“Speaking of dating pools and broken hearts. You look very happy here,” Cohen said, taking a swig of his beer.
Mason smiled. “You know, I really am. It’s been really good.”
“How much of it is because of Lila?”
Mason didn’t miss the strange twinge in his brother’s voice. “What do you mean? Of course, she’s part of it. I don’t know if I would have wanted to stay here for so long if it wasn’t for her. But I do like the job. Working in the diner and seeing the same people day in and day out. It’s fun. Quiet. I’m a fan.”
“You gonna tell me what drove you out of the city?”
“Not a chance.”
Cohen arched a brow at him and took another pull from his bottle. “How come?”
“Because it has zero to do with the life I have here now. It doesn’t matter anymore. None of it does.”
“Hmm.”
“It’s true. If I tell you, you’ll lose your shit and go full big brother. I don’t want to go through all that right now.”
“Hmm,” Cohen repeated.
“Back to grunts, I see. What happened, Cohen? You haven’t seen Danielle today?”
“Watch it,” his older brother grumbled.
“I’m just teasing. I’ve got no clue what the hell is going on between you and that woman.”
“Nothing is going on between us. She is a local busybody with her nose in all kinds of business it has no business being in. She has a mouth on her too. That temper. Hmm.”
Mason grinned. “You know, if I didn’t know any better, I would believe that you’re actually into her. You’re basically a second away from pulling her hair.” Cohen flipped him off, but Mason continued. “But I know that you’d never fall again, right? After you know who …”
“Damn straight,” Cohen cut in, clearly unwilling to let Mason finish his sentence. “I am gonna live out a peaceful life here with my work and my boat.”
“Fishing and Sheriffing do go well together,” Mason pointed out. “Who knew Half Moon Key would be such a good place to hide, huh?”
“I knew,” Cohen responded without missing a beat.
“Is that because it’s in the middle of fucking nowhere or because there is some seriously screwy electricity and internet access out here?”
“All of it. Amongst other things. That’s why I’ll be incredibly angry with you if you brought trouble here, Mason. I know the trail of devastation you leave behind you, and I know that you don’t always think through the consequences of your actions. You came here to run, fine. But you also didn’t intend to stay. That means there could be a whole line of clues leading whoever you pissed off right here.”
“What makes you think I pissed off anyone?” Mason didn’t have to pretend to be hurt. It didn’t matter that it was true. It still stung to hear his brother be so flippant about it all. About his past.
“Because I’ve known you your entire life. Do you not remember why Mom and Dad sent you to culinary school inEurope?”
Mason snapped his mouth shut and focused his attention on peeling the label from his beer bottle. “That wasn’t my fault.”
“No? Could have fooled me.”
“Okay, easy there, bro. You don’t have to take a shot at me. I told you I wasn’t going to bring trouble here, and I meant it. Besides, if there was going to be trouble, don’t you think it would have found me before now? It’s beenmonths!”
“So then it is a total coincidence that there’s been a panther sighting in the woods?” Cohen was watching Mason very carefully.
For his part, Mason didn’t want to react, but it was impossible to keep himself still. If there was a panther in the area, what were the chances it was really Keith Stevens and his band of idiots? Slim to none.
“I drove here with my own car. I took the long way around because I didn’t know I was coming here until the very last second. If someone did follow me, we would’ve known about it weeks ago.”
“I didn’t hear you say you have nothing to do with panthers.” Cohen stared him down.