“Small town.”
She smiles.“All right.”
I turn toward Main Street and pull into the small diner that’s been part of Franklinton for longer than either of us has been alive.The neon sign buzzes softly above the door.
Inside the place smells like coffee, grilled burgers, and pie.Comfort food central.
Quinn slides into a booth while I grab menus from the counter.“Do you come here a lot?”she asks.
“Late-night bookkeeping fuel.”
“That sounds depressing.”
“They actually have great burgers.And I think you’ll love the pie.”
“Well, now I’m intrigued.”
The waitress appears a moment later with two glasses of water.“Evening, Damien.”
“Hey, Carol.”
She looks at Quinn and smiles.“Haven’t seen you in here before.”
“First time,” Quinn says.
“Well, you picked a good night.The coffee’s fresh.”
Quinn smiles at me.“You know the menu, you should order for us.”
I nod.“Just the regular then, Carol.”
She disappears toward the kitchen and Quinn studies me from across the table.
“You’re good at this.”
“At what?”I feel a frown pull at my brow.
“Taking care of people.”
“I’m just feeding you.”Something this simple shouldn’t seem like such a big moment.
“Still counts.”
I shrug.“My brothers did most of the heavy lifting growing up.”
“You’re the youngest, right?”
“Yeah.”
“That explains it.”
“What does that mean?”
“You probably spent your whole childhood watching them.”
“Observing.”Watching sounds like I’m some crazy stalker.
“Same thing.”
