But what if they were starting to affect him during the day? Not just when he slept.
Suddenly nothing else was important.
“Where am I meeting you?”
CHAPTER THREE
SAUL’S DINER’Sslogan was “Get stuffed.”
But brunch was neither the time nor the place for that.
Saul’s was an old place, midway between my shop and Calvin’s precinct. The food was good—not great, but good. And cheap. And it was open 24/7.
I had reached the diner before Quinn and Calvin and chose a booth near the back, opposite of the windows lining the street-side wall. A waitress poured me a cup of coffee and let me be when I told her I was waiting for company.
Pouring some cream into the mug, I stirred it before letting out a sigh and turned to stare out the windows. The rain was coming down hard now, the gray day easy on my eyes. There was something about heavy rain in an urban environment that I had always found kind of depressing. Not that I left the city all that often to compare it to rain in the country or suburbs, but it gave off a sort of isolated feeling.
Everyone was in a rush to get out of the weather. No one mingled, chatted—it made it lonely.Iwasn’t lonely, though. I definitely wasn’t. Not anymore. But Iwasworried, and the general gloom of the day was fraying my nerves.
The worry had been directed toward my business and livelihood first. Vandalism and trespassing. Would it escalate? Would someone get hurt? Specifically, me. Those notes weren’t just anything. They weresomething.
But then Quinn calling?
Calvin hadn’t appeared to be getting worse to me. He still had nightmares, of course. He hadn’t magically gotten better by dating me. I’d been with him through a few more since Christmas, and to see him at his most vulnerable and exposed moments hurt my heart like nothing else. It was worse to think Quinn had noticed something to be concerned about and I hadn’t. Or that Calvin still didn’t trust me enough to talk about it.
Maybe trust isn’t the right word.
I put my head down on the table.
I think Calvin was afraid to talk about what he had seen overseas. Words gave power, after all, and I guess he figured the memories would truly consume him if he gave them acknowledgment. I only wished there was a way to help him understand that he could find strength forhimselfin speaking about those events. But it wasn’t something I was comfortable pressing him with. Every time I even hesitantly approached the subject, he went on the defense.
“Howdy, partner.”
I raised my head to see Quinn standing at the booth, hands in her coat pockets, and grinning. “Morning.”
She slid into the seat across from me. “Thanks for coming. I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Oh, sure. Thanks. How’ve you been?”
“Good.” Quinn picked up her napkin and wiped her hands on it absently. “Except that I haven’t had a smoke all morning and Calvin won’t let me in his car with a cigarillo.”
“Maybe you aren’t asking nicely.”
“They’re vanilla,” she protested, crumpling the napkin and setting it aside.
“Calvin’s more of a cinnamon guy.”
She made a face and picked up the plastic menu from the tabletop.
“Speaking of,” I started. “Where is he?”
“Hey, sweetie.”
I startled and looked up again. Calvin was shaking off his wet coat as he approached the table. I smiled. He gave me butterflies whenever he addressed me by a pet name in public. “Hi.”
He slid into the booth beside me. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I didn’t expect to be here.”
