Blossom Street Brides (7 page)

He headed across the street and ordered coffee and a croissant to tide him over until dinner. He took the plate outside to a vacant table and sat under an umbrella in order to watch the passersby. He enjoyed people watching and realized that said a lot about him and his personality. Never one to seek the limelight himself, he took pleasure in observing others.

Before they’d left California, Rooster had booked a hotel room for the weekend in downtown Seattle. Max remained conflicted, but Rooster could read the handwriting on the wall when it came to the future of their wine-distribution business. Sooner or later Max, who owned the controlling portion of the partnership, would need to make a decision, and as far as Rooster could see it boiled down to two options—either sell it or move it.

No matter what Max decided, Rooster was tired of living in California. He was ready for a change, so if Max were to decide to relocate, Rooster wouldn’t have a problem with the move. He’d spent a fair amount of time in the Seattle area over the years and enjoyed the lush green forests and blue skies.

Rooster was glad he’d arrived at The French Cafe when he did. The small cafe and bakery, which was now open for dinner, did a bustling business, and soon the tables inside started to fill up.

The yarn store closed at six, and he watched Lydia turn the sign over on the door. A couple moments later the
woman who’d been knitting with Bethanne left the shop.

Rooster had noticed her right away. Hard not to, with those piercing blue eyes and that dark hair. The combination was striking. She was an eye-catcher for sure—classy, too. Nicely dressed as she was in a pink suit, he guessed she must work in one of the office buildings downtown. He especially liked her choice of jewelry. She wore a cameo with matching earrings. He remembered his mother had a similar one, although he didn’t know what had happened to it after she’d died.

He suspected the woman who wore the cameo wasn’t married, although the absence of a diamond ring was no guarantee. She had a ring on her left hand, but it was an opal surrounded by diamond chips. Generally, Rooster didn’t notice details like this, but she’d caught his eye right away. Fact was, he’d paid attention to just about everything there was to notice about her.

He remembered when Max first met Bethanne. His friend had lost his daughter, and then within a short amount of time, his wife, too. The double whammy had sent Max spiraling emotionally. In an effort to escape the pain, Max had taken to his bike, randomly traveling across the country from one state to the next, with no agenda and no purpose in mind other than to forget and to heal.

Rooster joined him intermittently, mostly to check up on Max and to tell him what was happening with the business, although at the time Max showed little interest in anything to do with their livelihood.

Then while the two of them were on the road, Max had
met Bethanne and almost overnight everything had changed. First they’d followed her to Vegas and then to Branson, Missouri. Max had been smitten, big-time. At first Rooster was amused, and later he was grateful. Falling in love with Bethanne had pulled Max out of the deep emotional pit he’d slid into after such devastating losses. She’d given him a reason to move forward, both with life and the business.

Even now Rooster was convinced that if Bethanne had chosen to remarry her ex-husband, Max would have accepted her decision and returned to California to the life he had once known. Love had the power to heal, and Rooster had taken note of that lesson.

Rooster sat up straighter. To his surprise, the woman with the cameo crossed the street and headed directly for The French Cafe. She caught his gaze and smiled politely, acknowledging that she remembered him from the yarn store. She passed him and went inside the small restaurant. Within a few minutes she was back with a cup of coffee. Apparently, all the tables inside were taken, because she came outside and claimed the table on the other side of the entrance away from him. She pulled out the chair and sat so she could look out over the street. She appeared to be waiting for someone, because she glanced anxiously at her wrist and at the people coming and going along the sidewalk.

After a few moments, she hurriedly reached for her purse and brought out her cellphone. She glanced down at it and seemed to be reading a text message.

Rooster watched as she quickly typed out a response. Reading her body language was easy. Her shoulders tensed
as she exhaled with what looked like irritation. Rooster guessed whoever she was waiting for was going to be late.

Seeing how busy the cafe was, it seemed a shame that they should each claim an entire table. Having finished the croissant, Rooster discarded the paper plate, reached for his coffee, stood, and approached her.

