Teresa Southwick - A Maverick's Christmas Homecoming

“Okay. Here’s an example. I dated a divorce attorney for over two years before we had ‘the talk’ where I found out he never planned to commit. Should have turned off that path a lot sooner.”

“I see.”

“Then there was the accountant who saw too many joint checking accounts split, not necessarily down the middle, by messy breakups. There’s a year and a half I’ll never get back.”

“Okay.”

“The college professor who said up front that he was a loner. That one is my own fault.”

“You’ve definitely had a conflict or two.”

“Yes, I have. As with my job, I can handle it. You don’t need to protect me. I’m a big girl.”

“I noticed.” His eyes were like twin blue flames with the heat turned up high.

“Don’t hold back on my account.”

“It won’t happen again,” he agreed.

“That was a very nice kiss.”

One of his dark eyebrows lifted. “Nice?”

“Location, location, location.” She looked around the storeroom and wrinkled her nose. “For the record? The balcony of your apartment has much better mojo.”

“Everyone’s a critic.” He grinned. “Let me make it up to you.”

“How?” She should be ashamed at being so easy, but darned if she could manage that.

“Meet me here after work and I’ll show you.”

“Okay.” Way too easy. The end of her shift wouldn’t come fast enough.

All it took was Shane’s kiss to make her crabby mood disappear. Probably not smart, but definitely the truth.

After making sure everything in the kitchen was shut down and squared away to his satisfaction, Shane turned off the lights. Only the security ones were left on, making the interior dim. The frenzied chaos so much a part of the food-service business he loved was over for the night and eerie quiet took its place.

He waited for Gianna to get her coat and purse then meet him here. Keyed up from work, he paced while he waited. Part of him hoped she wouldn’t show because he didn’t need more complications in his life. Mostly he couldn’t wait to see her. Fighting the temptation to kiss her had given him a lot of time to imagine what it would be like, but the actual touching of lips had been everything he’d expected and more.

What he hadn’t expected was her straightforward sass and steadfast spunk. The way she’d challenged him about how peculiarly he’d been acting had surprised and charmed him in equal parts. He hadn’t been surprised in a good way since the first time he’d seen Thunder Canyon.

With his parents’ blessing, he’d hired a private investigator to find his biological parents and the guy had narrowed the search to this small town in nowhere, Montana. His restless need to connect the dots about himself had been stronger than his aversion to packing himself off to that small town. The surprise was his instant connection to the rugged beauty of the mountains and trees, being drawn in by the friendliness of the people.

He’d grown up in Los Angeles, for God’s sake, where freeways, traffic and smog ruled. He wasn’t a mountains-and-trees kind of guy. At least he’d never thought so. But the connection he’d felt had only gotten stronger in the five months he’d been here. That was already a lot to lose, and now there was Gianna.

That saying—the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree—was a saying for a reason. And the sins of the father … The rest of the words eluded him but when sins were involved it couldn’t be good. Something deep inside Shane rebelled at the thought of Gianna knowing who his father was.

The kitchen door opened and there she was, wearing a navy blue knit hat pulled over her red hair with curls peeking out by her collar. She had a matching scarf tied loosely around her neck and the ends dangled down the front of her coat. When she smiled, the beauty and warmth melted the place inside him that had started to freeze over.

“So,” she said, “just how are you going to make it up to me?”

He wasn’t quite sure, but when the moment was right, he’d know. “You’ll just have to wait and see. Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

There was a rear restaurant exit and she followed him past the pantry where he’d kissed her earlier and the big industrial-size refrigerator and freezer. He opened the outside door and let her precede him, then closed and locked it after them. The area was illuminated by floodlights at the corners of the building.

“That air feels so good,” she said, drawing in a deep breath. “So clean and clear and cold.”

“How do you feel about a midnight walk in the moonlight?”

Her blue eyes sparkled with merriment. “I feel like that’s a promising start to making things up to me.”

The restaurant employees parked here in the back and since they were the last two to leave, Shane figured the only car in the lot, an older model compact, belonged to Gianna.

He looked down at her. “You don’t come out here alone after your shift, do you?”

“No. It usually works out that several of us leave together.”

“Good.” But tonight he would make sure she was safe. “Are you okay with leaving your car here?”

“Because someone might break in? I should be so lucky it would get stolen.” She laughed and the cheerful sound magnified in the still night.

“Is it giving you trouble?”

“Trouble is too nice a word for what it gives me. Every day I cross my fingers and say a little prayer that it will start and get me to work.”

“If it ever doesn’t, let me know. I can’t afford to lose my best waitress.”

“You might regret that offer,” she warned.

They walked across the lot to the sidewalk that bordered an open grassy area. At least there used to be grass. He’d seen the green before winter rolled in and dumped a couple feet of snow. During the day the temperature was warm enough that the existing snow melted a little, wetting the walkway. The sun had gone down hours ago and it was freezing, making the sidewalk slippery. On top of that, a light snow had started to fall.

“So much for walking in the moonlight,” she teased.

“I’m trying to feel bad about that. But for a boy from Southern California, the excitement of snow still hasn’t worn off.”

“All that sunshine and good weather must really get old.”

“It’s a dirty job, but someone has to live there.”

She laughed. “Still, there’s something to be said for Montana.”

“Preaching to the choir, Gianna,” he said. “And it’s not just the landscape or weather. The people in this town are good, friendly, salt-of-the-earth types.”

“I know what you mean.” Her tone was serious and sincere. “I met people in New York. Still have a good friend there who used to be my roommate. But the city is so big and impersonal. There’s an intimacy here that’s unique.”

“Everyone has made me feel really welcome, embraced me as one of them.”

“Thunder Canyon spirit,” she agreed. “But they can turn on you in a heartbeat if you let them down.”

That’s what worried him. But it probably wouldn’t happen tonight. He made a deliberate decision to change the subject. “So, we had a pretty good crowd in the restaurant.”

“We did.” She glanced up at him. “Were you mad enough to spit when that man sent his steak back twice because it wasn’t mooing on the plate?”

He shrugged. “People pay a lot of money for service and food. It’s my job to make sure they’re satisfied.”

“For every persnickety person, there’s a Ben Walters and Kay Bausch.”

“I don’t think I know them.” When she slipped a little on the sidewalk, he took her hand and slid it through the bend of his elbow. It wasn’t an excuse to stay connected. Not really. He was responsible for keeping her safe.