“Of course. Down the hall on the right.”
He thanked her and headed toward the door she’d indicated, trying not to hurry too obviously. Now that the immediate crisis was over, his body was reminding him that he was only human, and he’d had approximately a gallon of coffee since he’d left Arizona.
As he washed his hands afterward, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror and grimaced. It was a damn wonder not one of the three people he’d seen that morning had run screaming, what with the bloodshot eyes, two days’ worth of stubble, and messy hair curling up from under his baseball cap. Then again, all three of them had bigger things to worry about. But so much for first impressions as the new deputy, he thought, scrubbing a hand over his whiskery jaw. Maybe Haley and the doc wouldn’t hold it against him.
And maybe one of them could point him toward the best place to get another round of coffee to keep him on his feet until he could at least get his meager belongings out of the truck and into the new place. Maybe some breakfast too. He thought of the sticker on Haley’s thermos and headed back down the hallway, intent on asking her for directions.
The door to the exam room was cracked open, and he could see the two women talking with their heads bent close together, though they stopped and looked up as soon as they heard his footsteps. It made him feel a little put on the spot, especially the way Dr. Fenton pressed her fingertips to her mouth like she was hoping he hadn’t heard what she’d been saying.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he said, trying for his best friendly smile now that he knew what a mess they were looking at. He wouldn’t blame them if they’d been discussing him; he’d think twice about trusting the man he’d seen in the mirror too. “I was wonderin’ if you could point me toward someplace to get some coffee and a bite to eat.”
Haley’s expression shifted from cautious to cheerful in the space it took her to blink. “I’ll do you one better,” she said. “I can’t ask Diego any questions until he wakes up, and Karen says he needs to rest for a while, so why don’t I just take you?”
* * *
The parking lot at Luann’s was about half full, probably peak breakfast crowd, and Haley wrinkled her nose. A good half her pack was here, and if there was one thing she knew about small-town werewolves, it was that they stuck their noses into everyone else’s business, especially hers. All part of being the alpha, her mother used to say.
But Haley couldn’t imagine anyone sticking their nose in her mother’s business and living to tell about it, so maybe it was just all part of her whole pack having known her since she was knee-high. Either way, they were all going to be extremely interested in the new deputy and in why Haley was out and about before ten a.m. on a Saturday, and she’d rather keep both things to herself for now.
Especially the new deputy, she thought as she watched him ease his Chevy Blazer into the gravel spot next to hers, his dusty Arizona plates catching the sunlight. Maybe it was because she’d broken up with her boyfriend before she left Seattle and hadn’t been seeing anyone else in the nine months she’d been back in town, or maybe it was because the full moon was only three days away and making her antsy, but she was a little ticked off about how good-looking he was, especially when she knew she couldn’t do anything about it.
“Welcome to Pine Grove, Deputy,” she called as he opened his door and stepped out, moving stiffly. She guessed the long drive was starting to catch up with him. God knew that after the last time she’d driven back from Seattle, she’d shifted into a wolf and gone for a run just to stretch her legs as soon as she’d gotten home.
“Just Leland is fine,” he said, removing his cap long enough to rake his hair away from his face before he settled it back on his head. “Hell of a welcome wagon you rolled out there.” His smile was the barest quirk of his lips, and it did awful, terrible things to her pulse.Dang.
“Oh, we throw wounded kids at every new deputy that comes to town,” she joked with a grimace. “He didn’t tell you where he was from or anything like that, did he?”
He shook his head, and she wondered if it was bad to feel such a wash of relief. Notifying family members would have to wait until they could confirm whether that bite on Diego’s shoulder had done what she thought it had, so she was glad she didn’t have to make excuses for why she was putting it off.
“Nah, he didn’t talk much. Barely got his name out of him. Figure it was the shock.”
The bell over the door jangled as she pulled it open, and the smell of sizzling bacon hit her straight in the nose, drawing an audible growl from her stomach. She sensed the ripple of movement through the dining room as they came in, the curiosity of twenty werewolves and their family members at the sight of a new person in town.
“Haley Fern, what are you doin’ out so early on your day off?” Sally called from where she was pulling down orders from the kitchen window. “And—oh, who’s your friend?”
Well, whoever hadn’t noticed them before sure as heck had now.
“Sally, this is Leland Sommers. He’s the new deputy, just got in this morning. Leland, this is Sally Newcrow. She and her sister, Luann, own the diner.”
“Nice to meet you.” Leland nodded politely. “Sure does smell good in here.”
“Tastes good too.” Sally grinned at him as she loaded her arms up with plates of food to take out to the tables. “Well, sit your butts down, and I’ll get to you in a second.”
Haley led him over to the last empty booth, hoping the high benches would give them some semblance of privacy, and pulled the laminated, handwritten menus out of the holder, handing one to him as he got settled.
“You can’t go wrong with anything here,” she promised, looking at the menu to keep from staring at him, even though the offerings hadn’t changed in twenty years and Haley always got the exact same thing.
Behind Leland, Sally caught her eye and mouthed,He is so hot!It took all Haley’s self-control not to roll her eyes. Sally pulled her pencil out of her ponytail and flipped to a new page on her notepad as she sidled up to their table.
“It sure is exciting to get to meet the new deputy,” she said brightly. “We ain’t had anyone new in town since Jo Pham managed to convince Brooks Carmody to move in with her back when Haley’s momma was still—”
“Sally,” Haley interrupted before Sally could get off track and blurt out incriminating details. “I’m sure he’d rather order his food.”
Sally giggled, waving her hand. “Oh, don’t mind me, Deputy. What’re you havin’ to eat?”
He flipped the menu over, still scanning the list of items. “Uh, Miss Fern says I can’t go wrong with anything here…”
Sally mouthedMiss Fern!at her over his head, and this time Haley did roll her eyes.