“What sounds good to you?” he asked.
“Anything I don’t have to eat with two hands, and I love you for thinking of me.”
“Always. See you soon. Love you,” he said.
“Love you biggest,” she said, and hung up.
He was still grinning when he got out of the truck and went inside.
The place was busy with diners coming and going. As he approached the register, he heard a loud bang that sounded like a dozen skillets had just fallen off a rack, and then an “Oh, for pity’s sake!” shout from Pearl.
Moments later, Pearl stepped into the dining room. “Sorry for the racket. That was just the diamond falling out of my ring,” she said, and bustled back into the kitchen, leaving the diners laughing.
Ash grinned. Somebody was going to catch hell after she closed up shop. Pearl was little, but she was mighty, and nobody wanted to be on her bad side.
He read the menu, and saw the special written on the chalkboard, and when Darla showed up to take his order, he was ready.
“Evening, Darla. I need two orders of beef stew and cornbread, with peach cobbler, then another order of beef stew and cornbread with apple pie in a separate order. I’m dropping one off at Nora’s house and taking the others home with me.”
“Got it,” Darla said, and hurried back to the kitchen to deliver the order.
Ash sat down on a little bench to wait, and began reading faces, something he’d developed on the job. Two of the three men at one table were angry, but he couldn’t tell if they were angry with each other, or a situation. The other man was ignoring both of them and eating his food.
A mother was feeding a toddler from her plate and trying to have a conversation with her husband at the same time. She looked weary, but she was smiling, obviously happy with her lot in life, and while she was feeding the baby, her husband was feeding her bites from his own plate.
Their obvious devotion to each other was noted. He tried to remember if Brenda had been like that. He remembered she always had good food cooked, and helped them with their homework, and made sure they had clean clothes, and went to all of their school events, and tucked them in at night. But he didn’t remember her playing with them. Maybe because there were three of them, she expected them to play with each other.
He shrugged off the thought and looked away. He hadn’t thought of her like this in years, until the shooting. Now every memory he’d had of her was creeping back into his consciousness, and he didn’t like it.
A short while later, Darla came back with his orders. He noticed as he was driving away that the predicted storm front was approaching. The sky was already dark, and the wind was rising. He drove straight to Nora’s house and got out on the run. Before he could knock, she opened the door.
“Come into this house,” she said, then closed the door behind him.
“Storm’s approaching,” he said. “Is everything tied down that you don’t want to blow away?”
She laughed. “I’m good, unless the house gives up the ghost, too.”
He set her food on the table and then wrapped his arms around her. “You smell good. You feel good in my arms. I may perish for lack of your loving before this investigation ends.”
“We did without each other for a really long time. As long as I know I am attached to you again, I will take whatever time allows. Now kiss me senseless and take yourself home before the storm hits.”
His face was cold, but his lips were warm. The kiss was both a hello and a goodbye, as she melted into his embrace, but it was the wind that ended their reverie.
“Good lord, Ash. That was a blast. Go home with your food. Call me whenever.”
He sighed. “I’m going as soon as I get your food out of the bag.” He carefully lifted the hot container of beef stew, the cornbread wrapped in foil, and the little box with her apple pie, loosened the seal on the bowl of stew, then wiped his hands. “I think you can manage from here. Love you, baby. Enjoy.”
“Thank you so much, and I will.”
She followed him to the door, turned on the porch light as he drove away, then locked the door and pulled the shades. She could still feel his kiss as she sat down to eat. The food was good, but the love that came with it warmed her heart and her belly. And as she ate, the day turned to night. The wind howled, and the tumbleweeds rolled.
* * *
At 5:00 p.m. sharp, a giant of a man named Bill Eldredge showed up at Jacob Kingston’s room armed and in uniform, flashed his identification and introduced himself to Jacob and Dylan.
“Bill Eldrege. Starpoint Security—retired military reporting for duty. My twin brother Phil will be taking the day shift. We’re identical, so don’t assume that’s me doing twenty-four-hour shifts.”
Dylan grinned. He liked the man on sight. He was Reacher-sized and armed. “My brother sent me a photo of you for verification. We can’t be too careful right now.”