“Would you mind if I joined you?” he asked. “These tables are becoming a premium.”

She glanced up, and a look of surprise came over her before she nodded. “Sure. Why not?”

He pulled out the chair across from her. “Name’s Rooster.”

“So I heard. I’m Lauren. Lauren Elliott.” She held out her hand for him to shake. “Is your name really Rooster?”

“It’s what my friends call me.” He briefly took her soft hand in his, then leaned back in a relaxed pose and crossed his long legs, propping his ankle on his knee.

Clearly amused, she smiled. “I have to say it’s one of the more original names I’ve heard in a while.”

“I’m pretty much used to it. Last name is Wayne.” He sipped his coffee. “You’re waiting for someone?” He’d deduced that much easily enough.

She glanced at her wrist. “He’s already fifteen minutes later than we originally agreed, and then he texted to let me know he was running a few minutes behind. Like I hadn’t noticed.”

“Not a great way to start off your evening, is it?”

“No, but this is typical of Todd.” She didn’t sound overly pleased with her date.

Her phone beeped again, and she reached for it. “Now he says he’ll be another fifteen minutes.” She tossed her phone back in the purse and looked across the table at Rooster. “I’m not waiting.” She hesitated and then seemed to reach some decision within herself. “I realize it’s last-minute, but how would you like to go to dinner with me?”

“What about your friend?”

She shrugged. “He had his chance. As it happens, he’s the one who insisted we meet. I told him earlier we were finished, but he wanted to talk me out of breaking up with him. Fat chance of that happening, especially now, although my mind was already made up.”

“Long-term relationship?”

“Too long. Are you interested in dinner?”

“Sure.” He didn’t want to appear overly eager; the truth was, he could hardly believe his luck. “Do you have someplace in mind?”

“Do you like Thai?”

“Love it.”

“Great. I know a small restaurant a couple of blocks over.”

This was certainly an interesting development, not that Rooster objected. He just never expected a classy woman like Lauren to be interested in him. Not that she was. Her date had basically stood her up and she didn’t want to eat alone, and he was handy. Still, he wasn’t going to complain.

Seeing that the place she mentioned was within a short distance, he left his bike parked down the block from the
yarn store. They walked side by side, and right away Rooster noticed the curious looks people gave them. It didn’t bother him. They did make an odd couple. Him in his motorcycle gear and her, the elegant and stylish businesswoman.

“Are you going to let your date know?” he asked.

“Oh, I probably should, but a part of me would like him to arrive and wonder where I went. Although, heaven knows Todd should be able to figure it out on his own.” She retrieved her cell, punched out the message, and tucked it back in her purse. “That’s one of the things I dislike about myself. I’m such a good girl, always doing what’s right, always following the rules.”

“You consider that a flaw?”

“Not a flaw—it’s just that I’m so predictable.”

Rooster shook his head. “I wouldn’t say that. You surprised me by asking me to dinner.”

She laughed, and the sound was as pleasant as a melody. “Truth is, I surprised myself. You seem like an interesting man.”

“Really?” Rooster didn’t view himself that way. Max was the good-looking one. Rooster had never been much of a ladies’ man and had always been a bit awkward around the opposite sex, which was probably the reason why at age thirty-nine he remained single. He’d married young and it’d been a mistake, one he’d put behind him a long time ago.

“You’re a good person to have as a friend, aren’t you?” Lauren asked, glancing toward him as they walked.

Ah, so that was it. She was letting him know she wasn’t interested in him romantically. He was being friend zoned.

“What was that?” she asked.

He frowned. “What was what?”

“That look, just now. What’s wrong?”

Rooster wasn’t aware he’d given any outward indication to what he was thinking. That she found it easy to read him came as a revelation. “It’s nothing.”

“No, it’s not. What did I say?”

She seemed to be mentally reviewing their conversation. “I mentioned that you must be a good person to have as a friend. It isn’t everyone who would ride twenty hours, or however long it took you to reach Seattle, with a buddy, especially when you knew that once you arrived you’d be on your own.”

