Authors: Shannon Stacey
Tori wouldn’t be asleep yet. Knowing her, she was probably at her computer, so he pulled her up on his phone before he could overthink it.
I have a question. Still awake?
For a little while. Early morning, though.
That sounded like a hint.
It can wait.
I’m not ready to sleep yet. What’s your question?
So friends with benefits. Is this like insurance benefits? Maximum number of visits? Pre-approval?
He smiled and hit Send.
There are forms that have to be filled out. In triplicate.
That made him laugh out loud.
I’m already behind on paperwork?
We can fill it out together. When the mood strikes.
He pondered her words for a while, letting the subtext sink in. Casual and spontaneous.
I’ll make sure to have a pen handy.
As soon as he sent it, he realized that subtext might be too obscure, so he sent a follow-up text.
By pen, I mean condom.
It felt like forever before she responded.
You almost made me choke on my water.
I should let you go to bed. You have an early day tomorrow.
And a staff meeting. Whee.
He heard the sarcasm as clearly as if she’d said the words out loud.
Good luck. And good night.
Good night, Max. xox
Kisses and hugs. It was a good start, and Max was smiling as he checked the locks on the doors, set the alarm system and went to bed. A very good start.
Chapter Nineteen
The staff meeting was scheduled for ten, since it was squarely between breakfast and lunch. Tori had gone in for the early shift and was done, so she took off her apron and made herself a coffee before sitting at the counter with Liz, Ava, Carl and Gavin. Paige had Sarah on her hip, no doubt because Rose had shown up for the meeting, as well.
“I know you’ve all heard the great news. In a couple of weeks, Gavin’s heading to Kennebunkport to wow the upper class with some of the Trailside Diner’s best dinner specials.” She paused while they all cheered, which made Gavin blush. “I’m so proud of you, Gavin, and I hope...”
Paige choked up and then they all got a little teary when Gavin walked around the counter to wrap his arms around her, baby and all. “I wouldn’t have this chance without you.”
“And you’d better make the most of it.” She patted his back, and then laughed when Sarah gave him a good shove.
“To add to our joy,” she continued once Gavin was seated again, “Liz’s pregnancy has the distinction of being the worst-kept secret in the history of Whitford.”
Tori caught Liz’s smile through the corner of her eye, and the way she slid her hand over her belly. “I wonder who got the coupons for being the first to tell Fran.”
“I told her myself,” Rose said. “And, yes, I made her give me the coupons.”
They all laughed, but then Paige’s expression turned serious. “I’ve put an ad in some of the bigger newspapers and online. Needless to say, I’m hoping to hire a cook as soon as possible. Until then, we’re going to try to make do by cutting back on the menu temporarily and keeping it simple.”
“I think the worst of the morning sickness is behind me,” Liz said. “I felt fine this morning, but it does kind of come and go.”
“For now, I’m going to open. Then, ideally, I’d like Tori to come in midmorning and stay until Ava comes in at two. I’ll come back in and cook for the dinner crowd, with Rose and Liz both stepping in when we need more hands on deck.” She stopped and looked at Tori. “I know you’re supposed to be
really
part-time, but if you could do the regular hours until we get a cook or Liz is over the hump, I’d really appreciate it.”
Tori had been prepared for this and given it a lot of thought. On the one hand, she couldn’t cut corners on her design work. It took years to build a reputation and no time flat to lose it. But these were her friends and, most importantly, Gavin wouldn’t have this opportunity if not for Paige.
“I can do it,” she said. “Honestly, it’s easier for me to manage my work schedule if I know up front when I’m working rather than being called in at random times.”
“Thank you, Tori.”
She sipped her coffee while Paige went down the line, speaking to each of them about the schedule change and making sure everybody was on board. Not surprisingly, they were all willing to do whatever it took to keep the place going.
“I can still work for the two weeks,” Gavin pointed out.
Paige shook her head. “You can help us streamline the menu so it’s manageable and if we get in a bind, we might call you, but you have planning and packing to do. And you need a haircut, too, before you go.”
They all laughed again, and the meeting was over. Liz was staying, so Tori was free to walk down to the market for some groceries and then head home.
When she unlocked her door, she almost tripped over a bag in the middle of the hallway. There was a book poking out the top and Hailey had a spare key, so she assumed it was a surprise visit from the library fairy.
