Peggy had made peace with the accident that happened five years ago, leaving her scarred and limping. She had a good life, a good job and plenty of friends... even a paramour, if those friends were to be believed.
When Carter came back to town though, Peggy realized there were too many old issues she hadn't worked on the most important of which was the fact that she still reacted the same way whenever her eyes landed on him...
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"Uh oh," Jordan smiled, although I could see a tinge of disappointment in his eyes. "Is that the boyfriend?"
"What." I dragged my gaze back to him, blinking. "Oh no, no. I don't have a boyfriend."
He watched me for a while and I was glad that most of my face, as it always had been, was hidden under my hair.
"There was some history there, I could tell," Jordan said.
"Well," I busied myself, wiping some glasses. "Keyword is history. It's been a while. We used to be friends."
"Maybe more than a little history," Jordan broke in again after a while.
Christ. I didn't need people who could see right through me. Embarrassing enough that one of them was a sixteen year old; a patron I hardly knew, not to mention someone who seemed interested in me, had no business being able to read me.
"Maybe," I said, realizing my voice sounded a bit harsher than I would like it to be. "Maybe it's none of your business."
The minute it came out, I thought, Oh shit. I usually could do better than that, especially to a good patron. But then again, when it came to Carter, I couldn't really think straight.
Jordan did look taken aback but he took it pretty well. "Ah. Sorry. Crossed the line somewhat there, didn't I."
"Never mind," I said, wincing that I sounded pretty curt still.
I looked around, hoping to see someone flagging me down for a drink and saw Carter approaching the bar. Under the counter, I could feel my hand gripping my cane a lot more tightly.
"Hey, Peg," he said. His voice was still the same, just a little lower. If that made sense. I couldn't believe how hard my heart was pounding just hearing that.
It was just a greeting yeah, but those were the first words he ever said to me after the accident. He still looked the same, too. Well, a bit rough on the edges and there was some scruff now, which looked really good...
I swallowed and said, "Hi. What will you have?"