She nodded slowly. “I think you do.” Placing a hand on top of her little girl’s head, she guided her back into the apartment.
He turned to go, assuming she was finished talking. “She’s on a date with my ex--brother--in--law at the Bean House. You know the place? It’s a fancy little coffee shop on Peek Avenue.”
He stopped and looked back at her. “Your ex--brother--in--law?”
“Yep. I set them up. My ex has a decent brother. Thought she should see what else is out there.”
He glared at her.
She winked at him. “Maybe you should pop in. Order a latte and scone.”
He’d never eaten a scone in his life. Much less a latte. “Yeah. I’ll do that.”
SHELLEY WAS RIGHT. Daniel was nice and down--to--earth and he smelled good. Like fresh laundry sheets. He owned a hardware store in town. They shared a plate of assorted pastries and sipped their coffees, going through all the usual first date getting--to--know--you banter.
“My mother was a nurse. Worked long hours,” Daniel shared as he lifted the lid off his cup to cool the coffee.
“I work in a practice,” Briar explained. “Regular hours. Seven--thirty to four P.M. I get every third Friday off, too. It’s nice. A good place to work. Good -people.”
“Well, that makes all the difference,” he said, smiling kindly. “Loving what you do.”
She smiled back at him. He really was nice. Nice looking. Steady job. So why could she only think of Knox? Why must she compare Daniel’s every feature, his every expression, to Knox? Was she always going to do this? Because there was no comparison. She would never meet another man to hold up to him in the looks department. And why did sitting here with this guy feel like she was betraying him? Knox and she weren’t together. She owed him nothing.
“Hello, there.” And suddenly Knox was there, pulling up a chair and sitting beside her and Daniel. She blinked for a moment, wondering if her thoughts had conjured him. Was she totally losing it?
But Daniel gaped, too. So this was happening. This was real. Knox was here and crashing her date.
It took her a moment to find her voice. “Knox! What are you doing here?”
“Joining you and . . .” He extended his hand to Daniel. “Hello. Knox Callaghan.”
Daniel returned the handshake. “Daniel Ortega.”
“Joining you and Daniel,” he finished with an easy smile that was so unlike his usual austere self.
“Leave now, Knox!”
“Excuse me, what’s happening here?” Daniel gestured at the three of them.
“You see, Daniel,” Knox began, leaning back in his chair and draping an arm over the back of her chair. “I only think it’s fair to let you know up front that I’m in love with Briar. I messed things up, and she’s not ready to forgive me yet, but I’m going to do everything in my power to win her back.”
“It has nothing to do with forgiveness, you jackass. I just don’t want you. I don’t love you.”
Knox slanted a look at Daniel that was so knowing and smug that she wanted to scream. “I think she does.”
Daniel replaced the lid back on his cup. “I see,” he said, as though he did in fact see.
She reached for his arm. “Daniel, I’m so sorry. This is really embarrassing.”
“No, not at all. This stuff happens. It took me a long time to get over my ex and be ready to even date.” He pushed back his chair. “Clearly, you’re not in a place where you’re ready, Briar. Good luck.” He glanced at Knox. “Nice meeting you.”
Knox shook his hand again. “You, too.”
“I trust you can see she gets back home.”
“Not a problem.”
Briar gaped and then dropped her head into her hands. “This isn’t happening.” She looked up and glared at the back of Daniel as he walked away.
“Nice guy.”
She turned her wrath on Knox. “Yeah. He was. Thanks for screwing that up.”
Knox helped himself to one of the scones on the table. “C’mon. That would have gone nowhere. You still want me.”
“Stop saying that!” She grabbed her purse off the back of the chair. “I’m going home.” He stood and fell into step beside her as she hurried over the plank wood floor of the coffeehouse. “Don’t worry. I’ll walk.”
“Briar, it’s not even close. Don’t be so stubborn,” he said as they stepped out onto the parking lot.
She started toward the sidewalk, not even caring that he was right. She would walk the seven miles in these boots. She didn’t care. She was not climbing into his truck with him.
She kept moving, passing a group of three preppy--looking young men heading to the coffeehouse. One of them elbowed another one and nodded at her and Callaghan.
They just cleared the three men when one called out, “Callaghan!”
Knox stopped and turned. Curious, she stopped, too, and looked back.
The three men stood side by side, legs braced apart, anger bristling off them like wild dogs. “They let you out?”
Briar looked up at Knox. He was tense, the brackets around his mouth drawn tight. He immediately understood what this was. And so did she. These guys knew who he was and they clearly had an ax to grind. “That’s right.”