Except he didn’t look keen on it. He squinted a little as he asked the question, as if he expected me to get bitchy or something.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Doyouwant company?”
Again, that smirk. “I don’t mind the raised eyebrows when I walk into the diner with you.”
“Will there be gossip?”
“You bet.”
He was bordering on rude to me. Too bad I found it refreshing.
“Lead the way. I want that meatloaf.”
He began striding up the main street, and I had to stretch my legs to keep up.
“I thought you were a vegetarian,” he said.
What? Oh. He probably assumed because of the veggie burger I’d ordered at the pub.
“I try not to eat too much red meat. It messes with my stomach when I overdo it. But no, not a vegetarian.”
We walked in silence for a while. Jordy wasn’t much of a talker, and I didn’t feel like making it easy for him. He surely wasn’t going out of his way to entertain me. Was I being paranoid, or did he truly have something against me? He didn’t know me at all.
We passed the school, and the sheriff’s cruiser rolled by, rocking over the speed bumps. Jordy lifted his arm in a small wave, and the driver waved back.
I didn’t feel the need to fill every second of someone’s company with noise, but if he was going to be quiet all the time, the lunch could get awkward.
I was starting to regret coming with him when he finally opened his mouth. “And how are you finding Beauville so far?”
That was a potential minefield. “Quiet. Cold. Quaint.”
I glanced at him to gauge his reaction, and he eyed me back just as suspiciously. This was starting to get ridiculous.
“The people are warm,” he said.
“I haven’t spoken to that many, but I’ll take your word for it. I bumped into the guy from the town hall. Oliver. He was nice. A bit too bouncy for my taste, but nice.”
“Oliver’s great. He’s the sheriff’s son.”
“Chicken?”
Jordy snorted. “Chickie.”
“Why do people call him that? He’s like the most frightening bear around here.”
“His name is Hawke.”
A small giggle escaped me. “Okay, that makes sense.”
“It was Monty’s dad who spread the nickname decades ago,” Jordy said, his voice softening.
“That makes even more sense.”
He nodded noncommittally and was quiet again. He was really going to make me work for it, huh?
The diner was a crooked, wooden house, seemingly older than the rest of the main street. It looked like it came straight from the gold rush era. Jordy pushed the heavy door open for me. I braced myself for the same wave of silence that greeted me at the pub, but the place was so busy and loud barely anyone noticed us coming in.
The old, round man behind the counter glanced our way. His cheeks were so red they looked painted on.