Shifting both bags of groceries she’d picked up at the market after work to one hand, she picked up the bag and went upstairs. Since she wasn’t on the waiting list for anything she could think of, curiosity got the better of her and she stuck the milk in the fridge, then dug into the bag of books.
The paperback on top looked like some kind of self-help book, and she frowned. There was a typical ILL slip stuck inside, with Hailey’s lighthearted but serious warning of increased fines if the book was late. Hailey said it caused her professional embarrassment but Tori suspected she exaggerated how much in an effort to avoid the work of renewing through the lending library. And there was a sticky note on the front.
Even though I’m not single anymore, I’m still your best friend. I love you and I want you to be happy. Please don’t be mad.
There were four books in the bag and they were all self-help books for dealing with divorce and toxic family relationships. Tori’s hands shook and she dropped the books on her desk, glaring at them since the woman who’d left them in her hallway wasn’t available to be glared at. She wasn’t, however, out of reach.
Hailey answered on the second ring. “Please don’t be mad.”
“I feel like you’re trying to tell me something.”
“I’m trying to tell you what I wrote in the note. You’re my best friend, I love you and I want you to be happy.”
“I
am
happy.”
There was a long pause. “I think you hope if you pretend you’re happy long enough, it’ll become the truth.”
It sounded like Whitford’s do-gooder librarian had been spending too much time in the self-help section. “If this is about Max—”
“It has nothing to do with Max. It’s about
you,
I swear.”
Tori wanted to be mad, but she knew Hailey’s heart was in the right place. And she had to admit her current method of dealing with her parents—namely dodging their calls and avoiding going home—wasn’t working. “Did you pick them by their titles?”
“No, I researched recommended books and then I researched the authors and I read a gazillion reviews.” She heard Hailey sigh. “I wish we had a decent therapist nearby, but I know you’ll come up with a million excuses not to make the minimum of a two-hour round trip to talk to somebody.”
She couldn’t deny it. “Did you highlight the important passages for me?”
“No! Bad things happen to people who write in library books, Tori. Very bad things. And the important passages will be the ones that speak to
you,
not to me.”
Tori sighed and started putting away the rest of her groceries one-handed. “I thought putting some distance between me and my parents would help. It might have if that guy hadn’t invented the telephone.”
“It might have worked very short-term, but it’s been two years. This crap show has become the normal and it’s not going to change on its own.”
She laughed. “I think you snuck a few peeks before you dropped these books off.”
“I read some articles online. Like I said, I want you to be happy. And I don’t even care if you’re happy with a guy. I want you to be happy for
you
.”
“Fine, I won’t be mad.”
“Good. And since I know you’re not mad, I have patrons and have to get back to work.”
Since she’d grabbed a sandwich at the diner, Tori was free to get right to work. But first, bra off and yoga pants on. Then, as she waited for her computer to wake up, her cell phone rang. Her mother’s number showed on the screen and Tori silenced it. She waited, but she didn’t get a new voice mail notification, which meant her mom would try again.
Then, just as her email client coughed up her new messages, she heard the text chime. For a second, she was terrified her mom finally got a smart phone and learned to text, but it was Max.
Are you home?
Yes. Home from work and just sat down to work.
You know what they say about all work and no play.
She laughed.
Are you trying to lure me out to play?
I wish. I’m working, too. Making steak & mushroom kebobs again tonight. Should I make enough for you?
Sighing, she considered her workload. She should eat at her desk, but those kebobs were so good. A couple of hours wouldn’t hurt.
Yes, but I can’t stay for a movie.
A long time passed before his return message.
Can you stay for a quarter of a movie?
Tori frowned at her phone.
Why would I stay for a quarter of a movie?
The average movie is 2 hours so a quarter is 30 minutes. If you can stay 30 minutes, we can have sex instead because nobody wants to watch a quarter of a movie.
Who could resist that logic?
I’ll be there by six. Get some work done.
She took her own advice and focused on clearing the to-do list she’d written out that morning. There was a lot of tweaking—one author didn’t like his title font, another wanted a more futuristic spaceship, which made Tori laugh, and one was thinking about redoing the covers of her entire series to boost sales. It was nitpicky, headache-inducing stuff, so after a while, she sat back in her chair to take a break.
