Despite everything, a breath of a laugh escaped me. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She nodded and continued, leaning into me just a little more and letting her voice drop into something softer and more…conspiratorial. “And later, when you come back to return my borrowed truck, maybe we can pretend today didn’t happen and break in my new bed.”
I fought back a disbelieving laugh, or at least I tried to. I just couldn’t believe that this woman was standing here after having the rug ripped out from underneath heragainand trying to makemefeel better about giving her space. A huff of air fell from my lips against my will.
“Is my proposition funny, cowboy?” she asked, amused yet slightly confused.
“What’s funny,” I said, “is you deflecting.Again.”
Her lips parted—clearly caught but not offended. “I’m not?—”
“You are, princess.” I dipped my head and brushed my nose against hers. “That’syourtrademark move. Throw out something sweet and distracting so I stop looking at you like you’re about to fall apart.”
A tiny burst of air hit my mouth from the laugh she expelled. “Does it work?”
I grinned and sealed my lips to hers. “Every damn time.”
Two miles later, Belle’s diner came into view. It looked…better than I expected. It was a little strange seeing the parking lot with only three vehicles—her mid-sized SUV, my mom’s Suburban, and Red’s old square body truck—but then again, half of Tarnation looked like a ghost town thanks to childish shenanigans. Everyone was too busy cleaning up toilet paper and eggs and repairing mailboxes to be doing anything else.
I pulled into the gravel lot and parked off to the side, far enough to keep me and the truck out of spray range since Red was currently blasting egg gunk off of the front windows with a power washer. The smell was a special kind of rank, and I wasn’t trying to carry that around with me.
“Well, would you look at that,” Belle shouted out as I rounded the corner of the diner and crossed the back lot where she and my mom were tossing filled garbage bags into the dumpster. “Just like a damn blister, showing up when all the work's done.”
“Damn, Belle,” I said, huffing a sarcastic laugh. “Don’t you usually reserve those insults for Luke?”
She heaved an exhausted sigh and threw another bag into the dumpster. “Sorry, hon. I’m just tired from picking toilet paper from my bushes and grumpy from smellin’ raw egg for the past couple of hours.”
“Try having it hit you in the face,” Red grumbled loudly, walking the spray gun over to the base and resting it in the holder before shutting it down.
“Is this the last of it?” I asked, grabbing a bag from the ground and tossing it into the dumpster.
“Last of the paper and shells,” Belle said as I tossed in another bag. “The south window still needs another spray becausesomeone—” she shot a look at Red “—refuses to admit he missed a spot.”
Red shook his head and walked over to the side of the diner to disconnect the hose. “I didn’t miss a spot. The sunlight’s just hitting it wrong.”
Belle narrowed her eyes. “Keep it up, Harland, and the palm of my hand’ll hit you just right.”
His laugh rang out from across the yard as my mom and I tossed the last two bags in the dumpster.
Mom shook her head with a smirk and dusted her hands off on her jeans, hitting me with a concerned but knowing expression. “How’s Andi holding up?”
I shrugged, reaching for the dumpster lid and lifting it before letting gravity pull it the rest of the way closed. It settled with a jarring rattle.
“Best she can,” I replied and left it at that because it wasn’t my place to speak for her.
“That girl’s been through a lot,” Belle said, sharing a look with my mom before her eyes landed on me in a way that made me think of a warning shot. “Youbothhave.”
Yep, shots fired.
I shook my head. “This isn’t about me.”
“Itis,a little bit,” Mom said, her nose wrinkling as she lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug.
My eyes darted between all three of them. “When did this become an intervention?”
“When you decided to show up after all the work was done,” Belle said, matter-of-factly. “Now, hush up and listen.”
What the hell? I looked to Red for back-up, but he just stood there, rubbing his palm over his beard-covered jaw with an expression that clearly urged me to do as the crazy lady insisted.
