My lips press together.“Chloe.”
“Ethan.” She tosses down her cloth.“Fine, I’ll do some prep.Happy?”
I’ll be happy when the storm is over, and my house—and hers—are still in one piece.
Her gaze slides to mine, hovering there.“Would it be possible to borrow your hammer?”Her bottom lip disappears between her teeth as she blinks at me.
“If you want.”
“I think I might.Does it perform well?”
What sort of question is that?“It’s a hammer.It does what it’s supposed to do.”
“That’s good to know.”Her smile grows a little wider.“I bet it hits really hard.”
“Depends on how you swing it.”
Her sudden burst of laughter pours over me like warm honey.What’s so funny?
I run back through our conversation but can’t think of anything?—
Wait.
Her blue eyes sparkle with amusement.
My own widen.
She’s not talking about a hammer, is she?
Heat rises to my cheeks, but before I can decide how to respond, someone stumbles into the coffee shop, knocking over the concrete starfish holding the door open and sending it swinging shut with abang.
I turn to see a middle-aged man with shaggy blond hair, standing with both arms outstretched like he’s Al Jolson about to sing “Tootsie.”
Looks like I finally found the local eccentric.
I twist back to Chloe, only to see some of the color drain from her face.
Just as I go to ask if she’s all right, the man shoves me out of the way from behind.
“Whoa, there,” I snap.
“Who thah hell are you?”he slurs at me, and I catch a face full of booze-breath.
“Rick!”Chloe hisses, her cheeks bright red.“What are you doing here?”
He blinks slowly at her, tilting back on his heels.“I caaame in here to ssssee you.And my handsome frriend over ’ere.”With a sleepy grin, he reaches to pat my shoulder, but misses entirely and tumbles forward.I catch the guy’s arm to keep him from cracking his skull on the corner of the counter.Chloe looks mortified, and everyone in the coffee shop is staring.
The three old men climb to their feet, weathered hands balled into fists and scowls etched on their wrinkled faces.In this guy’s current state, they could probably take him.
“Not now, Rick,” Chloe says.“You need to go.”
I give the guy a generous five seconds to do what she asked.
He frowns and aims a wobbly finger at her.“Whaddya going to do?Throw me out?”He snorts like that’s the funniest joke in the world.
Chloe might not be able to throw this guy out, but I can.I snatch hold of his arm again.“You were asked to leave.”
Dick tries to wriggle out of my grip, throwing curses like it’s his job.
