After all that, it wasn’t even nine yet. There was no way I was going to be able to stay up for another couple of hours without something better to do.
In desperation, I padded into the kitchen to see if there was any leftover wine. A partial bottle of Merlot lifted my spirits as I hunted down a wine glass. As I opened one cabinet after another, I heard a rustling noise.
Looking down, I spotted a yellow Post-it note sticking to the edge of my slipper—I must’ve stepped on it. Curious, I finished pouring my wine, and then I bent over to pick it up.
A frown spread across my face as I read it.
14
BRADY
“Brady!”
I looked up from the grill at my favorite coworker. Sandy was in her forties and was a cheerful, raunchy mother figure to most of us here at the diner.
“Table five says their burger’s too rare.”
I took the platter from her and, within seconds, had the burger sizzling on the griddle. Everything had to be done quickly in a diner, even this late at night. High school kids filled the booths—as Cole, Gideon, and I had when we were that age—and people who worked late came here before heading home.
“So how’re things with your houseguest?” Sandy said with a grin. “I take it she’s still not your biggest fan.”
“Not yet.” I flipped the burger onto a new bun and added a generous heap of crispy fries. That should please the customer.
“You can’t really blame her for that, though.” Sandy took the platter and laughed. “But wow, the way she talks about you three. I’d say you boys have met your match. She’s a feisty one.”
She was indeed. All except for this morning. Something had been wrong during breakfast, but I couldn’t figure out what. It had been bothering me all day.
Sandy kept up her questions as we got the food out. “Is she as pretty in person as she is online?”
“Prettier,” I said honestly.
Sandy’s laugh this time was more of a cackle. “It’ll be interesting to see which one of you boys falls head over heels first.”
“Not likely,” I said. Or at least it wasn’t likely to be reciprocated. “She hates us.”
“Again, can you blame her? But she’ll come around. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. Eventually she’ll see that you three are catches.”
“Then how come no one’s caught us yet?”
“It’s not for lack of trying,” she said with a wink. Even though she was at least fifteen years older than him, she flirted heavily with Gideon every time he came in here.
A customer called her name, and she spoke quickly. “When’s your next shift?”
“Hell if I know.” The manager of the diner seemed to like keeping us in suspense about when we’d be on the schedule. I’d asked for fewer shifts this week because of Lila’s stay, but that kind of request didn’t go very far around here.
I didn’t mind the cooking. That and joking around with my coworkers was the fun part. But I sure as hell didn’t like being jerked around by management.
It was late when I got home, but Cole was in the office. My grandfather had used it as more of a den, but when we inherited the place, Cole took it over. He used the large desk in there to take care of business both for the inn and the city council.
Except right now, his business seemed to be sleeping. I knocked on the doorframe, softly at first and then a bit louder. Finally, he jerked upright, looking confused.
He spotted me and shook his head as if to wipe his mind clear. “What time is it?”
“Nearly midnight.”
“Shit.”
You wouldn’t have caught either of us saying that word when our grandparents were around. Swearing was the one thing they were very strict about.