“I told you, she’s not mine.”
So, why did it grate over his heart like jagged steel to imagine the Order taking Leni and Riley into their protection? He couldn’t ask for a better, more capable alternative—other than one of his own brethren down in the Everglades Darkhaven.
“You haven’t answered my question, brother.”
“Just make it happen,” he snarled.
“All right.” Razor’s reply was solemn and resolute. “Consider it done.”
Knox ended the call without a reply, his attention snagged on the sound of Leni and Riley talking downstairs. The front door creaked open, then closed with a solid thump.
What the fuck?
Where was she going? How could he protect her when she hadn’t even told him she was leaving?
Right. As if he would be any use to her in the full light of another morning.
“Son of a bitch.”
He flashed down to the kitchen in an instant, met with the silence of an empty house. On the counter near the sink lay a note jotted in crisp handwriting.
Took Riley with me to open the diner. I need him with me, where I can keep a close watch and know he’s safe.
When I get home, we need to talk.
—L.
Knox leaned against the counter and exhaled a curse.
She was right, of course. They did need to talk.
He only hoped she wouldn’t despise him for what he’d just done.
CHAPTER 17
Opening the diner had been just the distraction she’d needed.
Business was slow most of the day due to the unmaintained roads surrounding Parrish Falls and the tinier bergs spread out around it, but she’d had a steady flow of customers that kept her hopping between the kitchen and the dining room from the minute she turned the sign in the front door.
The bell jingled as another patron, one of her favorite locals, came inside from the cold and took his seat at the counter. Leni grabbed the coffee pot and filled the ceramic cup in front of him, leaving room enough for the triple creams she knew the regular would be dumping into the strong brew. “How did you and Mable fare in the storm the other night, Claude?”
The old man nodded in greeting as he tore the foil tops off the creamers. “Power’s still out and the road’s a mess, but we’re just fine. We were luckier than most. Heard on the satellite radio that the roads farther into the interior toward St. Zacharie are going to be all but impassable for the next couple of days.”
“Well, I’m glad you were able to make it out. It always brightens my day to see you.”
His gray-whiskered cheeks turned a little ruddier at her compliment. “Mable would’ve liked to join me, but her damn hip’s acting up again. Thought I’d come in for coffee then bring us home something warm for lunch.”
Leni smiled. “I just made a batch of chicken and dumplings this morning.”
“Sold,” he said, toasting her with his steaming cup. “I’ll take two plates to go.”
“Coming right up.”
With the rest of the lunch customers already taken care of and Riley contentedly playing at the far booth with a handful of race cars she’d let him bring from home, Leni headed into the kitchen to prepare the new order.
She had settled into her usual rhythm in the hours she’d been back at work. It felt good having something else to occupy her thoughts, other than the complicated jumble her life had become in recent days. Working took her mind off the Parrishes and her unbearable sense of dread over Travis’s homecoming. God knew she needed a break from that worry.
She should be relieved he hadn’t made a beeline for her house the moment he was freed from the state penitentiary. She was glad to be spared the confrontation, but she also couldn’t lull herself into believing he would stay away forever.
