Page 36 of Ethan

The diner was busy for a Sunday evening, warm light spilling out onto the sidewalk through the front windows. Ethan held the door and she walked in ahead of him.

The smell hit her immediately. Coffee and something baking and the particular comfort of a place that had been feeding people for a long time. She couldn’t help but laugh when patrons called out to Ethan or waved at him.

A woman appeared from behind the counter, somewhere in her sixties, with silver hair pinned up and the kind of face that had laughed a lot. She stopped when she saw them and her eyes moved from Ethan to Naomi and back again with a speed that suggested very little got past her.

“Ethan Harrison.” Her voice was warm. “Haven’t seen you in here on a Sunday in a while.”

“Evening, Connie.” He touched the brim of his hat. “This is Naomi Austin. She’s one of my trainers.”

Connie looked at Naomi with a smile that said she’d already drawn her own conclusions about the nature of this visit. “Welcome to Clifton, honey. I heard we had a new face at the ranch.” She grabbed two menus. “Come on, I’ve got a booth in the back.”

She led them through the diner, nodding and greeting people as she went, and Naomi was aware of more than a few curious glances following them to the booth.

Small town, she reminded herself. Everyone noticed everything.

She slid in across from Ethan and picked up her menu.

“So, this is Connie,” she said.

“This is Connie.”

“She already knows who I am.”

“She knew before you pulled into town probably.” He opened his menu. “Don’t let it bother you. She means well and not much gets past her.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing, Ethan,” Connie said from right behind him, a smile in her voice.

Ethan shook his head. “Nothing bad about you, Connie.”

Connie chuckled. “Would you like your usual?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He looked across at Naomi. “Burger, or something else?”

“I want a burger exactly like the last one I had.”

Connie tilted her head. “That’s the one you picked up for her, right Ethan?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll get Owen started on those. Back in a minute with your drinks.” She disappeared toward the kitchen.

Naomi stared after her. “How did she know what I wanted?”

“That woman remembers every order that’s ever been placed in here.” Ethan set down his menu. “All you have to say next time is you want your usual.”

“That’s not possible.”

“She writes down the name and what they ordered their first time. Owen keeps the same records in the kitchen. Between the two of them they’ve never gotten it wrong.”

“Who’s Owen?”

“Her husband. They’ve run this place together for as long as anyone can remember.” He glanced toward the kitchen. “Good people.”

Naomi smiled. “I like them already.”

When their orders arrived the conversation came easily, moving from Vader to the property to the town, flowing as it did between people who had more in common than they’d expected. Naomi found herself relaxed and she hadn’t been on a date in longer than she could remember.

She was also finding it increasingly difficult not to think about the kiss in the cabin doorway, and what she was hoping might happen at the end of the evening, and several other things that were definitely not dinner conversation.