Page 12 of Twins for Three Bad Boys

My tightness in my chest loosens.

She gets me checked in without fuss. There’s no judgment when I pay for one night only. She even gives me an extra key without me asking.

“Just in case,” she says lightly. “Sometimes people lock themselves out when they’re tired.”

I almost laugh. Almost cry.

The room is simple but clean. Bed made tight. Bathroom that smells of bleach and soap. A little table by the window. I sit on the edge of the mattress and just breathe for a minute.

Tomorrow, I’ll meet my new boss and the kid. And I’ll find out if this was a mistake.

But tonight… I shower. I put on a clean skirt. A yellow sweater that makes me feel like myself again. I twist my hair up and then down again, leaving it cropped and messy the way it always is. I tuck a little carved wooden fox into the nightstand drawer as a talisman.

Then I go out.

Fern’s Diner is exactly what it sounds like. Neon sign. Vinyl booths. The kind of place that smells of fries and coffee and something sweet baking in the back.

A woman in her late sixties with gray hair in a messy bun looks up when I step inside.

“Sit anywhere, baby,” she calls. “I’ll be right with you.”

I slide into a booth by the window, heart hammering. This is the first place I’ve been alone in weeks that doesn’t feel temporary.

She brings me a menu and coffee without asking. “You look like you drove a ways.”

“Is it that obvious?” I try to smile.

She snorts. “You got that ‘ran out of road but kept going’ look.”

That lands right in my chest.

“I’m Fern,” she says. “You hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Good. Pancakes or meatloaf?”

I hesitate. “Pancakes.”

“Attagirl.”

I’m halfway through my first sip when I feel it.

That awareness.

That shift.

I glance up, and nearly choke on my coffee.

The man at the counter is… unreal.

Tall. Broad shoulders. Dark hair with a hint of gray at the temples. Tattoos visible beneath the sleeves of his flannel. He’s laughing at something the man beside him says, head tipped back slightly, and when he smiles, everything in me tightens.

He looks over.

Our eyes catch.

The moment stretches.