“I enjoy long bike rides and it’d been a while since my last road trip,” Rooster answered, dismissing her praise.

“You found that comment insulting?”

“No.”

“I probably wouldn’t have said anything, but being a good friend is a quality I want on my list.”

“List?”

“Oh, sorry, it’s just a list that I made up of what I think is important.”

“In a man?”

“In anyone.” She pointed straight ahead. “That’s the restaurant I mentioned. The food’s wonderful.”

From the way she quickly changed the subject, Rooster could see she regretted saying anything about this list she’d compiled.

When Lauren said the restaurant was small, she wasn’t
kidding. The scent of spices and basil reminded Rooster once more of how long it’d been since he’d had a decent meal. They were seated right away in a booth that required them to remove their shoes and climb into the low seats. Rooster gave Lauren his hand and helped her into the booth before taking his own seat. The petite waitress dressed in traditional Thai garb immediately brought them menus. After discussing the wine option, they chose a bottle of sauvignon blanc.

Lauren’s cellphone chirped. She ignored it. “It’s probably your friend,” Rooster said. “Probably,” she agreed, “but I’m with you and I consider it impolite to communicate with one man when I’m with another.”

Rooster could get to like this woman. “You really are a good girl, aren’t you?”

“I told you so. It’s downright irritating.”

He didn’t know if she was joking or not, but he laughed out loud.

A smile lit up her face. “You have a wonderful laugh. Full-bodied and carefree. I like that.”

“Is that on your list as well?”

“No, but I’m thinking it should be.”

Their meal was delicious, but Rooster thought it could well have been the company more than the peanut sauce. He didn’t ask Lauren a lot of getting-to-know-you questions mainly because this was probably going to be the only time he would see her.

She, however, seemed curious about him. Rooster was
happy to answer her questions. His one comment was on her jewelry.

“Thank you,” she said, fingering the cameo. “I work in a jewelry store and have a small collection of cameos.”

“I thought diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”

“Don’t get me wrong, diamonds are beautiful, but I find myself attracted to the subtle art and craftsmanship of the cameos.”

When they’d finished, he insisted on paying and left a generous tip in cash. “I’ll walk you to your car,” he said as he helped her out of the booth.

“I didn’t drive. My condo building is just off Blossom Street.”

“Then I’ll walk you to your building.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

He suspected this was her way of giving him the brushoff, which was fine. They’d had a pleasant evening. Rooster had enjoyed himself and didn’t expect anything more. Being with Lauren Elliott was far better than spending the night in his hotel room or killing an hour or two in the lobby bar.

“That is, unless you want to see me to my condo,” she added.

“Seeing you home is part of the code of being a gentleman that my father taught me.”

“You are a gentleman,” she whispered.

“On your list?” he joked.

“As a matter of fact, it is.”

They were outside by now, and with daylight savings time in effect it was still light out. “You better tell me about
this list,” he said, seeing that the subject had come up a number of times in the course of the evening.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

“Really?”

“It would send most men running for the hills.”

“I’m not most men.”

“I’m beginning to see that.” She straightened slightly as though gathering her resolve. “It’s a list of qualities I’m looking for in a …”

Rooster strained to hear the last word. Her voiced dipped low, and he hadn’t caught it. “In a what?” he asked.

She glanced at him and repeated a bit louder this time. “Husband.”

Rooster had never heard of anyone making up a husband list, and it amused him.

“You aren’t going to comment?”

“Not really. I’ll admit that I hadn’t heard of this idea, but it’s probably a good one.”

Lauren readjusted her purse strap over her shoulder. “I’ve always been a list maker, and after dealing with Todd for the last several years, I don’t want to make the same mistakes I did with him. This way, I have a guide and I can quickly make up my mind.”

Rooster couldn’t help being curious. “What did you decide about me?” It might be a mistake to ask, but that didn’t hold him back.

“I decided to add being a good friend to the list because of you.”

“I’m honored.”

“You’re generous, I noticed.”

“How do you know that?”

“I saw the tip you left our waitress.”