“You too. What can I get you?”
They ordered their usuals and she headed back to the kitchen, handing the tickets to Owen, whose forehead glistened with sweat from the grill. She sank onto the cracked vinyl stool in the corner, easing the weight off her feet. The wall clock, its face yellowed with age, read only eight a.m. She sighed; the sound lost under the sizzle of the grill and the clatter of dishes. Another long day in a string of endless ones.
****
Cole watched her until she disappeared into the kitchen, her ponytail swinging with each step.
“She’s new,” Ethan said, fingers wrapping around his mug as steam curled up from the black coffee.
“Two or three weeks, I think.” Cole chuckled and recounted their first meeting, her wide-eyed panic as she sprinted across the field. The brothers erupted in laughter that turned a few heads in the diner.
“Surprised old Masher didn’t catch her,” Seth said. “That steer doesn’t like anyone in his territory.”
“Damn lucky,” Cole muttered, absently tracing a water ring on the tabletop.
“Bet she was hauling ass,” Ethan added.
Cole shook his head, remembering the flash of her terrified face. “Lucky I was out mending fence.”
“Yeah.” Seth’s lips curved into a knowing smirk. “She’s pretty though.”
“I’ll tell Ryan you said that,” Cole shot back with a grin.
Seth chuckled. “That woman knows she’s got nothing to worry about.”
“We all know that.” Cole leaned back and the booth squeaked in protest. “How’s it going with you two?”
“Great.” Seth’s face softened, the crease between his brows smoothing out.
“So, when’s the wedding?” Ethan asked, tapping his spoon against his mug.
“She can’t decide between summer or winter.” Seth sighed.
“Let her have her day,” Cole said.
“Oh, I will. Whatever she wants.” Seth’s voice held the quiet surrender of a man deeply in love.
Lanie arrived with Seth and Ethan’s plates, golden pancakes swimming in maple syrup, bacon strips curled at the edges. Cole slid from the booth, nodded to his brothers, and Ethan shifted into the vacated seat. Cole scanned the diner one last time for Aftyn, then pushed through the door into heat that hit him like a furnace blast.
Gravel crunched under his boots as he crossed to his dusty Silverado. The leather seat scorched through his jeans. The engine rumbled to life beneath his hands.
As the truck ate up the blacktop, fence posts blurring past, Aftyn’s blue eyes and smile flickered in his mind like a mirage.
“Damn,” he muttered, knuckles whitening on the wheel. Just some time with her. No strings.
****
Aftyn trudged up the metal stairs, fumbled with her keys, and shoved through the door, slamming it behind her with a satisfying bang that echoed her frustration. She made it as far as the sofa before collapsing, kicking off her sneakers and letting out a long, ragged sigh.
“What were you thinking?” she muttered, massaging her legs.
She wasn’t unaccustomed to being on her feet. Nursing had seen to that. But the diner was different. It never stopped, and some days neither did she.
She’d forgotten how bad her feet could scream. Back in college she’d balanced two serving jobs, rushing between a breakfast shift and a dinner service at an Italian place, all to put herself through school while supporting Avery. Now she wanted to strangle her ungrateful sister. The betrayal still stung like a fresh cut.
Avery was out there somewhere, she was certain of it, hiding in Clifton or just beyond its limits. The cash she’d stolen would be dwindling by now. The police had found no activity on Judd’s accounts. He’d always kept a lot of cash, though. They were burning through it, and it wouldn’t last forever. When it ran out, one of them would have to work, and she knew which one that would be. She needed to find her sister.
“Just how do you intend to find that out?” she muttered, blowing a strand of limp hair from her eyes. “Go into every single store?”
