“What are you guys talking about? Cherie, what are you doing here?” Leah asked.
Cherie noticed Leah was carrying a broom and dustpan. It was obvious she’d assumed the responsibility of cleaning up in her absence. “I came to clean up.”
Leah scrunched up her nose. “But weren’t you supposed to stay home until next week?”
Derrick threw up both hands. “I’m out! No one listens to me, so you ladies can have this. I’m taking the Audi, so Kay, can you drop Leah off at the house?”
“Of course,” Kayana said as she stared at her brother’s departing back after he ripped off his apron and threw it on a stool. “He’s really in a funk,” she whispered.
Cherie grimaced as she shrugged out of her puffy jacket. “And that’s because of me.”
Leah rested the handle of the broom against a wall. “Don’t you dare blame yourself for what that sonofabitch did to you.”
Kayana closed her eyes for several seconds. “My brother is blaming himself for allowing the SOB to hang around after he’d finished eating. If it had been the summer, he would’ve chased him out because we’ve established a reputation where folks don’t have to wait long for a table.”
“Well, he’s going away where he can’t hurt anyone ever again,” Cherie said confidently.
“What makes you so certain of that?” Leah asked.
“Cherie said federal marshals are extraditing him to Tennessee,” Kayana stated, smiling.
Leah stared at her future sister-in-law, and then Cherie. “How do you know this?”
“Reese came over last night and told me my attacker is wanted for the stalking, raping, and strangulation of a teenage girl.”
Kayana sat on the stool where Derrick had discarded his apron and covered her face with her hands. “Oh, sweet heaven,” she whispered. “If Reese hadn’t come along when he did, he could’ve killed you, too.”
Leah slumped against the wall. “I think I need a stiff drink to steady my nerves.”
Kayana lowered her hands. “That makes two of us. Cherie, are you going to join us?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Why not.”
“Y’all go sit in the dining room while I make up a batch of apple sour martinis,” Kayana said, reminding Cherie of their first book club meeting, when Kayana had served the potent cocktail along with a variety of delicious appetizers.
Cherie picked up the broom and dustpan. “Are you finished with this?” she asked Leah.
“Yes. We closed early, so I cleaned the restrooms and swept up the dining room. Business was slow today. Derrick said it was probably because news got out about the parking-lot attack and folks were wary about coming here.”
Kayana opened the door to the fridge and removed three martini glasses. “Give it a few days, and people will forget about it.”
“Did you know your brother was talking about keeping a gun on the premises?” Leah asked Kayana.
“No, and I hope you talked him out of it.”
“I did,” Leah confirmed, “and then I reminded him if there’s trouble here on the island, the only means of escape is the one road to the mainland or the water. And didn’t you tell me that with one call to the sheriff’s department, they would have deputies set up a roadblock before anyone could cross the bridge?”
“Yes,” Kayana replied, “but there’s so little crime on the island. Maybe you’ll have a woman call the sheriff because her husband or kids are acting a fool, but not much beyond that. No one is allowed on the beach after midnight, and that regulation is strictly enforced by the sheriff’s department.”
Leah reached for a pitcher from several lining a shelf. “I told Derrick he was being paranoid, but you know your brother, Kayana. There are times when he tends to overreact.”
Cherie sat on a stool at the prep table, watching Kayana as she took out the ingredients for the alcoholic cocktail. There were meetings when their drinks were so potent that they’d elected to substitute mocktails. “Y’all know I can’t drink without eating something.”
“Not to worry,” Kayana reassured her. “We have some leftover smoked brisket and mac and cheese.”
“I think we also have a few corn muffins left,” Leah said.
Cherie didn’t know what she liked more: discussing books or eating with her friends. It was like peanut butter and jelly. You couldn’t have one without the other. “It’s too bad we can’t have a book club meeting now. I finished readingLike Water for Chocolatethis morning.”
