Tessa looked directly at Nick, and damn if she didn’t blush a little bit. “Nick?”
“Burger, well done, fries on the side and a Dr. Pepper.” He gathered the menus and handed them to her. “Thanks for being a good sport.”
She grinned and took the menus, turning and heading back around the counter.
And damn if Nick didn’t watch her go.
The grandmothers shared a smile.
I felt like a cat trying to navigate through a carwash. Neither Nick nor Tessa would like to be set up, although they really did make a nice couple. Kind of an opposites attract type of a situation, but they both did have solid cores of strength.
Gerty tucked her monstrous purse by her legs. “Tessa sure is a pretty one, isn’t she?”
Nick’s eyes narrowed. “Grams? Whatever you’re up to, please stop. I’m an adult and so is Tessa.”
She elbowed him again, and he tried to move farther away from her, but the booth was only so big. “I’m tired of you taking so long. She’s single, you’re single, and you’re obviously attracted to each other.”
Nonna nodded vigorously. “Anna told us you two kind of flirted, so why not?”
Nick swung his gaze to me. “You did what?”
I sucked in air. Saying anything like that to our grandmothers was akin to waving a red flag to an angry bull. “It wasn’t like that.” Oh, it was exactly like that.
A couple entering the diner caught my eye. They turned toward us and I bit back a smile. It was Kelsey Walker and Teddy Thompson. While his injured arm was still in a sporty black sling, his other hand was pressed to the small of her back. She’d dressed in a light white summer dress with tall blue wedges. “Hi, Anna,” she said, hesitantly walking closer.
“Hi.” Their meet-cute was the best ever.
She gestured to Teddy. “You remember Teddy?”
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi.” He had a couple of bruises across his clavicle, no doubt from the wreck. “Um, Kelsey and I were at the station giving additional information about the wreck, and we, um, thought we’d grab lunch.” His blue eyes were earnest, and they might be just getting lunch, but the palm of his hand was still on the small of her back, and she didn’t seem to mind.
If my job as a lawyer didn’t work out—again—I might think about starting a dating service or something. “That’s great. Have you heard anything?”
Kelsey’s eyes widened and she leaned forward as if she had great gossip. “Yeah. The police found the women who were in the truck, and they were arrested last night. That’s why we were asked in to answer more questions and identify them. I’m sure you’ll be called in, too.”
I probably already had been, but Oliver hadn’t gotten a chance to give me all of my messages before I dashed out to meet Nonna for this stressful lunch. “I’m glad you’re both okay.”
“You, too.” Teddy ushered Kelsey past us toward a booth even farther back.
Nonna partially turned her head to watch them go. “They make a cute couple. Isn’t that the youngest Walker girl?”
Gerty tsked her tongue. “So sad about her older sister.” She looked back at me. “I heard that Kelsey was charged in the murder. It can’t be true, is it?” Then she pivoted to look at her grandson. “You’d know, wouldn’t you?”
Nick took a drink of his water. “I can’t talk about ongoing cases, Grams.”
Good answer.
Gerty turned to me. “Well? What do you know?” The sparkle of her silver cross necklace caught the light.
Legal ethics dictated that I couldn’t even name my clients, much less talk about their cases. The bell over the door dinged and I turned, hoping I knew who’d entered. Anything to get the topic of conversation away from me. I squinted and then instantly changed my mind.
“Hey!” Yelled the blonde woman who’d smashed her truck into my car. “What were you saying to the police?” She ran toward us, and I began to tense, but she went right by our table to Kelsey and Teddy’s table.
The brunette followed but unfortunately recognized me. “It’s you,” she bellowed, pausing at the counter. “You’re all in this together.” Her hair was all over and her shirt dirty. It must’ve been a rough night in lockup. Glaring, she looked frantically around and then snatched a pastry off the turret.
She wound up to throw it.