The books next to her computer caught her eye and she grabbed the one on top. It promised a step-by-step plan for healing families split by divorce. By tilting her head, she saw from the spines Hailey had also sent books on being an adult child of divorce and coping with toxic relationships. They didn’t sound nearly as fun as the novels sitting on the other end of the desk.
But Hailey had gone to a lot of work to choose these particular books, so she opened the one in her hand and scanned the table of contents. Then she flipped to the first chapter and started to read.
* * *
Are you naked?
Max hit the send button and waited patiently for Tori’s response.
Why would I be naked?
A man can hope. It sounded more interesting than are you busy?
Of course she was busy. It had been almost two weeks since Tori’s schedule at the diner had changed and they’d fallen into a routine of a lot of work, a lot of texting and the occasional exercising of their friendship’s benefits.
I’m a little busy, but not crazy busy.
This Sunday’s the bye week, so I was thinking we could go to dinner. Not at the diner.
What’s a bye week?
He frowned at his phone screen.
The Patriots don’t play. They have a week off.
Why?
I can explain it to you, but that would probably tip over into actual telephone-call length.
Her reply came almost immediately.
Dinner sounds good. Speaking of, tomorrow night we’re having a goodbye party for Gavin at the diner. You should come.
A party?
He wasn’t sure about a party at the diner. He liked Gavin well enough, especially his cooking, but he didn’t know him that well.
I’ll let you walk me home after.
I’ll be there
,
he responded so quickly he was surprised he didn’t sprain his thumb.
What time?
Eight. The dinner rush will be over and it limits the festivities to an hour.
I’ll see you at eight, then.
Can’t wait. xox
He’d figured out the xox was her way of ending a text conversation. Though he had no way of knowing if she ended all of her conversations that way, he liked to think those kisses and hugs were just for him. And he couldn’t wait to see her, either.
Colin had called him earlier in the week to check up on him and see how the plan had worked. After Max explained the plan had gone south almost immediately, but that they were still friends with benefits, his brother had urged him to be patient and not push too hard, too soon. It wasn’t easy, but he was managing not to tell her how he felt. Barely.
When eight o’clock rolled around the following night, he was confident enough he’d be walking her home, so he went ahead and parked in the back of the bank’s lot and walked to the diner.
He’d been expecting the staff to be there, along with Gavin’s family, so it was a surprise to find what looked like half the population of Whitford in the diner. It took him a while to find Tori, since she was shorter than most everybody else there, but he finally spotted her in the back corner with her aunt and uncle and started toward her.
Halfway there, he was hit by a sudden wave of anxiety. He knew Mike a bit, since he made it over for a few games now and then, but he didn’t really know Jilly at all. Right now, she was the closest thing Tori had to a reliable mother figure and he had no idea how Jilly might feel about their relationship. Or how much she even knew.
“I told you you’d shake each other up.”
Max looked down at Ava, who’d moved in next to him, and was confused until he remembered the advice she’d given him after his second and final date with Nola. But discretion seemed to be in order, or at least as much as was possible. “Tori and I are friends.”
“Mmm-hmm. What is it the young folk call that nowadays? Friends with incentives?”
“Benefits. Friends with benefits.” He told himself it was a correction, not an admission.
“Right. But you need to start thinking long-term. Like friends with retirement plans.”
Max stared at the clock on the wall, wondering if the hands were even moving. An hour, she’d said. The festivities were limited to an hour by the diner closing, but did that mean Tori had to stay the entire hour?
Ava chuckled. “You’re an odd duck, Max Crawford. I like you.”
The way she said it, with amusement but also what sounded like affection, made him look at her. “I think I like you, too.”
“I grow on people. It takes a while.” She shook her finger at him. “But you take my advice and start working on that retirement plan.”
She walked away and Max inwardly cringed when he realized Tori had spotted him at some point and was definitely within earshot. “A retirement plan?”
Max shrugged. “Ava was giving me some financial advice.”
“Ava? Really?”
He didn’t blame her for being skeptical and went for a change of subject. “I was on my way over to say hello. You were with your aunt and uncle.”
“They’re so excited for Gavin they can’t stand still for more than two minutes. And he’s just as bad. They’re definitely moving targets tonight.”
They moved around themselves, making small talk with different people as they went. Max was surprised by how well he managed. Between making the effort to get to know people over the last month and a half and having Tori at his side, he was comfortable in the crowd. Two parties in a row, he thought, where he hadn’t made excuses to leave early.