“Bob, I don’t tell Cordell what to do any more than he can his brother.” That was truer than anyone knew. If the Lander brothers were anything, they were stubborn. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a conference call I have to make.” She rose. “Let me show you out.”
SITTING IN HISsports car with the top down, Donovan prepared himself for his new job. All the way here, he’d kept checking his rearview mirror, afraid he’d been followed. Hopefully he’d gotten far enough away from Laramie that none of the Mandevilles would find him, especially Lolly. In some ways, he thought she was probably more dangerous than even her father.
He glanced again at the front of the café. Goldie had told him that she would be working so to just stop by for their “meet cute.”
Lunch is on me, she’d said, sounding nervous. Had she been having second thoughts? He couldn’t let that happen. He needed this job, and Dry Gulch seemed the perfect hideout until the heat was off him in Laramie. The quaint little community was literally in the middle of nowhere, Montana. He hadn’t seen another town for miles.
Taking a breath, he opened his car door and stepped out. He’d been in this situation enough times before that he was ready topour on the charm. It came naturally to him. There was no way he could screw this up.
As he entered the café, he caught the scent of burgers and fries. The décor was all 1950s diner from the booths to the long counter with its glitzy padded stools. Was that a milk shake machine? He smiled as he cozied up to the counter. He could get used to this, he thought as Goldie came out from the back.
She was even prettier in person. She saw him and stopped abruptly. He gave her a big smile. “You have milk shakes?” he asked, motioning to the machine.
The question unfroze her. She smiled as she said, “I do.”
“Then we are going to get along just fine.” He gave her a wink and noticed out of the corner of his eye a couple of local ranchers watching them.
As she approached him on the opposite side of the counter, she said, “Name your poison. I can make you any kind of shake you want.”
He cocked a brow at her, still grinning. “You’re on. Chocolate caramel?”
Her smiled broadened. “Salted?”
“Ooooh,” he said. “A woman after my own heart!” As she began to make the shake, he slid onto a stool and said, “Are those burgers I smell cooking?”
“They sure are.”
“If you could have the cook throw one on the grill for me then, I would greatly appreciate it. I’d take some fries too, if it’s not a problem.”
She shot him a grin over her shoulder. “No problem at all. It’s what we do here.”
“I already love the place,” he said with a laugh.
“Wait until you taste this shake,” she said. He liked that she was quick, and after the initial shock of seeing him in her diner, she’d gotten right into their flirting banter. He watched hermake his milk shake, studying her shapely backside as he told himself he was going to enjoy this.
There was a teenager at the grill in the back. Donovan saw him slap a half pound of ground beef down on the grill. It immediately began to sizzle, the scent rising along with that of the fries bubbling in the hot grease. Donovan breathed in the smells and began to relax as he considered how far Goldie would go to win back this man of hers.
Either way, he planned to leave here with more than he came with, he told himself. He hoped it wasn’t soon, but that would depend on whether he’d gotten away clean from the crime boss and his daughter. Otherwise, things could get dangerous quickly. He’d be lucky to get out with his life. Shoving that thought away, he breathed in the scent of his lunch cooking and made himself relax. How tough could this job be?
He’d always tried to make the most of any situation, he thought with a grin as he studied the shapely Goldie Shaw. This time would be no different.
FROM THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE, Max had also seen the red sports car pull into town. He’d even watched as the man had climbed out and headed into the café. Another prospective buyer? He’d hoped it was just someone passing through town, though that didn’t happen often. When he checked the clock on the wall, he realized that the man had been in Goldie’s longer than it took to eat lunch.
“You could go down there and find out what’s going on,” his young deputy said with a grin from his open doorway.
“Sorry?” he asked, pretending to be confused.
“Goldie’s,” Rance Fletcher said. “You could walk down there and see for yourself. Just go into the café and have lunch like you used to, like any other resident in this town. I could hear yourstomach growling all the way over to my desk. If you’re curious, that might be the quickest way to know what’s going on.”
Max felt his face cloud over. Rance, seeing the coming storm, quickly added, “Or you can just ignore anything I say.”
“Let’s go with the latter.” Fuming inside, Max hated to think that everyone in the county had noticed his behavior since his breakup with Goldie. Clearly, some people had. They’d probably had a good a laugh at how he went out of his way to avoid her—and her café, he thought as Rance quickly returned to his desk.
Grabbing his Stetson, Max snugged it down on his head as he rose. He’d been avoiding the only café in town for months. At first, he would call and ask whoever was working—and wasn’t Goldie—to please deliver his food. He’d been buying groceries at the store and cooking his own meals to avoid seeing her. It might seem silly to everyone, but it was just too painful to be near her. He’d told himself it would get better in time.
Now he realized how foolish and cowardly he looked. It was his own fault after all this time that he didn’t feel he could walk down to the café for lunch as he had every day when he and Goldie had been together. Back then, she would see him coming and already know what he wanted. They would sit and visit while he ate. Those had been some of the happiest times of his life, which he had deprived himself of since the breakup.
“If anyone asks,” Max said as he reached the front door of the county sheriff’s office, “I’ve gone to the café for lunch.” With that he walked out, letting the door slam behind him in the stunned silence.
