“Well look in another direction. She’s deaf, handicapped,” Liam growled protectively.
“Being deaf isn’t really a handicap for her. She seems to cope quite well,” Micah observed, not liking the fact that her brother seemed to think his sister was less desirable just because she couldn’t hear. “You must be Liam Sullivan, one of the owners of this place, right? Has the place been here long? The food was good.” He tried to make casual conversation to get the man off his back.
“Since my grandfather’s time,” Liam admitted. “It’s not the ambiance that makes the restaurant. People come back for the food.” Liam hesitated for a moment before he asked, “Are you trying to change the subject?”
Actually, Micah was trying to forget about the fact that he was a certifiable stalker. “Yes. Look, I find your sister attractive. That’s all there is to it. I wouldn’t want to upset her.”
Liam gave Micah a warning glance. “Stop looking. She’s not going to end up being a notch on your bedpost or anywhere else, for that matter.”
Micah thought about telling the man that he didn’t keep track of the women he slept with by carving a notch on his expensive bed, but he didn’t think Liam would appreciate the comment.
“Since when do you run your sister’s dating life?” Micah asked evenly, standing up to go pay his bill. He did need to leave. He had work to accomplish, and sitting here stalking a deaf woman was pretty damn pathetic.
“Since I’m the only one around to protect her anymore.” Liam shoved Micah’s shoulder with a closed fist. “You’re trouble, and the last thing Tessa needs is any emotional issues right now. She has enough to deal with at the moment.”
Micah put some distance between himself and Liam. “Don’t touch me, asshole. You profess concern for your sister? How do you think she’d feel if we started going a few rounds in the middle of her restaurant?” Micah wasn’t afraid of Liam. He knew he could kick his ass if he needed to, but he didn’t want to. The guy was Tessa’s brother, even if he was an overprotective prick. Micah didn’t want to go there.
“You think you’d win?” Liam asked with a smirk.
“I know so,” Micah replied arrogantly. Liam might outsize him by a few inches and pounds, but Micah was fast and had the skills to go along with his speed.
“Cocky bastard,” Liam mumbled.
“Don’t worry; I’m leaving. But I won’t promise I’ll never come back.” Micah put on his jacket and zipped it up.
“Just make sure you keep your eyes pointed in another direction,” Liam warned ominously.
Micah wasn’t certain he could promise Liam that he wouldn’t gawk at Tessa if given the opportunity, so he remained silent.
“I’ll take that,” Liam said anxiously as he snatched the bill and the credit card Micah had pulled from his wallet.
Clearly the guy wanted to make sure that Micah had absolutely no opportunity to talk to his sister. Liam was pretty obvious in his enthusiasm to see the back of him, at least for tonight.
Micah smirked as he strolled to the front of the restaurant to watch Liam hastily take payment.
“I’m not going to tell you to come back and see us soon,” Liam stated in an unhappy tone.
Micah took back his card and returned it to his wallet. “No need. Good food and an ass like your sister’s will always bring me back,” he told Liam with a cocky smile and turned to leave the restaurant. Most likely, he wouldn’t be back, but he wasn’t going to give Liam the satisfaction of admitting it. He would have liked to have seen the look on Liam’s face, but he suppressed the urge to turn around again.
“Bastard,” Liam muttered angrily.
Micah chuckled as he walked out of the steakhouse and back into the cold.
Randi parked her car on the side of the road in the cemetery, doubtful anybody would care. She was the only living soul in the place.
Pulling a shovel out of the car, she watched as Lily slipped out and scampered through the snow and over to exactly the place where Randi was headed: her foster parents’ tombstones.
It had become a ritual for her to come clear a path to the stones since Joan had passed away. For some reason she always felt better once the stones weren’t buried in snow like they’d been forgotten.
She locked the SUV even though it probably wasn’t necessary and started her trek toward the area where Dennis and Joan had been laid to rest side by side.
The reverent silence was broken by Lily’s excited bark.
The moment she stepped off the sidewalk to trudge through the snow to the markers, Randi knew something was off. Amazed, she walked over the dead grass on a path that had been cleared directly toward Dennis’s and Joan’s stones.
Somebody was here.
Randi realized it wasn’t the family of another loved one who had done it. The cleared area led directly to where Lily was standing, excitedly sniffing the ground. Not a speck of snow marred the writing on the marble remembrance markers, her foster parents’ names and dates of birth and death completely revealed.
“What the hell?” Randi mumbled to herself, resting a gloved hand on top of Lily’s head. “You recognize a scent, girl?” she asked her curiously. The dog’s nose was off the ground and she was now sitting and looking up at Randi with her head cocked to one side.
Why would anyone clear a path to her foster parents’ gravestones, and then proceed to carefully remove any snow from their markers? Nobody came here except her, and occasionally Beatrice and Elsie. The elderly women went to graves to leave flowers for deceased loved ones and friends on some of the major holidays.