She was at the front, ringing up the teenagers’ orders, giving them a serious discount by the sounds of things, as the kids chorused their thanks and clamored out the door.
An icy wind skiffed down the aisle and he shivered. It felt like snow.
“Crazy weather, isn’t it?” Paige had a hot cup of coffee and set it on his table. Along with his meal ticket. “As promised. Is there anything else I can get you?”
“Nope. The chili was excellent. It always is.”
“Why thanks. It seemed like a good special to run what with winter thinking it can make a comeback. You just take your time here.”
“I noticed your son earlier. Seems he managed last night out there driving.”
She flushed. “I’m a worrier, I admit it. Lord knows I try to control it, but it gets the best of me. He’s out there driving right now and it’s snowing. Look at that. It’s the last day of April and coming down like it’s December.
“What about your boys? Do they make it home much for the weekends?”
Evan stared at the white slash of snow veiling the world that had been promising a sunny spring. Somehow, the snow keeping things frozen and isolated seemed appropriate. “You know how busy they get.”
“I already do.” Understanding gleamed warm and rare in her eyes as blue as a spring sky, and she set the coffee carafe on the corner of the table, a deliberate movement, as if she had something to say on the matter. “Alex isn’t even gone from home yet, and he’s so busy he might as well be. The youth group this morning, off with his girlfriend this afternoon. They’re going to the mall and then the Young Life night at the church. I’m catering their supper.”
“If I remember right, your diner does a lot of catering for our church events.”
“I do what I can.” She shrugged a slender shoulder, the movement drawing his gaze to the elegant grace of her movements as she crossed her arms around her middle and gazed out the window in the direction of the main road through town, as if her thoughts were firmly with her son. “I don’t think I’ll know what to do with all the peace and quiet once he’s on his own, and that will be too bad, because I’ve gotten to like the chaos.”
She was gently teasing, he realized, his throat strangely aching again with emotions that he, like her, did not want to reveal. “Believe me, the quiet isn’t as nice as the chaos.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that. You’ve confirmed what I’ve already guessed.”
It was the way she confessed that, with a genuine flash of what looked like both regret and a mother’s deep love. Maybe that’s what hooked him like a fish on a line and tugged him so hard through the current of his own wounds that he wasn’t prepared for the speed of it. He wasn’t prepared at all.
He gaped at her, as if he couldn’t breathe the air, seeing the truth in Paige McKaslin in a way he’d never had the time or the reason to before. She was the woman who’d stayed when her husband left, everyone in town knew the story. She made a success of the diner with courtesy and hard work. She raised what appeared to be a great kid, and treated everyone she came across with courtesy and respect.
Why the words spilled over his tongue, he couldn’t say, or where they came from, but he couldn’t believe his own ears, even as he heard himself speak. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to know about that Bible study over at the coffee shop on Wednesdays? I know it’s hosted by a woman from our church.”
“Sure. Katharine is my cousin—”
“I’ve been thinking about going—”
“You have?”
He paused. What was going on? Why was he trembling like a teenager asking a girl out on his first date?
He didn’t want to date. He didn’t want a woman, but he liked Paige. He couldn’t seem to stop himself from asking the question. “Would you come with me?”
“Oh,
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