The parking lot was over half full when they arrived, and entering the Yellow Rose was like visiting family. The warmth of enticing scents and the faces of peoplethey knew greeted them as they headed toward an empty table.
“Nora! What are you doing with those two outlaws?” someone called out.
“None of your business!” she said, which made Asher smile.
They shed their coats, leaving them on the empty chair at the table as they sat.
Menus were on the table, as were coffee cups and flatware.
Nora saw Cheryl coming with a full carafe of coffee and noticed Cheryl had gone from a blond to a redhead since the last time she’d seen her.
“Coffee?” Cheryl asked.
“Yes, please,” Nora said. “And I love what you’ve done with your hair. It suits you.”
Cheryl beamed. “Freaked my kids out, but my better half likes it.”
She filled all their cups and moved on as they were reaching for the menus. Again, Nora was limited by choices because of the bandage, then saw fried catfish and hush puppies were the daily special and that ended her indecision.
“I’m having the special,” she said, then leaned back with her hands in her lap, while the men were still deliberating, remembering the times she’d spent here with her family, and with Asher and his brothers. The only times he’d left them behind was when they were on a real date, then let go of the memories when Cheryl came back to take their orders.
Asher had been keeping a casual eye on Nora, and when he saw her staring out the windows, he knew she’d gone somewhere else. Somewhere too far away for him to reach.
He was still considering the wisdom of interfering with her muse, or letting her be where she needed to be, when a man staggered in with a boy not yet in his teens behindhim. He paused at the doorway as he looked for a place to sit, and then stumbled across the dining area to the empty table behind where they were seated.
Gunner eyed him as they passed, then gave Asher a look. “Jasper Henry. Drunk as a skunk,” he muttered.
Asher nodded.
Within seconds, Jasper shouted, “Anybody waitin’ tables in here? Leroy wants a burger!”
Before either waitress could turn around, Pearl appeared. “Whoever is yelling in here, this isn’t a bar. Keep it down.”
But Jasper was too drunk to get the message, and chose to argue, instead.
“Yeah, and if the damned bar wasn’t closed, that’s where I would be,” he shouted.
Before Nora knew what was happening, Ash and Gunner had come up out of their chairs and were standing at Jasper Henry’s table.
“What the hell? Get outta my face! Why ain’t you runnin’ the bar for your daddy? A man needs a drink now and then.”
“It appears you have found a whole lot of liquor on your own, and without our daddy’s help,” Asher said. “You need not to be shouting at Pearl and disrupting the diners.”
“I can do whatever I want, when I want,” Jasper shouted, and started to stand up.
Gunner leaned over, looked Jasper square in the eye, and said, “No sir, you cannot. It’s called disturbing the peace.”
And then they pulled their badges out in unison. “Asher Kingston, special investigator for the attorney general’s office.”
“Gunner Kingston, homicide detective with the Dallas PD. You are setting a bad example for your son.”
The mention of his son shifted Jasper’s focus. He saw a mixture of fear and shame in his little boy’s eyes and wilted. “I didn’t mean nothing by it,” Jasper mumbled.
Asher sighed. “You already know why the bar is closed. You know somebody tried to kill our father, and that’s why we’re here. We’re not leaving Crossroads until the guilty party is behind bars. Was it you?”
Jasper Henry’s eyes widened in sudden horror. “No, no, hell no, I didn’t kill no one. I’m sorry for what I said. Me and the boy will be leavin’. My apologies to Miss Pearl.”
“Unfortunately for you, you aren’t driving anywhere,” Gunner said.
