Page 51 of Catcher

“Whole damn order down on Bourbon?” he mutters. “That’d be a hell of a party.”

“Montana’s got a whole lot of space,” Nova says. “Room to spread out.”

“New Orleans got everything else,” Fender counters. “Food, booze, atmosphere.”

There’s a beat of silence as that settles.

“Women are gonna have opinions,” Wick mutters, knocking back his beer.

“They always do,” Nova says with a smirk.

A few chuckles go around the table.

The conversation shifts easily after that, flowing the way it always does when it’s just us.

Riggs looks at Kiwi and Fender, “You two got the green light on that expansion?”

Kiwi’s grin turns sharp. “Yeah. Finally, the city signed off on it yesterday.” He leans forward, elbows on the table, clearly enjoying this part. “We’ve been needing to extend the range, so now, we can add two more lanes. We’re upgrading the ventilation system to handle higher volume. And we’re putting in a new section up front with custom builds, higher-end gear, more space for walk-ins.”

“Training area too,” Fender adds. “Private instruction, classes, all that.”

“That’ll bring in more business,” Wick says.

“Hell, yeah, it will, mate,” Kiwi replies. “Can’t wait.”

The talk moves on again, easy and natural, until it doesn’t. Until it lands on me. Riggs’ gaze settles, sharp without being obvious. “How’s your family?” he asks.

Simple question.

But not really.

I take a drink before answering, “They’re good.”

“And you?”

There it is.

The real question.

The one everyone keeps asking.

I lean back in my chair, rolling the glass between my fingers and feeling the weight of it. “My head’s… clearer,” I say finally. That gets their attention.

“Yeah?” Nova says.

I nod once. “Know what I want.”

“Or who?” Kiwi mutters under his breath, not quietly enough.

“Careful,” Wick says, voice dry. “You start sounding like that, we’re gonna think you caught something.”

“Yeah,” Fender adds, grinning. “Name’s Ruby, ain’t it?”

There it is.

Out in the open.

I don’t answer right away. No point because they already know. They’ve seen how I look at her and the way she gets under my skin.