“Let’s hope it’s that simple,” Holt said, but June could tell he was not convinced.
Then Holt’s expression shifted, warming unexpectedly. His voice softened. “Shall we put this off for an hour and go enjoy breakfast?”
June smiled back. “Yes, I think I’d like that.”
Holt extended his arm. “Besides, we won’t solve everything in the parking lot.”
June felt her cheeks warm. She slid her hand through his arm, and her heart thudded hard in her chest, not with fear this time, but with something that felt dangerously close to comfort.
“Or on an empty stomach with no fuel for our brains.” June walked beside Holt, trying to steady the wild beating of her heart, which was being driven by her rogue emotions.
Inside, the diner smelled like butter, coffee, and grilled bacon. It was warm, loud in a gentle way, the clatter of plates and low conversations blending into a blanket of ordinary life.
A waitress with kind eyes led them to a booth by the window. Holt slid in on one side, and June sat across from him, still feeling the strange steadiness of having his arm offered so easily. As if nothing had changed.
But of course, everything had changed between them, and they were no longer the young adults they were thirty-eight years ago, June reminded herself harshly.
Holt ordered eggs, toast, and coffee. June ordered pancakes and fruit because she needed something sweet to counter the bitter taste of the morning.
When the waitress walked away, Holt leaned back slightly, his hands folded on the table.
“So tell me about you,” Holt said. “It’s been thirty-eight years.” He smiled. “Sorry, you don’t have to tell me but I have to admit to being curious about your life.”
June’s throat tightened. The question was simple, but it carried decades.
June forced herself to smile lightly.
“It’s been a rollercoaster of highs and lows, ” June admitted. “I got remarried, got my father’s law firm back, had a beautiful daughter, and then..” She stopped abruptly, a flash of that life crumbling hit her, but she gathered herself quickly. “Then my husband died eighteen years ago.”
“I’m sorry, June.” Holt’s voice was soft and filled with compassion. “My mother told me about that.”
June swallowed the lump clogging her throat and nodded, giving him a tight smile. “Thank you.” She cleared her throat. “I managed. Willa kept me busy after that.”
“Your daughter looks so much like you,” Holt told her and frowned. “Did her father have blue eyes?” he asked as the coffee came, and he waited for the waitress to walk away. “I know your family all have brown or green eyes.”
June’s head shot up at the question as she stared at him, shock coursing through her for a moment before she gathered herself once again. “Yes.” She nodded. “She’s the pride of our lives.” She smiled as she thought of her beautiful, courageous, and loving daughter. “She was the most wonderful child. I don’t know how I got so lucky with her.”
“She’s really great,” Holt told her, and June was surprised to see how much he meant it. There was pride shining in his eyes,and guilt tore through her, nearly knocking the breath from her lungs and making her choke on coffee. “Are you alright?”
June grabbed some water and drank it quickly, nodding. “I’m fine.” She nodded. “I think I breathed in air as I took a sip of coffee.” She managed a brittle laugh.
“I’m surprised that Willa didn’t become an attorney like you,” Holt said, getting right back to the topic of Willa.
“From the moment she could walk, and Carmen first took her to the fire station, Willa wanted to be a firefighter,” June explained nostalgically. “But my late husband and I, both being attorneys, gently nudged her toward studying law.”
“Ah,” Holt nodded. “I get that. My father wanted me to be an architect.”
“But you always knew you wanted to be in the FBI,” June remembered.
“Yeah,” Holt said with a soft laugh, leaning back in the booth. “So how did Willa end up being a fire captain?”
“The day…” June paused again and swallowed hard. “The day of Trevor’s accident, I had just fetched Willa from university. She’d come home for spring break. It was about a week after her eighteenth birthday. That’s when she sprang it on me that she wasn’t going back to Harvard. She was joining the fire academy and was also engaged to her boyfriend of two years.”
“All in one breath!” Holt said good-naturedly.
“Yes, all in one breath,” June nodded, her lips turning up into a smile. “That was quite the emotional day.”
“I can only imagine,” Holt said, his eyes darkening with emotion.
