Page 140 of When Darkness Calls

She huffs a half-hearted laugh. “Even if I said I was thinking of running the diner?”

“Yes, even then.” I blink at her, every ounce of certainty I can muster put into expression. If this is what she wants to do, I’ll do anything and everything to help her along the way, and I know without a single doubt she could do it.

“Bobby’s been mumbling around about maybe retiring soon. I can’t see him wanting to sell it off to a stranger, ya know? And Ruthie isn’t going to do it. She should’ve stopped working after Bill died. Everyone else is just there to get their paychecks until it’s time to move on, whether it’s the younger girls doing it for the spending money, or Jack waiting until she graduates and can start working at the hospital. I’m the only one that…doesn’t want to move on, Dee. I love my job. Some days it’s hard and I hate smelling like the fryer oil, but I’m so happy there.”

There’s no question about it. Liz has already made up her mind whether she knows it or not. The conviction in her gaze is everything I need to know.

“You know…I was just thinking about that the other day,” I say, taking a small sip from the latte.

Her brows scrunch. “Bobby selling the diner? Or me smelling like a deep fryer?”

“How happy you are when you’re there. It’s like you’re home.”

And she smiles.

“GUYS! GUYS! GUYS!”

Grayson pinches the bridge of his nose, his deep inhale lifting his shoulders. Keegan groans from the recliner, his head thrown back. Cade stands near our kitchen, looking into the entry hall bemused. Nick doesn’t say anything from his place on the floor leaning back against the coffee table. He just stops mid-flip of his knife and turns his head to stare blankly as Alex rounds the corner, arms full of paper bags.

“What’s happening right now?” I murmur to Grayson as he pulls his arm away from my shoulders.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” he mumbles back. Then he yells, “WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?”

Alex stops, his eyes narrowing into slits. A muscle jumps in his neck. “Are you mocking me, Williams?”

Grays shrugs. “Maybe.”

Alex moves towards us on the couch and my stomach drops. Fuck, it’s never smart to goad him. He’s got a shorter fuse than a previously lit stick of dynamite.

Keegan throws up his hand just before Alex passes him. “Stop.” He halts in place, seething. Keegs looks up at him and asks, “What’s going on?”

Alex inhales and instantly his anger is gone, replaced with the excitement he came in with. Like nothing ever happened.

He clears his throat, holding out the bags like an offering. “Hear, ye. Hear, ye, Beckett household. I hath come bearing gifts!”

Cade speaks up. “Yes, we can see that. Care to tell us what the gifts are?”

Alex nods rapidly, setting the bags on the coffee table as he walks deeper into the living room. “Okay, so, y’all know how I had to do those trainings the last few days in the city because everyone is freaking out about the storage building fire?”

We all say a collective “Yes.” How could we have not known? He’s complained about it all week.

“Right, so today, while we were there and the guy in the front was going over a like four hour long slideshow about stuff we already know—the whole thing was so pointless—I was thinking about how we kind of fucked up.”

I facepalm.

Keegan groans again.

Grayson is going to have bruises if he keeps pinching his nose that hard.

Cade scowls.

Nick, of course, doesn’t say anything.

“Dude…” Keegan bemoans.

Alex blinks. “What?”

“We know we fucked up. Hell, I started the damn fire—”