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He slapped my arm. “Good to see you, Kit. I hope Dakota is doing well?”
This was well-traveled territory. Most everyone in town who spoke to me asked after Dakota. Her injury was big news, and in a small town like this, everyone took an interest.
“She’s doing great. She’s actually here more than I am.” I nodded toward Felipe, who was just behind the counter and obviously listening in. “Right, Felipe?”
“Yep. My best customer.”
“I bet,” I grumbled under my breath.
Matteo said his goodbyes and left, and I exhaled with relief. It was unlikely Joey had told him about me—why would he?—but Matteo probably knew about his criminal history, knew that he’d been the one to cause that accident, and wanted to give me a message about giving people a second chance.
Easy for him to say, though. He hadn’t lived with Dakota’s pain and my parents’ grief. Hadn’t watched Dakota struggle to get out of bed for weeks, heard her say that she wished she’d just died in the accident instead, hadn’t had to fight with her to get her to do the rehab that would give her some quality of life. Gradually, she’d come out of the depression—partly in thanks to a lot of therapy that helped her process her emotions—but it had terrified me, honestly. I’d thought my sister was gone forever, even if her body remained. It took years to get the real Dakota back, the one who cracked jokes and teased me about going out, who ran New Horizons like she was a seasoned executive, and who always had a smile about something every single day.
Today, her smile was for Felipe—and I wanted to be sure he wasn’t going to ruin it.
“What can I get you?” he asked.
“A chai tea latte and a raspberry mocha.”
I’d already had coffee at home, but I could never resist a chai.
“Cool.” Felipe grabbed a cup and got to work. “So you’re Dakota’s brother? Did I hear that right?”
“That’s right.”
He glanced over his shoulder while he held a cup under the frother. “It still hits me weird how so many people know each other here.”
“New in town?”
“Newish,” he said. “Been here two years.”
“Yep, you’ll be considered new for the next seven years, just so you know.”
He finished the first drink and set it on the counter in front of me. “I got my work cut out for me, huh? Are there any shortcuts to becoming just another Rivertonian?”
“You mean, like dating one of us?” I suggested.
Okay, no one ever accused me of being subtle.
His smile turned sheepish, and yeah, I could see the appeal for Dakota. He was a cute guy, a dimple popping on one side of his mouth, huge brown eyes that had a depth that seemed to draw you in, and thick, glossy hair. “Guess you heard I gave Dakota my number, huh? I hope that’s okay.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know, but you’ve got some sort of vibe going on.” He waved a finger at my face. “You’re in protective big brother mode, aren’t you?”
“I’m the little brother, actually.”
He chuckled as he turned to focus on the second drink. “Okay, protective little brother mode, then. You don’t need to worry. I like Dakota.”
“Plus, paralyzed like that, she couldn’t really stop you if you got pushy, could she?”
Felipe whirled back to face forward. “What the—”
“She’s easy to overpower, right? Easy to control?”
His jaw clenched. “That’s some fucked-up shit right there.”
“Yeah, it is,” I said, staring him down so he’d see I was serious. “And you’d be surprised how many men try to take advantage.”
