anything. Actually, he’s done all right for himself. That place always does a good business. Decent clientele. Any place on Main Street is safe enough, anyway. You don't need to worry about that.”
Ash listened to him talk. She liked the way his mouth moved and the way his strong fingers rubbed a soft spot under his chin. “That makes me feel about a hundred times better. Thanks.”
“When do you start?”
“Tonight. Five o’clock.” A thought, brave enough to scare her, came from nowhere. “You should stop by.”
He smiled but shook his head. “I’d like to, but I have to work the odd shift at the garage tonight. Three to ten. Frank stays open late one night a week.” He looked at his watch. “I’ve got to get going. Just wanted to see how you made out.”
“Oh, okay.”
“But let me know how it goes. I'll stop by another time. Promise.”
She nodded. “Sure. Have fun at work.”
“Fun? Don’t know about that.” For a moment he stood in the doorway, and though neither one spoke, something bounced between them. Eyes met, then dropped, and Ash felt an orchestra of butterflies begin a symphony in her stomach. Eddie winked and headed out the door.
Ash sank to the floor and leaned against the loveseat. What was going on here? Somehow in the last twenty-four hours, Eddie West had slid into her life, smooth and easy as water winding its way down rocks on a lazy spring afternoon. She tried to decipher it, to understand the feeling of familiarity that emerged when they were together. It wasn’t just attraction, though some of that hung over them too. It was almost as though they’d known each other a long time ago and were now trying to make up for all the years they’d been apart. She’d never sensed anything like it, and she wasn’t sure how it made her feel.
She scratched her nose and wondered if it were possible to have a soul mate.
Chapter Five
A little after six the following night, Eddie eased his truck into an open spot on Main Street. He didn’t bother to lock the doors. In Paradise, the last time anyone had something stolen in the daylight hours had been more than ten years ago. He ambled across the street to Blues and Booze. It had been a slow day at work, though he hadn’t really minded. Some days he liked losing himself in the diagnostics, like figuring out why someone’s alternator didn’t work or why the idiot light on the panel kept blinking on and off.
But today, he’d appreciated the few oil changes and timing belts he’d had to take care of. Simple stuff. Nothing too complex. Because even though he’d done his best to concentrate, his mind kept going back to her. To Ash and to the few hours they spent having dinner the night before last.
Eddie pulled open the restaurant door and let his eyes adjust to the dimness for a moment before looking around. He’d been in here a few times as a teenager, maybe once or twice in the last couple of years. It used to be one of the only places in town you could drink without showing an ID. Not since Marty had taken over, though. Though not too bright in the business department, that guy only let himself get caught once for serving minors. Today the place catered more to the thirty-something and up crowd, though on any given day, schoolteachers, cabdrivers, and retired highway workers sat together at the bar watching a ball game.
“Jesus, that pitcher stinks,” one of them said as he walked in. Eddie recognized Harold Triumph, former owner of Triumph Dry Cleaners, and pulled up a stool beside him.
“Draft, tall one,” he said to the bartender.
“Hey! Eddie West!” The bartender grinned as he pulled on the tap. “Nick Scoles. Few years ahead of you back at Paradise High.”
Eddie dropped a five on the bar. “Sure. How’s it going?”
“Not bad. Got a couple-a new girls working here, so I’m enjoying the view.”
A sharp sting of jealousy stiffened Eddie’s spine. “I know. One of ‘em’s my housemate.”
Nick started washing glasses. “Yeah? Which one?”
“Ash.”
Nick nodded. “She’s cute.”
“Yeah she is.” Eddie paused. “How’s she doing, anyway?”
“Learning the ropes, I guess. Today’s only her second day, so she hasn’t screwed up too bad.” He grinned around the toothpick in his mouth.
Eddie glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the dining room. Low-hanging lights cast shadows and made it hard for him to make out much of