The last thing Trenton had expected when he’d been called to the front counter was to see Scottie standing there waiting for him.
Then again, the past twenty-four hours had been full of things Trenton would have never expected to happen.
So it was with a genuine but nervous smile that he greeted Scottie once he’d gotten over the initial surprise of seeing him there.
“Good afternoon,” Trenton said. “How is Sasha?”
Scottie exhaled, some of the tension that had been evident in his posture evaporating at Trenton’s words. He had clearly been nervous about this impromptu meeting, too.
“She’s doing better,” Scottie said, his smile growing wider as he spoke about his dog. “Lane wants to keep her for at least another day, but he said that she should be able to come home tomorrow. She was in pretty rough shape, but he said it could have been so much worse.”
“Thank goodness she’s going to be okay,” Trenton said, meaning it. Sasha had been on his mind non-stop since the accident, and he felt himself starting to finally relax a little at the good news. And if he was being honest, Sasha hadn’t been the only thing on his mind. Scottie had been occupying plenty of his thoughts, as well. “I’m really glad for you. For both of you.”
“She has you to thank for that,” Scottie said. “And so do I.”
Trenton noticed that Scottie’s eyes were bright with emotion, and Trenton was finding it difficult to think straight, or to speak past the lump that was growing in his throat. If either of them were going to break down, he didn’t want it to happen at the front counter of his coffee shop.
“Do you want to come back to my office?” Trenton nodded toward the back. “Just to… you know… talk?”
Scottie didn’t hesitate. “That would be great,” he said, nodding. “Thank you.”
Trenton led the way down the short corridor to his office. The space was small and cramped with just one person, and he realized as he ushered Scottie through the door that this was definitely the closest he’d ever been to the man.
He didn’t feel uneasy, though.
Well, maybe a little nervous? But not apprehensive. Certainly nothing like the way he would have felt before all of this craziness had happened.
This was a new day, though, and Trenton felt good about having Scottie here.
He took a moment to marvel at how strange it was that it had taken something that was very nearly a complete tragedy to bring out a simple smile, a simple conversation between the two of them. And even though Trenton wasn’t sure if these good thoughts and feelings would last beyond these couple of days, he wasn’t going to question it for now.
Not too much, anyway.
Trenton watched, tracking Scottie’s gaze as he looked around the small office. They were standing so close that Trenton could notice things he’d never paid any attention to before, like how he’d always just assumed Scottie’s eyes were simply plain and brown, but how they were actually flecked with little bits of green and gold. Not quite hazel, but there was definitely nothing plain about them.
Or how the faint scent of cologne or soap—a light, easy fragrance—mingled and mixed in an oddly perfect way with the smell of roasted coffee beans that permeated every inch of the shop.
“It’s weird,” Scottie mused, still looking around as if he was trying to memorize every detail. “Your shop is laid out almost identically to mine on the inside, but it still feels completely different. I mean, it is different, of course… but still really familiar, if that makes sense…”
Trenton couldn’t help but grin at the way Scottie had become momentarily lost in his thoughts. And it did make sense to Trenton, since most of the shops along Main Street had been restored and remodeled around the same time, so they tended to share a similar floor plan.
But seeing the way Scottie was looking at the place suddenly made Trenton want to see the inside of Steamin’ Beans, too—just one more thing he never would have allowed himself to admit before this week.
“I think maybe we all have a little more in common than we had realized,” Trenton said, his unfiltered thoughts escaping before he could stop himself. “I feel like we’ve been at odds for a long time now, and do you know what the worst part is?”
His blunt honesty had obviously taken Scottie by surprise, because all he could do to answer Trenton’s question was to stand there, wide-eyed, and shake his head.
“The worst part,” Trenton continued, “is that there was never any good reason for it. I just felt…” He paused to try and find the right words. “Not threatened… but I guess maybe insecure? And maybe my pride wouldn’t let me see you as anything but a threat at first. I don’t really know why.”
