“Oh.” Daniel licked his lips. “And when isthat?”
I turned back to the sink, apparently determined to take the top two layers of glaze off my mug through over-washing. “This weekend. Saturday. But there’s a meeting for the vendorstonight.”
“Right. You guys sure love your town meetings,huh?”
Usguys.
“Oh yeah. You know me,” I joked. “Nothing I lovemore.”
He laughed, and it seemed to break whatever weird tension I’d caused between us. He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pressing himself againstme.
“And after the meeting? You could come out to the cabin. The animals missyou.”
“Honoria and She-Ra, huh?” I shut off the water and relaxed against him. He took my weight easily. “Notyou?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You know I love having youthere.”
I sighed. The truth was, I loved being there. “Okay,” I said. “I’llcome.”
* * *
The planning meetingwas every bit as awkward as I’d expected it to be. Someone—my brothers, or maybe my mother, or possibly all three—had told one or two peoplein strictest confidenceabout what happened on Thanksgiving, and that person had told another, and so forth. By the time I got to Goode’s Diner shortly after sundown that evening, it had already made the rounds. As I took my coat off, Lisa Dorian greeted me with, “Looking a little peaky, Doc Ross,” and then added in a whisper loud enough to be heard in Rushton, “You know, we have pamphlets about binge drinking over at thelibrary.”
Old Jay Turner, who was standing nearby, burst into laughter that devolved into wheezing. I gave them both a chilly smile and walked away to try to find adrink.
Non-alcoholic,obviously.
It was still early, and Jamie, who managed the place, hadn’t set out the food yet, nor did I see him in the restaurant chatting with any of the other early birds, so I headed for the swinging doors that led to the kitchen. But when I pushed the door open, I quickly saw that he wasn’talone.
“You can’t be serious, Jamie.” Parker Hoffstraeder was standing in the center of the kitchen, arms folded across his chest, glaring at Jamie. His short hair gleamed like a gold coin in the overhead light, and he was still wearing a thick green vest over his sweater, like he’d recently come in from outside. “I refuse to let you do this. You hear me? I won’t letyou.”
Jamie was busy doing something at the counter, which was completely covered with half-filled dishes, pans, and trays. He didn’t turn around or in any way indicate that he’d heard Parker speak, but from where I stood, I could see that his jaw wasclenched.
“That’s great,” Parker said, when it was clear Jamie wouldn’t reply. “That’s just wonderful. Typical James Burke, right there, ladies and gentlemen. Silent and stoic to the bitterend.”
Jamie whirled around, whacking what looked like a tray of sandwiches with his hand. The tray hit a saucepan, and the saucepan hit the floor with a resounding crash, spraying viscous, dark fluid all over the floor… and all overJamie.
Jamie’s face turned a violent shade of red and his entire body expanded like a puffer fish. Given that he was six foot-something and barrel-chested to begin with, the sight wasimpressive.
Jamie Burke was one of the sweetest, gentlest men I knew, but he also had a temper to match his red hair, and right now he was looking at Parker with murder in hiseyes.
I stepped forward, like somehowIwas gonna be able to avert this fight physically, but neither of them even noticed me. They were locked in some kind of staring contest that could only end in death or hardfucking.
I cleared my throat and Parker’s eyes darted to me for half a second, breaking the tension. Jamie clenched his eyesshut.
“My life is none of your goddamn business, Parker,” he bit out. “You don’t get anopinion.”
Parker shook his head. “That’s bullshit. You’re not gonna fuck everything up just because you’ve got your panties in a twistover—”
“You have no say in the matter! YouleftO’Leary, and now you think you can just come back and everything will be like it was? Fuck that. One of us has got to go. And if you do one goddamn thing to make this harder than it has to be,I’ll—”
“Yeah?” Parker taunted, taking a step closer. “You’ll what. Tell me, Jamie. What will youdo?”
Jamie’s brown eyes popped open and he glared daggers at the other man. Parkersmirked.
“That’s what I thought. All talk. No action.” He pointed a warning finger at Jamie. “You’re not getting out of this, understand? I’m not leaving, and we’re gonna figure our shit out, one way oranother.”
Parker looked at me and nodded once, a greeting and a goodbye. Then he turned and walked out the backdoor.
