“I heard you got injured, how you doing now?” Annabelle had golden-brown hair that sat on her shoulders and beautiful brown eyes, and there wasn’t a man alive who was immune to her charms.
“I’m doing good, thanks, Annabelle.”
Her shoulders were gripped, and she was subjected to a thorough inspection.
“Not good, but we’ll change that. Now, why don’t you come with me, I’m going to annoy Buster and Willow.”
“Okay, sure,” Katie said, letting Annabelle wrap an arm around her waist and tow her across the street.
The Hoot smelled of cinnamon, spices, and home baking. The place had more plants now and color, and Katie guessed that was due to the woman behind the counter, who was also new. As they approached she saw the mystery muffin sign and laughed. Buster and Branna had an ongoing battle with those muffins. If a person could name the ingredients they didn’t have to pay; Branna never could. She’d begged Buster for recipes, but he’d remained as unmovable as a redwood.
“Katie McBride, this is Willow Harper.” Annabelle made the introductions.
“Well now, you could only be Jake’s sister,” Willow said, coming out from behind the counter. Short, with brown hair that was pulled into a knot on top of her head, the woman had the most amazing eyes Katie had ever seen.
“You know anyone else with purple eyes?” Annabelle said.
“Lavender!” Buster shouted from the kitchen.
“Gets him every time.” Annabelle’s smile was a mile wide; Willow, however, just rolled her eyes.
“You two are like children.” She had the sweetest smile, and Katie saw what had drawn Buster to her right off. “Now, is it okay if I hug you, Katie, or would you rather shake my hand?”
“She was raised in a commune, so she’s all about feelings and doing things right,” Annabelle said. “Just hug her, Willow, for pity’s sake. Katie’s like family.”
Willow hugged Katie. It was gentle and she smelled of wildflowers.
“There’s not a day goes by that I wish I hadn’t mentioned the commune, Katie, but let’s be honest here, it would have got out, because there are no secrets in this town.”
“I’ve never managed to keep any.”
“I can imagine, and you being everyone’s little sister, that can’t have been easy,” Willow said with the accuracy of an arrow.
“I was pleased when they stopped blowing on my food,” Katie said, which made Willow smile again.
“Let’s sit and Buster can serve us.”
“Like I haven’t got shit all else to do!”
“Buster, I haven’t met Katie before, I want to have a talk with her, and she has such great bone structure.”
“God save us all,” Annabelle muttered, following Willow and Katie to a table.
Looking around the walls, she saw there were several pencil sketches in frames. Some were of the local scenery and others of people. She found Jake and Branna, then Ethan and Annabelle. Mikey Tucker was there too, riding his bike down the main street.
“You did these?” Katie didn’t sit, she walked around the walls studying each drawing. “They’re amazing, Willow.”
“She’s okay, I guess.” Buster came to stand beside her, slinging an arm around her shoulders. Katie had grown up with Jake’s friends. They’d all looked out for her, which hadn’t always been easy, because sometimes she’d wanted to do something a bit crazy or break a few rules, but there hadn’t been much chance of that with them around. It wasn’t until she’d left that she realized how much they meant to her, and just how lucky she’d been to have them in her life.
“I can see through you, Buster.” Katie elbowed him the ribs. “You’re in love.” She drew out the last word like she used to when she was a kid.
“The hell you say.” He gave her a head rub. “Don’t go telling her that, okay? I got her right where I want her.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.”
“I heard about what happened with that dickhead, Mitch. You doing okay? You didn’t hurt yourself when you threw him, did you?”
“My shoulder’s a bit stiff, but otherwise I’m sweet.”
