One Day (A Valentine Short Story) Read Free Page B

days. But it was clean. And it was busy.
    I took a seat at the first empty table I could find.
    “I’ll be with you in a minute,” a waitress said to me as she took down an order from the guys at the table in front of me.
    I nodded and stared at the menu, even though I already knew I wanted a great, big, fat, Scottish breakfast.
    My belly rumbled in anticipation.
    “Coffee, tea?” the waitress appeared at my side.
    “Tea, please. And some orange juice if you have it.”
    “Aye, sure. Ready to order?”
    “The full Scottish breakfast.”
    Her gaze raked over me. I was not only little in height, but small-boned, slender. “It’s a big portion, mind.”
    I may be small, but I could pack it away when I wanted to. I grinned. “Perfect.
    “Eggs?”
    “Scrambled.”
    She strode away with my order just as the door to the diner opened.
    A small bearded man walked in, and I was just about to drop my gaze when it snagged on his companion.
    Liam Brody.
    No. Fucking. Way.
    As though he sensed me his head swung in my direction, his eyes widening in recognition and surprise.
    So… it would seem the universe was determined to put this American in my path.
    Johnny, who was a bit of a hippy and believed in the spiritual world, fate and destiny and all that nonsense, would say this was kismet.
    With his voice in my head, I thought, oh what the hell. I smiled at Liam and gave him a wave.
    He accepted my invitation, clapped the small, bearded man on the shoulder in what appeared to be thanks and made his way over to me.
    Liam grinned as he slid his big body into the small booth. His jacket was open, and peeking out of it was a red flannel shirt like the one I’d fantasized seeing him in earlier.
    I tried not to flush like an idiot. “Hello, Stranger.”
    “This is just weird,” he said, still grinning.
    “How did you get here?”
    “I was walking down the B9152 when that trucker,” he gestured behind him, “Pete, stopped and told me I was going to get myself killed.”
    “He’s not wrong.” I frowned. “Why are you walking?”
    He grimaced. “My car died just before Aviemore. I put it into a garage but it was going to take too long to fix it. I decided to walk.”
    “I can’t believe you ended up here.” I stared around at the diner, avoiding his penetrating stare.
    “Apparently the universe wants us to spend some time together.”
    My eyes jerked back to his, surprised that he’d said just what I’d been thinking. I gave a huff of laughter. “Apparently.”
    “What can I get you?” the waitress was back.
    “Uh…” Liam glanced over the menu and asked me, “What are you having?”
    “Full Scottish breakfast.”
    “I’ll have the same.” He handed the menu to her. “Scrambled eggs. And a coffee, please.”
    She took it from him without a word and walked away.
    “Well it’s certainly a friendly diner,” I cracked.
    “Yeah but Pete said the breakfast is really good.”
    “My brother said the same thing. That’s how I knew where to find this place.”
    “The same brother who owns the camper van?” Liam said almost cautiously, like he was afraid any personal questions might send me fleeing.
    Oh what the hell, I thought again. “The very same. I’m running from life for a while. I was inspired by Valentine’s Day to do it.”
    Appearing as though he were trying not to laugh, Liam said, “Is that so?”
    “The day is cursed. For me anyway.”
    “Sounds like an interesting story.”
    I settled back in the small leather booth and stared at his too handsome face. “You want to hear my story?”
    He mirrored my actions, relaxing in his seat. “Definitely.”
    “Okay… first off I have had grand plans of being a feature writer in a newspaper magazine like the Herald or the Guardian since I was seventeen. I’m twenty seven and still writing an advice column in a woman’s magazine I myself would rather eat than read.”
    Liam covered what I knew was a laugh with a cough.
    “It’s okay, you can