Christmas Home (The Coming Home #6)

15. Ruther

fifteen

Ruther

I sat across from Corey, who’d returned to ordering his poached eggs and hollandaise sauce, and watched for any sign of Clyde. Mrs. Cole had winked at me when I came in, so I knew somewhere back in the kitchen was the man I longed to see.

I ignored Corey, who gave me a knowing look that made me want to yell at him, but I was rewarded with a perplexed-looking Clyde a few moments later. He came out of the kitchen with the bussing tray and looked over the restaurant until his gaze fell upon mine.

He smirked as he turned back toward the kitchen’s closed door, and I realized Mrs. Cole must’ve kicked him out of the kitchen so he could show up while I was out here.

He didn’t immediately come over but bussed a few tables on the other side of the restaurant. Not that many needed it.

When Clyde came to our side of the restaurant, he smiled at me. “Hi, Ruther. Nice to see you. Your ankle doing better?” he asked.

I nodded and felt my face heat. I liked this guy a bit too much if he made me blush.

Across from me, my assistant cleared his throat and smiled. “I’m Corey King. It’s nice to meet you.” Then he waited for the object of my desire to introduce himself.

“Name’s Clyde Griffin. Pleasure to meet you, Corey,” he said. “Can I take those plates?” He gestured to the dish I’d moved to the side after I’d devoured a cinnamon roll off it.

Once Clyde took the plate, he finished bussing tables, and before slipping through the kitchen door again, he glanced back over and smiled.

“You’ve got it bad,” Corey said.

“Got what?”

He laughed. “Just remember, there’s consequences for squeezing the Twinkies!”

“You’re so crass,” I said but chuckled nonetheless. Clyde did have a distinctive twink quality to him, although I could tell there was more to him than the hot young model types Corey seemed to go after.

When Jake came in and asked if he could join us, I didn’t hesitate to scoot over. Had we been in the city, I’d have thought it strange and intrusive if someone asked to join Corey and me for breakfast, but I’d been here long enough to realize it was pretty much how things were done.

Jake talked a mile a minute about how his buddies, who’d opened a winery, were going to expand their store in the hotel.

“A winery in Tennessee?” I asked and barely managed to suppress a shudder at how awful the wine must taste.

Jake caught the incredulous tone in question, though, and laughed. “Trust me, it’s better than you’d expect, but don’t take my word for it. Why don’t you two join me this afternoon? Lance and I are going to drive up to the winery and have lunch with Logan and Matt, the owners.”

Corey gave me a meaningful look, telling me I needed to do this since we were considering a project that Jake could influence, like it or not.

“Sure,” I said, pasting a smile on my face. I dreaded the sickly sweet wine I could all but taste now. God help me, this project better be worth it if I had to swallow swill and pretend it award-worthy.

Emanual and Amos came into the café a moment later with a sweet-faced young man I hadn’t met before, and they stopped by the table before sitting down.

“This is Chris, our town librarian,” Amos said.

I held out my hand for a shake. “Nice to meet you, Chris. I’m Ruther Crawford,” I said, and the librarian’s mouth dropped open.

“Wow, I-I didn’t realize you were in town. My husband is Roth Gallo. We bought and renovated your home on the hill.”

Just like that, the panic overtook me. I nodded, trying to ignore the cold sweat that instantly engulfed my body—the feeling of fire burning my flesh.

“Ruther, Rutherford,” I heard Corey say, but I’d gone too far. I wasn’t coming back from this one, at least not yet.

“I-I…” I tried to say, but the words wouldn’t come.

Then I felt a strong but gentle hand on my shoulder. I didn’t know who it belonged to, other than it wasn’t Corey. “Ruther,” the voice said, and a soothing feeling like milk on my tongue after eating a chili came over me.

“Is he okay?” the voice asked.

A very concerned-looking Clyde came into focus. “I-I’m okay. Just threw me for a moment.”

I glanced around and saw a sea of concerned faces staring at me. “It’s no wonder. You probably forgot your medication this morning,” Corey said conversationally. “If it weren’t for me, that man would forget to brush his teeth.” As my assistant expertly clamored on to divert attention away from me, the panic began to recede until I could breathe normally. Thank God for Corey.

Clyde’s hand never left my shoulder, a support that sent shockwaves through me. I knew it was either the weight of that hand that had helped me calm down as quickly as I did, or the fear that he’d never look at me with any respect again if I didn’t calm down.

“Sorry, I need a moment,” I said and stood. Corey stood with me. “No, stay here. I’m going to go take a walk. I’ll meet you back at the condo.” I strode toward the door as best as I could on crutches and didn’t look back to see if he was following me.

I didn’t get far when someone grabbed my shoulder again. “Ruther, wait a moment,” Clyde said. “Your legs are longer than mine, even on crutches.” He made me slow down when I’d rather have run—figuratively speaking—all the way back to the condo and then back to New York as fast as I could.

I couldn’t look him in the face, not after that. I hadn’t had a panic attack in public in a long time, and prior to that, my dad or one of his lackeys always stood close to whisk me away before I could embarrass them.

“I’m sorry, I-I just—”

“You had a panic attack, honey,” he said. I looked up, fear of what I would see on his face causing my chest to constrict again. But I only saw understanding.

“Here, let’s sit on this bench,” Clyde said, leading me over to the side of the road where the library stood. Seeing it almost sent me back into another panic, thinking of the librarian who said he and his husband had redone the old house. Even now, the thoughts of fire burning me began to creep into my mind.

“Shhh, I know a panic attack when I see one. Lord knows I’ve had plenty myself.”

He babbled on, mostly stuff I wasn’t hearing, but his voice was soothing, keeping the memories of fire at bay. Finally, I took a deep breath and relaxed. A sure sign the attack was receding. “Damn, that one was…it’s been a while since one that intense has hit me.”

I felt Clyde’s weight leaning against me. He didn’t say anything, just sat there, holding my hand, leaning into my side, and looking out over the town. I expected him to ask me what happened, or at least say he had to get back to work, but instead, he just sat there until Corey finally came out of the café, looked around, and found us sitting on the bench.

“Well, I see Clyde has come to the rescue yet again. Thank you, Clyde, and you’ve done a good job,” Corey said, smiling at me. His smile was tense, though, and I could tell he was still putting on a pretense until he could get me out of the public eye.

I turned toward Clyde and smiled before bumping up against him slightly. “Thanks, that helped…a lot,” I said, and he just winked at me and stood. He was about to leave when I asked, “Clyde, do you have plans tonight?”

He stood frozen for a moment, then shook his head. “No, but I have to work early tomorrow morning. You’ll be coming in for breakfast, right? If you can come around nine, I can take my break then. Will that work?”

I smiled, heat rising on my face, but still pale from the episode. “Yeah, nine works. See you tomorrow.”

He left then, and Corey sat down. “I’m sorry, boss, I-I didn’t realize…” He let it hang there instead of finishing what I knew he was thinking.

I turned and looked back at the library, then quickly stood before the librarian decided to return to work. “Come on. I need a shot of something strong.”

“You need to lie down and rest,” Corey said, but a drink might be good too. Besides, if you still feel up to it, you told Jake Hudson you’re willing to go try out his friend’s winery. If you want to stay on his good side—” He paused, and I knew he was thinking about my attack. “—I think you should go.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Can you arrange a time? I think I will go take that rest, although, to be honest, the shot would be better.”

“Being drunk on the job wouldn’t, though.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said and chuckled despite the fact my nerves were still frayed. At least I wasn’t still imagining all the ugly stuff I had been. Instead, I was thinking about a sweet, unassuming, handsome knight who’d come swooping in for my rescue.