Whitney brought Rafe a pop without responding to his thanks and rejoined us. “So what is his plan while he’s here? Is he just going to wander around town like some free-range douchebag?”
I could tell she was trying to bring the snark for my benefit, but her heart wasn’t really in it. “I honestly don’t know what he thinks he’s going to accomplish while he’s here.”
The bell rang again, and Max’s daughter Amanda walked in, still in her scrubs. She was a single mom, a nurse, and the owner of the town’s only bed and breakfast. She stopped by my house all the time to check on Aunt Sylvia, and she was one of the nicest people I’d ever met. I saw two massive men behind her. With a start I realized that one of them was Marco, the bodyguard Rafe had had with him on the show. When I first met Marco, I thought he was just a member of the crew’s security. It wasn’t until later I’d found out that he was part of the twins’ personal detail.
Amanda kissed her dad on the top of the head and came over to join us.
“Who are they?” Nicole said, practically pouncing on her as she sat down at the bar. Amanda placed an order for chicken fingers and fries to go. It was the only thing her autistic son would eat. I put it in with the kitchen and stayed close so that I could hear what she said. Why was she with Rafe’s bodyguards?
“Marco and Gianni. They’re here with Prince Rafael. They’re staying at the B&B.”
I knew Amanda didn’t get a lot of business at her B&B, so while part of me was glad that she was making money, I wondered why they weren’t staying closer. I knew Marco in particular wouldn’t like being that many miles away from Rafe every night.
“Are they single?” Nicole asked.
“I don’t know,” Amanda said. “All I do know is that they eat like we’re going to run out of food soon.”
That must have made her happy. Amanda had always loved to cook. Her uncle ran the diner, and I remembered her working in the kitchen with him when she was in high school.
“I’ve been experimenting with Monterran dishes, and they’re nice enough to say they like them and eat every single bite.”
“How long are they staying?” I asked, trying to be as casual as possible. I didn’t want to be irritated that Amanda was another person who could have called or texted to let me know what was going on but didn’t. I knew she had other things to worry about.
“They paid for a year in advance.”
My shoulders sagged in. Now I couldn’t wish for Rafe to go away because Amanda needed the money as much as we did. Her son’s father had left them after they got the diagnosis, and she really struggled. I knew the commute alone killed her. She probably should have moved to Iowa City to be closer to her job, but all of her family was here in Frog Hollow, and her family was her support system. One of her nieces had even learned something called applied behavioral analysis so that she could work with Amanda’s son on a daily basis.
The kitchen finished Rafe’s order, and Whitney retrieved it, bringing it over to him and putting it down so hard the plate rattled. Rafe thanked her anyway.
“This is why I try to stay on your good side,” I said to her when she came back.
“Ha. Joke’s on you. Ask Christopher. All of my sides are bad.”
I knew that wasn’t true and impulsively hugged my friend. She didn’t like hugging people, but she tolerated it for me for a few seconds. Then she took his check over to the table and stood there with her arms folded.
When he looked up she said, “Just so there’s no confusion, we’re all on her side.”
He glanced at the other patrons, and I could see a hint of a smile. “I’m on her side, too. I know I don’t deserve her.”
Every woman in the room sighed as my stomach started back-flipping all over the place. I asked my lungs to function normally and ignored all of the stares that had moved from Rafe to me as people put two and two together.
The kitchen finished up Amanda’s order, and I handed it to her. Then Max called me over, and for the next few minutes I was so busy that I forgot Rafe was even there.
Yes, that was a lie, but I needed the lies to get me through this.
He did finally finish his meal and took some bills out of his wallet, leaving them on the table. He didn’t say anything as he left the diner. When he drove off in his black SUV, I saw Marco and Gianni get into an identical SUV to follow him.
Whitney came over and showed me a twenty-dollar bill. “He left this to pay for his check, and he left this”—she held up a hundred-dollar bill—“as my tip. He gave me one hundred dollars even though I was terrible to him. This makes it really hard to be mean to him.” She sounded guilty, and I felt bad because she had done it for me.