Ginny gave him a pained glance. “I have a confession to make.”
“What?” he asked taking his eyes of the road.
“I was meeting someone.”
“Who?”
She turned to stare out the window at the jealous tinge in his voice.
“Just remember before you go off the rails, that you were mean to me when we were dancing. By the way, isn’t it customary for a gentleman to thank a woman for dancing with her?”
“I haven’t been called a gentleman in more years than I can count.” Gavin put on the blinker to turn into her driveway.
After parking the car, he shut the car off and turned to face her. “Thank you. I enjoyed dancing with you, right up until the part I made an ass of myself.”
She removed her hand from the door handle.
“You’re really sweet when you want to be. Can you hold onto that sweetness for a couple of seconds? Do me a favor and close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
Gavin closed his eyes. Ginny pressed a fleeting kiss on his lips.
“You’re welcome.” Pulling back she got out of the car while he was still trying to regroup. Leaning in the window she broke the news to him with the safety of the car door between them.
“By the way, I was meeting Marty at the bar. He bought the diner, and he wanted to have a taste for who made the best burger in town and who would be his biggest competition.”
“Marty bought the diner?” he growled.
“Look on the bright side, how often do you eat at the diner?” Ginny took off with a squeal of fright when Gavin jerked himself out of the car. Laughter trailing behind her as she headed for the porch.
Running full tilt to reach the front door first, Ginny pulled on the door knob only to find it locked. Warily she looked over her shoulder to see a satisfied Gavin standing on the bottom of the steps jiggling the house keys in his hand.
“Wow, how the tables have turned.”
Saucily strolling toward the end of the porch, she gave him a plaintive pout.
“How was I supposed to talk him out of buying the diner? He said I was like the daughter he never had, and he missed me.”
“What happened to his business in Nashville?”
“The tornado wiped it out, and the only thing he was able to salvage was his grill. Marty said he wouldn’t have managed to save that except a little birdy warned him to sell before the epidemic hit, and he put the grill in his house and bought a new one for the restaurant. Crazy how it worked out, wouldn’t you say?” Holding back her laughter, she knew Gavin had been the one who warned Marty to get out of restaurant business with the outbreak beginning to spread.
“The only thing I can say,” he said wincing as he handed the house key over to her, “is no good deed goes unpunished.”
Chapter Fifty-Five
Ginny was carrying her laundry basket out the front door when a motorcycle pulled up the driveway. Staying on the porch to keep her distance, she waited for Viper to get off his bike and remove his helmet.
“Is Reaper around?”
Ginny pointed toward to the outbuilding nearby. “He’s at Matthew and Isaac’s forge.”
“Mind if I go talk to him?”
Ginny’s heart went out to Viper. The last two weeks had to have been hard on him. That awful day still had her shaken at how close they had come to losing Gavin.
In a million years, Ginny would never forget the fear she had gone through waiting for Silas to come back. Every moment she had been in agony that Silas wouldn’t reach him in time, or that he wouldn’t be able to convince Gavin not to end his life.
Ginny gave Viper an encouraging smile. “Go ahead. I think he’d like to see you.”
Her heart broke at the twisted look of pain transforming Viper’s arrogant features at her words.
“It’d be the first in a long time.” His expression was strained, as if he didn’t believe her assurances. Then Viper started toward the building with slow steps, as if dreading what he would find. His faltering steps halted as he turned toward her infinitesimally.
Smiling, she came off the porch, going to the clothesline. “He’s doing well, Viper. Go see.”
“I’m afraid I’ll say the wrong thing.”
“Say anything you want. There’s no right or wrong way to talk to him. Just treat him the same way you do Shade and Rider.”