As she refilled JT’s coffee cup, he pointed it out to her. “Look at that local celebrity.”
Bonnie glanced down and grinned. “Yeah. Elvis is popular in this area. Thank goodness that talk about his death in the seventies was just a rumor.” She added a wink when she said that.
With a shake of his head, JT grinned at her. “No, ma’am. You’re the celebrity in the photo. Everyone loves you.” At her blush, he teased her a little more. “I’m surprised they let an out-of-town boy marry you.”
Two could play this teasing game. “Nah, they’ve just given you to me on a trial basis. Kind of like a fish I might throw back.”
That earned a raised eyebrow from him. “Well, now that you’ve got me wiggling on the hook, what are you going to do with me? Is it thumbs up or down for the poor trout?”
Bonnie pretended to study him, still holding the coffee pot. It was easy to tease since they were alone in the restaurant. The plumbing problem kept her doors closed, and she wondered if that wasn’t a sign about her business’ future.
“I think I’ll keep you, poor fish.”
His ringtone sounded, one she’d never heard in their time together. The Darth Vader theme rang out ominously, and JT frowned. Not bothering to pretend otherwise, Bonnie listened to his side of the conversation.
“But, I have another three days on my leave. Can’t it wait until Monday?”
Silence as he listened. Bonnie turned and placed the pot back on the burner. By his expression, it was bad news. At his mention of leave, the caller had to be JT’s work.
Groaning, her husband in name only set the phone down on the counter near him. “I have to go back tonight. There’s a problem at the factory.”
Glumly, Bonnie nodded. “I’ll miss you.”
His eyes compelled her to meet his gaze. “You know you don’t have to miss me.”
“Back to wanting a souvenir to take with you?” Bonnie tried without success to inject a teasing tone into her words. They rang hollowly with no humor.
JT’s face reflected her glumness. “I know it’s right and so do you. Our parents support this, and Marsha Stewart’s offered to buy the business.”
He moved around the counter quickly and grabbed her close to him. “It’s all lined up. All except you.”
It should have been a white-bag moment. Anxiety skittered through her, leaving her feeling as if she tried to find her footing on ice. Rather than panic, she squeezed his waist with all the strength in her arms.
Other than reacting with a grunt, JT didn’t say anything. He moved his hands up to her back and rubbed in soothing circles. And waited.
He didn’t convince her with kisses or words. Not this man. He was all that was gentle and comforting.
And sexy. All that, too. Why fight it?
“I can’t leave tonight. I’ll follow you this weekend.”
Her husband pulled back enough to tip his head. With a slow, tender kiss, he thanked her silently. When he lifted his head, his eyes searched hers.
“You promise? You’ll come no later than Sunday?”
Bonnie’s lips, moist from his kiss, parted but nothing came out.
The remainder of the week passed in a hectic haze. JT spent twelve-hour days at work, straightening out the mess with production. One week and the place fell apart? HR was going to need to replace his assistant, that was clear.
He’d even gone in on Saturday. Kyle, the assistant Production Manager, called in sick Thursday and Friday. When JT called the man’s cell, it went straight to voicemail. This wasn’t the first problem with the man’s work performance. In fact, if he hadn’t been the previous manager’s nephew, Kyle never would have been promoted. Not with the number of absences he had.
JT had only been at the factory for a year, hired in specifically to straighten things out. He’d given Kyle enough rope to hang himself with during that time. It looked like this would finally bring the problem with the man to a head.
Today, JT flew around the house, cleaning dirt that never bothered him out of corners and along the mopboard. He figured Bonnie might notice things like that and wanted the house to be inviting when she arrived.
He’d purchased her favorite flower, an orchid, and it stood on the oak table in the kitchen. Strangely, the flower almost looked like it had a face. Should it worry him that it seemed to frown now? As if Bonnie wasn’t coming.
No matter that he couldn’t get her to promise, JT trusted her. She said she would come. Was nine in the morning too early to expect her?
The house’s silence had him on edge. He moved to turn on the television. Maybe he’d watch one of Joseph Prince’s sermons on the Roku.
As he lifted the remote to turn on the flat screen, Blue Hawaii sounded from his phone. JT had decided that would forever be Bonnie’s special ring tone. Hearing it now sent a jolt of worry rather than joy. There could be only one reason his hula girl was calling him.
She wasn’t coming.
JT left five days earlier. Why did it feel like so much longer than that?
Bonnie held her mother’s hand as they waited. Nurses scurried around the ER. Someone had just left with vials of blood collected from her mother. This was not the way Bonnie wanted the day to go.
Her small Ford Focus was packed tightly and ready to head out. She had so much in it that Bonnie needed to use her mother’s Buick Verano to get her to the hospital. Rita refused to let her daughter call an ambulance.
By the time a doctor saw them in the Emergency Room, Bonnie had wormed the whole story out of her mother. “Why didn’t
