“I’ll take four eggs, scrambled.Six pieces of bacon, two sausage links, and some tomato juice if you’ve got it.”
“Goin’ light today, huh?”Violet teased.
“Don’t wanna be too full when we meet up with Brantley and Reese later.”
Archer glanced at the door when he heard the bells chime.He was hoping to see Spencer Elliott strolling in, but as had been the case since he arrived, he wasn’t that lucky.He’d texted the man late last night, asking if he’d meet him for breakfast, but got no response.Nor did he have one when he woke up this morning.
“Y’all are meetin’ up with them?”Violet asked Simon.
“If they’ve got time, we were gonna meet at the apartment,” Simon told her.“I wanted to walk them through the information we have.Reese mentioned wantin’ to talk to Holt.Since they didn’t connect yesterday, I figured two birds, one stone.”
“You’re not goin’ to talk to the mob boss today, are you?”
Archer watched the interaction between the two, keeping his smile on the inside.He had to admit, he’d never expected his friend to fall in love.Simon wasn’t the sort to skirt relationships or anything, but he’d never seemed interested enough in one woman to settle down.
Until he met Violet.
If Archer were a betting man, he’d put every penny he had in the bank on them getting married sometime next year.Violet had been sporting the ring for a few days now, but they’d yet to decide on a date.
“We’re not goin’ to talk to Max,” Simon told her.“I promise, when we do, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Technically, you’ll probably be the third or fourth to know,” Archer corrected.
“He can’t go by himself,” Violet said, staring at Archer.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t.”
The bells chimed again, drawing his attention toward the door.
“Are you expectin’ someone?”
Archer’s gaze cut back to Simon quickly.“No.”
Violet sighed.“If you’re lookin’ for Spencer, he said he’s got some early showings today.”
Good to know.Didn’t explain why the man was avoiding him, though.
An hour later, after they’d polished off the food on their plates, Archer parked his Harley in a spot on Main Street in downtown Coyote Ridge.
Simon and Violet were already there, talking softly in front of Shelf Help, the bookstore Violet owned, smiling like a couple of lovesick teenagers.
Archer took his time removing his helmet, securing it.By the time he climbed off his motorcycle, he thought for sure they’d be done making googly eyes at one another, but he was wrong.
He made his way to the sidewalk, doing his best not to look at them or invade their private moment.When they still weren’t finished, he stood back, pretending he found the sidewalk fascinating while he waited for Simon and Violet to say their goodbyes.Seriously, that was how Simon had phrased it.As though the man wouldn’t be lingering around the bookstore for most of the day anyway.He could stop in at any point and see the woman, so Archer saw no reason for lengthy goodbyes.
Clearly he was the only one.
“If you’re not busy at lunch, I could grab somethin’.Bring it by,” Simon told Violet as they inched closer to the door.
Yeah, okay.As fun as this was, he had no interest in watching the two of them make out.Archer shook his head and gestured toward the second floor.“While you two do the kissy-kissy thing, I’m headin’ upstairs.”
Neither of them looked his way.
Amused at how far gone Simon was, Archer headed down Main Street, past the barber shop, toward the narrow alley between the two buildings.He turned left, eyeing the metal staircase that would take him up to the second floor at the rear of the building.
He wasn’t in a rush to get to the apartment.Mostly because he hadn’t bothered to grab the key from Simon, which meant he couldn’t get in.Despite Simon’s promise to stop in at the hardware store to get another made, the man had yet to do so.He knew it had to do with the fact he was in love and distracted by all the hearts and flowers that were swimming around in his brain, and not because the task was difficult.After all, the hardware store was right next door to the bookstore.Easy, right?Then again, the guy was in love, and since Archer never had been, perhaps—
He stopped on the step that was second to the top.
