Brooke quickly dried her hands on a towel, then smoothed down her hair. She was in her work clothes—jeans and an Irma Brew T-shirt topped with an apron that served as their uniform. She slipped out of the water-spotted apron, hanging it on a hook.
She pushed through the kitchen door and scanned the shop for Tyler.
Disappointment hit hard.
Adam stood at the counter, still in uniform, wearing that easy smile on his face. Not Tyler. Not even close.
“Hey, Brooke. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
Brooke forced a smile, trying to hide her disappointment. “No, not at all. What can I do for you?”
“Actually, I was hoping we could talk.”
Chapter 10
Tyler
Wednesday morning found Tyler under the hood of a Chevy Silverado, but his mind was nowhere near the transmission problem he was supposed to be diagnosing. Three days had passed since the mountain, and he still couldn’t stop thinking about Brooke. He’d planned to talk to her before now, but kept chickening out.
What could he say to her? If he was smart, he’d do the right thing and forget all about her. Stay away from her. He knew they couldn’t get involved. That wasn’t an option. She deserved better than someone with his history, his baggage, his curse of losing everyone he cared about.
But logic didn’t seem to matter when it came to Brooke. He needed to talk to her, to make sure she understood he hadn’t killed his wife and his son, no matter what Deputy Dawg thought.
“You planning to fix that transmission or just stare at it?” Robert’s voice cut through his thoughts.
Tyler straightened and wiped his hands on a shop rag. “Sorry. Distracted.”
“I’ve noticed.” Robert leaned against the workbench and gave Tyler a look that said he understood more than Tyler wanted him to. “You want to talk about it?”
“Just tired.”
“Uh-huh.” Robert didn’t push, but his expression suggested he knew exactly what—or who—was really on Tyler’s mind.
Tyler tried to refocus on the transmission, but it was useless. His thoughts kept circling back to Brooke. The way she’d looked at him on the trail before everything went wrong. The brief connection he’d felt building between them. Then the way it all came crashing down.
He needed to see her, just once, to make sure she was okay after finding the body and to explain his side of the story without Adam’s accusations coloring everything.
Or maybe he just needed an excuse to be near her again.
“I’m going to grab some coffee,” Tyler announced, already pulling off his work gloves.
Robert raised an eyebrow. “We’ve got coffee here.”
“Better coffee. From that place on Grand Avenue.”
“Irma Brew?”
“Yeah.”
Robert’s knowing smile widened. “The place Brooke Davies owns?”
Tyler didn’t respond, just headed for the door before Robert could say anything else.
The drive to downtown Irma took less than five minutes. Tyler parked his truck down the street from the coffee shop, suddenly nervous in a way he hadn’t been since he was a teenager asking a girl to prom.
This was a bad idea. He should turn around, go back to work, and forget about the woman who had gotten under his skin in the span of a few traumatic hours.
He looked at his reflection in the rearview mirror, then reached under the seat and pulled out the container of wet wipes he kept handy. He spent several minutes scrubbing grease from his chin and hands.
