Embracing Today, a firefighter romance: (The Trading Yesterday Series, #3) - Kahlen Aymes (old books to read .TXT) 📗

It was only a couple of minutes until the dog complied and we were all in the kitchen; Marin lifting the top of the Belgian waffle iron and ladling some batter into it. The table had been set with silverware and napkins and there was a bowl of fresh berries and a small, but old, yellow ceramic pitcher holding maple syrup. It was steaming hot and positioned next to a platter full of bacon.

“Do you want a couple of eggs?” Marin asked.

“If it’s not too much trouble? I need the protein.”

“You certainly, do,” she murmured, then flustered, said, “I mean, sure thing. How do you take them?”

“Over medium. I never could stand runny whites.”

Soon the eggs were frying, and the second waffle was in the iron. I sat at the table watching her in silence, the puppy lying at my feet. Within five minutes she laid a feast before me. The waffle with the berries over top, fresh maple syrup, steaming coffee, orange juice. I wasn’t sure if I should start eating without her.

“Help yourself to the bacon. Do you think you’ll want another waffle?”

“Sure, but I’d like to wait for you to begin eating.”

“I’ll just be a couple of minutes until this gets finished. You go ahead and start before it gets cold.” She took one finished waffle out of the iron with a fork and placed it on a plate before ladling more batter into the iron.

“Okay, but my mother would kill me for such horrible manners,” I murmured, reaching for the syrup to pour the steaming liquid over the waffle and fresh fruit, then I added salt and pepper to the fried eggs. “This looks amazing, Marin. Thank you.” My stomach growled hungrily.

Her brow crinkled and she snorted a little. “Thank you. You’ve done so much for me there is nothing I can do to make it up to you. The least I can do is make you a decent breakfast, Ben.”

“Well, I appreciate it. It’s been a long time since anyone has cooked for me like this.”

She placed her plate across from me just before she took the last waffle out of the iron, put it on a plate and covered it with a skillet lid to keep it warm while I finished the first one. I was more and more curious about her.

“It’s my pleasure. This was Uncle Leonard’s favorite breakfast. I added the berries because I thought he needed something organic and not just a pile of carbs and fat.” She smiled, pouring a scant amount of syrup over the waffle and fruit on her plate.

Her eyes were curious, and I nodded, then forked up the first bite of waffle. The real maple syrup and fruit made it extra delicious. “Oh, my God,” I managed after the first bite. “So good!”

Her smile brightened. “Ben, can I ask you something?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

“Why aren’t you… with someone? I mean, you’re so… like the perfect guy, so well… you came to get me, and you’re here now… I can only assume if there was someone special in your life, she wouldn’t approve.”

Pleasure burst inside me at the question. If she was asking, then it meant she had an interest in me as a man. I looked at her through hooded eyes. There was a faint blush to her cheeks. “I’m not with anyone. Since I moved here, I’ve been working a lot and pulling as much overtime as I’m allowed. I’m saving up to build a new house,” I explained.

“That sounds like a great plan.”

“It is.” The corner of my mouth lifted in a half smile. “Too bad I have no life in the meantime.”

“You’re incredible at your job. I can see how dedicated you are.”

Our eyes connected and locked. “I didn’t do so well at your place.”

“It was too far gone when you got there. I just know you’re the best,” she said, simply. “You all did all you could.”

I was enjoying the feeling her confidence caused, but I still felt like I’d failed her.

We continued eating but there was a nagging need inside of me to ask about her relationship with Carter. Could she really love a man who raised a hand to her in anger? “Forgive me for asking this, Marin… it might be too soon, but was Carter… good to you?”

She hesitated, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. “What makes you ask?”

“The bruises. Did he beat you?”

She set her fork down and shrugged her slim shoulders, her eyes getting glassy. “Not until after Uncle Leonard died. He was sweet and attentive before that, but it was like a light switch was flipped. He became very different. He drank a lot and got angry if I did or said the smallest thing he didn’t like. He yelled a lot. I thought if I changed, maybe he’d go back to how he was before, but even though I was careful, he didn’t. He got worse when I wouldn’t marry him.”

“Why did you stay with him at all?” My heart ached for her, but I was also angry that she’d stay with someone who would abuse her.

She shrugged again. “Carter was all I had, and I just didn’t have the strength to be alone right then. He tried to spend the money I got from the life insurance, but I wanted to use it to pay off the mortgage on the house. That’s what Uncle Leonard would want me to do. I think Carter expected me to put the check into the business account. He was running the business and had access. That was the first mistake, but I was so sad after my uncle’s death, and I trusted him. When the money wasn’t there, he basically ran off all of the other mechanics who had been at The Shop for years, and then, the customers stopped coming. Two months later, we had only a fraction of