CHAPTER 1
SHELBY
Rain pelted down on the roof of my van as I rolled up behind the diner. Dora Lynn waited for me outside, sheltered beneath a wide black umbrella. She looked both ways up and down the alley, as if to make sure we were all alone.
I smiled and shook my head. “Don’t worry,” I told her as I got out, shouting over the sound of the downpour, “I wasn’t followed.”
Dora Lynn nodded solemnly and followed me to the back of the van. The skirt of her waitress uniform swished around her legs. Her sensible shoes splashed in the puddles on the uneven pavement. “Let’s see the goods, lady.”
Dora Lynn and I had been friends since we were children. Ferris, Kentucky was a small farming town. Everyone knew everyone and no one ever left. The friends I’d made as a child turned out to be friends for life.
I opened the back doors of the van. I couldn’t afford to get the farm logo painted on the side of it yet, so it was just a plain white van, which was why Dora Lynn always joked we looked like we were up to something shady back here.
Inside was a stack of cartons. “Eggs, fresh from my farm.”
My bright yellow rain gear kept me mostly dry and warm, but the occasional drop slipped down my neck, chilling me. My friend’s little game, pretending we were doing something illegal, was generally amusing, but this wasn’t the weather for it.
“Perfect.” Dora Lynn pulled a wad of cash from her apron.
“Oh, come on.” I took a step back and spread my hands. “You don’t have a check? This isn’t actually a drug deal. And I’m meeting my brother inside for breakfast. I don’t have time to count all this.”
“You’re no fun.”
I swatted rain at her. “I’m less fun when I’m getting wet.”
“Not me.” She grinned and wagged her brows. “You should find a man and try it sometime, you old spinster.”
I hefted the eggs, shut the van doors, and headed to the diner’s back entrance, where warm golden light spilled out into the gray day. “Finding a man is easy. Finding agoodman is hard.”
“And finding a hard man is good,” she teased from behind me. “Sounds like we’re on the same page here.”
I snorted and placed the eggs on an empty shelf in the walk-in cooler. “I wish I was the woman you think I am. But that’s not the woman I see in the mirror.”
She nodded. “It’s because in a mirror, you see yourself backwards. I’m seeing you as you are.”
I wasn’t sure if that was profound or ridiculous, but it gave me pause regardless. I wiped residual rainwater from the tip of my nose. “And who am I? Because I’m still trying to figure that out.”
“You, my friend, are a woman who deserves to be happy.”
I huffed out a surprised breath, not expecting such a direct answer. “You’re my favorite customer.”
“I’m youronlycustomer,” she said with a smile. Dora Lynn had taken over running her family’s diner when her parentsretired, and she’d been more than happy to source her eggs from me. Considering the diner fed breakfast to half the town, she bought a lot. And thank goodness for that.
“I have like five customers now,” I said with a shrug. “I’m moving on up, Dora Lynn.”
“Well, good.” She poured a mug of coffee and passed it to me. “Just don’t forget about me when you’re big time, Shelby. I still need a truckload of eggs every other day.”
I patted her on the arm as I slid by her. “No matter what happens, you’ll always be a VIP.”
“Your brother is already here.” Dora Lynn nodded out toward the dining area. “He was getting grumpy, so I’ve been sending him bacon while he waits.”
“Careful. He might follow you home like a stray.”
“Yes, please.” Her eyes twinkled with laughter.
“Please, no.’” I shook my head at my friend and walked out of the kitchen’s swinging door.
My older brother, Shane, sat in a corner booth with a mug of coffee, munching on a strip of bacon. I joined him, taking off my raincoat and hat before I sat across from him. He didn’t even look at me. His gaze remained locked on the kitchen.
