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Pouring two mugs of coffee, I passed one to Harold and loaded the other with sugar and creamer for myself. I hadn’t slept well at all since leaving Kane the other day. The silly man had not only made me fall in love with him but apparently, I couldn’t sleep without him now.
“You don’t look good, girl, you sick or somethin’?” Harold eyed me cautiously as he slowly leaned back on his barstool. “I can’t be gettin’ sick now, my Rhonda needs to stay healthy.”
“I’m not sick, Harold, just tired. Thanks for your concern,” I said wryly. “It’s sweet that you’re worried about taking something home to your wife, though.”
“Of course I don’t want her to get sick. She’s supposed to leave for her sister’s this weekend and I already have a fishing trip planned so I can get some peace and quiet.”
I sighed, feeling bad for Rhonda. Then again, knowing Harold, maybe she wanted out of town so she could get some peace and quiet, too. I took my full mug and walked to the pass through to see if Uncle Jim had finished Harold’s order yet.
“Rough morning?” He eyed the mug I clung to with both hands.
“Haven’t been sleeping too well,” I took another fortifying sip. “Switching from closing to opening always makes me a little spacey the first day.”
“I hear ya,” he grunted. “I was thinking about talking to your mom and pops about that,” he flipped the eggs before dropping some buttered bread on the griddle.
“Oh?” Things had been a little hectic in the diner since we were short-staffed and Uncle Jim was here more often than not. My parents had been talking about taking some time off and I had a feeling it was a test to see how the diner, and me, did without them. With summer coming up soon they wanted to take Daisy on an RV trip around the country. That meant I had to find some help both for myself and Jim.
“Yup, you work too much, Winnie. You’re young and don’t have all the same aches and pains us old folks have. But you should be out having fun, too, dating boys and going out with friends.”
“I have fun,” I thought of my time with Kane and how much fun we had all over his place and mine. Goosebumps broke out over my skin and I rubbed my arms like I was cold and not thinking naughty thoughts. “Besides, I like it here. This place is a huge part of my life.”
“I get that, I do. But it doesn’t have to be your entire life, Winnie.” The doors dinged and my brother and Kane walked through. My tiredness disappeared and my mood brightened at my first view of Kane since Saturday night. “See what I mean,” I looked back at Jim. “Go get you a life, sweetheart,” he pointed his spatula at me and slid Harold’s plated breakfast onto the counter.
After dropping off Harold’s plate, I made my way over to two of the most important men in my life. “Is everybody else going to be joining you guys?” I asked, trying not to stare too long in Kane’s direction. He looked so good today, the instinct to kiss him hello was strong and I had to bite my lip and clench my fists to keep from touching him.
“Nah, just us today, Win. Do you think you could take a little break and sit with us for a few minutes? There’s something we want to talk to you about.” I nodded my head at Gray and slid into the booth next to him, wishing I could snuggle in next to Kane.
My heart began to race, did he know about us? Is that why they were here together without the rest of the team? Kane caught my eye and he shook his head slightly. Not here to discuss my sex life then, good to know. Relaxing slightly, I asked, “What’s up?”
“Mom and Dad talked to you about the robberies going on, right?”
“Yeah, some creeps going around stealing from restaurants and cafes?” They had filled me in when the new security system was installed. It was scary for sure. “But the odds of them coming here couldn’t be that high, right? Texas is a big freaking state.”
“Unfortunately, the odds are higher than we want. We think they’re working their way south, maybe hoping to end up in Mexico when they’re done and the most recent place they hit is only an hour away from here. What’s worse is they didn’t just tie everyone up this last time. Sheriff thinks they were surprised by a customer walking in and shot him.”
I straightened in the booth, “Oh God, were they okay?” Kane shook his head more noticeably this time, letting me know the sad truth. “That’s horrible.”
“Yeah, it is. Which is why we’re going to make some changes around here.”
I bristled at his matter-of-fact tone. The diner may have belonged to the James family as a whole but as an adult, Gray hadn’t wanted anything to do with the place.Iwas the one who made sure everything ran smoothly. If I wasn’t waiting on customers, I was busy doing everything behind the scenes. My free time was spent making schedules, ordering supplies, cleaning and doing repairs. Who did he think he was ordering me around?
“Excuse me, Gray, but you’re in no position to tell me what to do.”
“The hell I’m not. When the safety of my family is on the line, I get to call the shots, Winnie. I have a little more experience in that area than you do,” he condescended. Ugh, why did a five-year age difference make him think he was somehow wiser? Kane interrupted me when I was ready to show him how just how mature I was by calling my brother a buttface.
“What your brother’s trying to say, poorly, is we’re worried about you. Your parents, Jim and everyone else that works here could be in danger, too, and that isn’t a risk we want to take. The security system we installed a while back’s the best and there are cameras everywhere. But Gray thinks, and I agree for the record, that more of a security presence is needed in case these guys show up in town.”
“What do you suggest by ‘more of a security presence?’”
“Full-time guard, Win. If one of you is in the building, someone from Falls Security will be here,” Gray answered.
“What?” I screeched. “No one’s going to want to come in here if they think the place is going to be robbed any second and they might get hurt. The whole town will be able to figure out what is going on, and you know how people love to gossip. Not to mention can you even afford to do this, one of you guys being here full-time, not getting paid?”
“Winnie, calm down,” Kane jumped in. I whipped my head toward him and his eyes grew wide at the pure anger emanating from me.
“Did you just tell me to calm down?” I bit out. “For the record, Kane,” using his own words in an overly sweet voice, “you don’t tell someone who is justifiably angry to ‘calm down.’”
“You’re right, I’m sorry, that was patronizing of me to say that. But would you please listen to the whole plan before you turn us down? All I want to do is protect you.”