Scottie nodded slowly, all traces of his smile completely gone now that the subject had suddenly gotten a lot heavier. “I never meant to be a threat. I came in at first thinking that maybe we could even work together on some stuff… a rising tide floats all boats… that sort of thing.” Scottie shrugged and sighed heavily. “But I think part of the problem was that I was too naive, that maybe my enthusiasm made me forget that people approach situations differently.”
“Well, I do think we’re very different people,” Trenton said. “And I think you’re right in saying that we approach things differently. But having said that, I don’t think you need to shoulder any of the blame here. You could only react to the way I treated you in the beginning. I can’t fault you for that.”
Trenton wasn’t sure what it was about Scottie that made him want to bare his soul and lay it all out there, but once he’d started talking, he hadn’t been able to stop himself.
Maybe the events of the day before had finally made Trenton’s conscience catch up to him. He definitely still felt guilty about the part he’d played, but he felt like there was something more to it.
Scottie was just easy to talk to. He seemed genuinely interested in the things Trenton had to say. He seemed to want to hear the truth.
And maybe part of it was that Trenton wanted someone to talk to, someone who would listen without judging him.
When Scottie had accepted his apology so easily the night before, it was almost as if a weight had been lifted, as if the floodgates had been opened, and now, all that was left was for the truth to come out.
“Do you want to come over for dinner?” Scottie asked, the sudden question catching Trenton off guard as it pulled him from his thoughts.
“What?” Trenton cocked his head to the side, his brow furrowing. “Dinner?”
Scottie’s face flushed, a light shade of pink instantly spreading across his cheeks. “I mean… just as a way for me to say thank you? Not tonight or anything...” He nibbled at his lip, distracting Trenton again as he noticed how full and plush those lips actually were. It almost felt like Trenton was seeing Scottie for the first time. “Sasha will hopefully be home by tomorrow evening, so maybe you could come by the day after that? I could cook and she could see the man who saved her life.”
“That’s… I don’t know if…” Trenton stumbled over his words, suddenly feeling his own face heat up as Scottie watched and waited intently for his answer. He felt like he probably should turn down the invitation, that Scottie was probably just trying to be nice and didn’t really want Trenton to come over. But Trenton didn’t want to say no. He didn’t want to pretend like he wasn’t surprised and humbled and flattered by the invitation. He wasn’t going to let his own doubts get in his way this time. And a home-cooked meal made by someone other than himself sounded pretty damn good. “Yes,” Trenton said, finally, smiling again. “Okay. I’d love to come over, thank you.”
“Perfect.” Scottie clasped his hands together and mirrored Trenton’s smile. He reached over and grabbed a pen and a sticky note from Trenton’s desk before quickly scribbling something and handing it over. “This is my number. Text or call me later and we’ll figure out the details. Oh, and think of something you’d like me to cook. It can be anything.”
Trenton took the paper and looked at it for a moment before folding it and tucking it away inside his pocket. Again, he felt like he might be opening up too much, or failing to think this all the way through, or something.
But again, he didn’t care.
It felt good to talk to someone—to really talk—after keeping his own thoughts and emotions bottled up for so long. He’d never been so honest with any of his friends before, but he felt like Scottie actually understood him better than anyone else had in a long time.
It was odd, given their situation, but it also made sense to Trenton.
Scottie was a business owner—the exact same business, even—and was clearly a good listener. He was an open book and seemed like a genuinely nice guy.
Trenton might have gotten it all wrong the first time around, but it was obvious to him now that they had always had a lot more in common than he originally thought. Trenton had only seen their differences because that’s what he had been looking for. That’s all he had wanted to see.
But the similarities had been there all along, just waiting for Trenton to look at them from a different angle. A better angle.
And now that he was looking, he really liked what he saw.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Trenton said, meaning it. “Thank you.”
“I’ll see you in a couple of days,” Scottie replied, turning to leave. “And thank you. Truly. You’ve been so great.”
Maybe Scottie was some kind of saint. Or an angel, sent down to help Trenton pull his head out from his ass. Or maybe he was just a good person with a good heart—someone who wasn’t scared to open up and say what was on his mind.
Maybe Trenton could learn a few things from him.
Hell, maybe they could even be friends.
If Trenton was going to make changes, he might as well dream big, right?