Page 92 of The Reason I Married Him
Odd, but cute.
“Perfect,” I say and then send it straight to Aubree. Can’t wait to hear what she has to say. “Why are you here, Hayes?”
“Came to bring Rodney a note from my grandma. They’ve recently become pen pals.”
“You didn’t read it, did you?” Rodney asks, looking like he’s about to bark if Hayes did read it.
“Never,” he answers. “It’s sealed with the wax that I recently got her.”
“Excellent,” Rodney says as he snatches the letter out of Hayes’s hand, grabs the box of muffins I brought him, and rushes to his back room.
“What the hell is that about?” I ask.
“Pretty sure they’re sending each other love letters. I got a sneak peek of my grandma’s response once, and there was a red heart next to her name.”
“How do you feel about Rodney possibly being your grandpa?”
Hayes chuckles. “Well, he gave me this bitching hat, so what do you think?”
I laugh and pull the hat off my head to get a better look at it. “At least the embroidery is really clean. It’s good work.”
“I have like three others like this. Not a 576, though. This is a new one.”
“Wow, really?”
Hayes nods. “Yup. Can’t even tell you what the other ones are, can’t remember, but I try to wear them around Rodney as much as I can. I knew he went to a convention this past weekend, so I assumed he’d bring one back for me. Therefore, I didn’t bother wearing one today.”
“So that means you come in here often,” I say.
“Yeah. I’ll hang out with Rodney and keep him company from time to time. He’s a pretty cool guy, a bit eccentric, but his heart is in the right place. And when I say right place, I mean with trains.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, I thought my grandpa was into trains, but Rodney is showing him up.” I glance toward the back. “How long do you think he’ll be back there?”
“A while,” Hayes answers. “He is most likely analyzing the letter. He writes her back right away. Were you guys supposed to hang out?”
“Not really. I don’t know what was supposed to happen today. I just know I was supposed to come here after his convention, so I’m here.”
“Man of his word, I like that.” He nods toward the exit. “Want to head over to The Cliffs for coffee and a donut?”
“Sure, since he took the muffins and ran,” I say. I glance toward the back again. “Do we need to say bye?”
Hayes shakes his head. “Nah, he’ll just snap at you to leave him alone.”
“Fair enough.”
Hayes leads us across the street. We pass The Almond Store, and I don’t miss the way Hayes peeks into the windows, looking for his girl. I remember when I was like that with Cadance. Always looking for her and feeling a sense of joy when I did see her.
If I saw her now, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have the same sense of joy. More like bitter anger.Just how long had she been unhappy with me? To be able to walk away so easily?
So completely.
“Are you enjoying your stay?” Hayes asks as we make it to the other side of the road and walk to The Cliffs, a place of coffee and pastries to-go, sit-down breakfasts and, from the sign, they do catering.
“Yeah, hard not to fall in love with Almond Bay,” I say as we enter the building. It almost feels like we’re stepping into a barn with large plank wooden floors, wood shiplap all along the walls and ceilings, exposed beams, and turrets. Barrels of coffee line up along the register and the stairs that lead to the second floor. Self-serve scoops and paper bags are next to the barrels, as well as a rainbow assortment of licorice. Interesting combination. Along the right of the shop is the coffee and pastry bar, and toward the back seems to be the sit-down area.
Surprised I haven’t come in here yet.
“Morning, Hayes,” a burly man from behind the register counter says. “The usual?”
