The thought of taking up residence in his dad’s old room made a tremor of dread slither down his spine. “Not gonna happen.”
Understanding wrinkled her brow. “You could toss out all his stuff. Make it your own.”
“I don’t plan on being here long enough for it to matter where I crash.”
She heaved out a big sigh. “I thought you’d say that. What are you plans? Have a job lined up?”
“Not yet.” The familiar panic returned to squeeze his chest.
“Any idea what you want to do?”
He shook his head. Worrying about a job was a new thing, and it’d kept him awake more than one night. He’d trained for one thing his entire life—bull riding. Without it, he didn’t even know who he was, let alone what else he could do.
Suzy offered him a sympathetic smile. “No need to figure out your whole future tonight. Hungry?”
His stomach growled at the question. “Guess so.”
“How about dinner at The Dusty Armadillo?”
A memory flashed in his brain of the last time he’d been to the local watering hole. Running into anyone from Hillmore at the bar and grill was pretty much guaranteed, but the evening a year back that he’d stumbled in and laid eyes on his high school love sitting at the bar had led to a night of passion he hadn’t expected.
And he’d never forget.
Suzy waved her hand in front of his face. “Earth to Lane. Do you want to get something to eat at The Dusty Armadillo? We can go somewhere else if that doesn’t sound good.”
Clearing his throat, he forced away the memories. “No, that’s fine. I’d kill for one of their burgers. Lemme grab my stuff.”
He jogged up the steps to retrieve his hat and wallet, heart rate racing at the thought of glimpsing Celine Koffman again. Chances were low she’d be there tonight.
God, he hoped he didn’t have to face her. Not after the way he’d left her that night he’d seen her.
The last thing he needed was to run into another ghost the moment he stepped into town. A ghost that had haunted himsince the moment he’d walked out the door, not even telling her goodbye.
Exhaustion slowedevery one of Celine Koffman’s steps as she delivered another plate of food at The Dusty Armadillo. She’d pulled a double shift today and the hours couldn’t tick by fast enough. The restaurant was packed, keeping her scurrying from table to table and hopefully lining her pockets with big fat tips.
Lord knew she needed them.
Forcing a pasted smile on her lips, she tried not to dwell on how different her life was from a year before.
Back when the sham of her marriage had finally been exposed.
Back when she’d lost herself for one night in the arms of a man who’d already broken her heart once.
Back when she’d only had herself to worry about.
Letting out a long, slow breath she weaved between tables to the kitchen and tried to get her head on straight. The past was behind her, exactly where she wanted it to be. Her days might be long, her muscles always sore, but she had one thing now that made every ounce of pain and suffering worthwhile.
Her son.
Just the thought of her squishy baby waiting for her back home was enough to give her the extra push she needed to make it through the next couple of hours.
“Order up for table seven,” Ron said and slid two plates her way.
“You’re a lifesaver,” she said, offering the old cook a genuine smile. “Those two ladies are hungry and not in the mood to wait.”
“Seems like the whole town’s hungry tonight,” he said, turning back toward the stove. “You see Tia, tell her I’ve got her order ready to go.”
Celine gathered the hot plates and used her back to open the swinging door that led out to the main room. “Will do.”
