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Linda had a wide smile and skin the color and texture of an orange that’s the last piece of fruit in the house and been there for days. He put her age around sixty. She wore a witch’s hat and long black wig.
“You boys the ones who got in a fight with the Bandits earlier?”
They nodded.
“Well now whatever you drink is on us tonight. Those assholes deserve everything they got.” Linda’s smile grew.
“Well now, that’s a nice offer thank you, Linda. That smile you have on your pretty face is a welcome sight too after the day we’ve had,” Jack said.
Flirting was like breathing for Jack.
“What’s the pie tonight, Linda?” Joe asked.
“Coconut creme, and my husband, he’s the cook, makes it.” Linda had small skeletons in her ears, and they swung as she talked. “Best for miles,” she added.
“I may just have to steal him from you, Linda,” Joe said. “Coconut creme pie is a favorite of mine, and I need a new chef in my restaurant.”
“My wife is always trying to restrict my sugar intake, Linda,” Dylan said. “So I’ll take a soda, sans diet. The works burger and fries. I’m also going with the coconut creme pie after with ice cream and chocolate sauce.”
“I’m telling,” Luke said.
“I’ll have what he’s having,” Quinn said, pointing to Dylan.
“You have a big appetite for a little girl.”
She was close, her face inches from his when she turned.
She shrugged. “I like food, and I don’t eat like this all the time.”
“Not an insult,” Luke said. “I like that you love food. Eating is something my family have always excelled at.”
Her lips twitched.
They ordered a mountain of food and sat back to wait. Linda brought sodas for some and coffee for others. Now the day had unfolded, all the angst and emotion they’d experienced was morphing into hunger and tiredness, and he could see it in everyone.
Bruises were standing out more, and shoulders were slumping.
“Hell of a day,” Joe muttered. “Want to thank you for what you’ve done, Quinn. You were just meant to fly us in and out, yet you had to witness the street brawl, and now stay the night.”
“It’s okay. I don’t mind if it means Nixon comes home with us—you,” she added softly.
“Quinn?” A man approached their table.
He felt her jerk in her seat.
“Lionel. What are you doing here?”
The man’s smile was big as his eyes locked on Quinn. If Luke had to guess he’d say Lionel was military, considering his connection to the woman who was all kinds of tense seated beside him.
“You remember Major Bradford?”
She nodded.
“He has a cabin here we’re staying for a few days to do some fishing. What about you?”
The man was eating her up with his eyes, and Luke didn’t like it or the jealousy he felt. In the space of a day he’d lost his ability to chill, smile, and roll with whatever was thrown at him. Luke was a master at suppressing emotion; he’d learned the skill at a young age, and yet right now it had left him.
“I’m just flying a charter for my dad and visiting friends,” she lied smoothly. She introduced them, and to his ears, reluctantly.
