Please stay quiet. Please stay quiet, she tried to whisper to him telepathically, but as it turned out, God still hadn’t granted her Carrie’s gift even all these years later.

“Would it be weird if the two of us had some breakfast together?” Nolan asked, coming out from behind the kitchen wall. “Because if you give me just five minutes, I could—”

“Yes!” Harmony said too loudly to be considered polite. “Yes, it would be weird. You’re my boss. You shouldn’t be hitting on me or forcing me to talk when I’ve made it very clear I’m not interested. It’s highly inappropriate.”

Nolan’s face fell. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I just thought you could use a friend.”

“Well, I can’t. Okay?” She glared at him, wondering if she should cut her losses and run right then and there.

Her new boss just kept talking, and he kept being nice, too, which irked her to no end. “I can still make you breakfast, if you’re hungry. You look like you could use a hot meal in you.”

Something unpleasant bubbled inside Harmony, and before she knew it, she’d boiled over. She cursed at Nolan, then added, “Will you just leave me alone already?” Too late she realized that this was not how you talked to your new employer if you wanted to keep your job and, despite everything, she did.

Well, shoot.

If Nolan was angry, he did an admirable job of hiding it. Instead, his eyes softened and he asked, “Who hurt you so bad, Harmony? Who made you afraid of the world?”

His kindness in the face of her temper shook her just enough to bring Harmony back to her center. “You really don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?” he asked gently, risking a step closer, but only one.

“You may as well scramble up those eggs. This could take a while.”

Chapter 17

Harmony

Less than ten minutes later they were both sitting before steaming plates of that day’s breakfast special: eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, and fried green tomatoes.

“Why is this place called O’Brien’s if your last name is Murphy?” Harmony asked Nolan as she sprinkled a liberal dose of pepper into her eggs.

“So now you want to make small talk?” Nolan shook his head. “Because earlier when I tried to do the same, you kind of cussed me out.”

Her face burned hot as he watched and waited for her response. “Sorry about that,” she mumbled.

Nolan reached out and took her hand. After giving it a quick, friendly squeeze, he let go again. “It’s okay. I understand, and it’s one of the things I like about you.”

Harmony let out a sarcastic laugh. “That I’m mean?”

“That you’re passionate.” His eyes widened as he said that last word to add an extra pop of emphasis.

“You think you know me, but you’re wrong. I’m not passionate about a single thing on God’s green earth. I just have a wicked temper.”