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“What’s the other half?” Megan prepared herself not to show any reaction if Cole told her his girlfriend lived in Treepoint.
“My friends come to visit The Last Riders.”
Five
As she followed Cole to the booth, her heart sank with each step. Standing, Cole waited until she sat before sliding into the booth on the opposite side.
Come on, Megan; it’s not like you had a chance with him, anyway, she berated herself. Men like Cole could have any woman they wanted. Girls like her never got the happily ever afters, because they didn’t deserve their dreams coming true. Curt had taught her that she needed to put herself first, and to hell with the rest. She had put herself first and had hurt a lot of people along the way. What Curt hadn’t told her was: she would lose a piece of herself with hurt she inflicted until the only part of her true self remaining was an empty shell with no family, friends, or acquaintances giving her a shot glass of water if she was dying of thirst.
Pretending an interest in the traffic driving past the restaurant, Megan didn’t make a remark about his friendship with The Last Riders. If he mentioned her name to them, her whole life’s history would be an open book.
Megan felt an overwhelming sadness that her past mistakes would prevent her from getting to know Cole better.
“I’m glad I ran into you today.”
The kindness in his eyes made her want to confess her past mistakes before someone else could.
Blinking back the tears stinging her eyes, Megan turned away from the window. “Did you have any trouble finding the animal shelter?”
“None.” His handsome features cracked into a relieved smile. “I checked in on him today and found out Rascal has been adopted by a little girl. I have to admit it lifted a huge weight off my chest,” Cole confessed. “I felt terrible I couldn’t adopt him himself.”
“Do you like cats?” Megan forced herself to talk normally as she continued the conversation. Chalking it up to yet another reason to regret the mistakes of her youth, she was tempted to make up a hasty excuse and leave. But that was the easy way out, and she didn’t have to face any ramifications of her actions if she ran. No, she deserved to have to sit here, knowing when this sweet man found out she had nearly killed a child, he would never talk to her again.
“Not necessarily. I’m more of a dog person. I don’t have any pets, but my sister and her husband have a whole menagerie.”
“What animals do they have?” she asked thickly.
Megan missed the searching look Cole gave her when she heard the bell ring. Dustin began walking to the cash register, then spotted them sitting in the booth and changed directions.
“Hey, Cole,” he said, shooting an anxious glance to the front of the restaurant before turning back to Cole. “Wish I knew you were coming here. I would have asked you to pick up our orders.”
“Sorry.” Cole’s face filled with amusement. “Next time, I’ll send out a mass text.”
“Do that. I’ll give you gas money. Shit, I’d drive you here myself rather than face that son of a—”
“Come and get this fucking order. I have other orders on the grill.”
Dustin rushed toward the counter, bumping into a chair and sending it askew. “Sorry.” He reached for his wallet and handed Marty several bills.
After putting all the bills in the register, Marty slammed the cash drawer closed then turned to head back into the kitchen.
“What about my change?”
Marty gave Dustin the same beady-eyed stare he had given her. “You didn’t want me to keep the change?”
Slowly, Dustin reached out for the bags of food he had ordered, holding them protectively against his chest. Then he took a step away from the register. “Keep the change.”
“That’s what I thought. Stop wasting my fucking time!”
He waited until Marty had disappeared back into the kitchen before moving an inch, and Megan could practically see the steam coming from Dustin’s ears when he returned to where they were sitting.
“See you later, Cole.”
Her heart started pumping wildly when his gaze switched to hers.
“Heard you were back in town.”
“Last week.” She nodded.
“Treepoint hasn’t changed much since you left.” Dustin’s eyes pierced hers.
“I didn’t expect it to.” Megan didn’t shy away from his gaze.
Dustin gave her a wry smile. “Hang in there. It gets better.”
Megan gave a trembling one in return. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Juggling his bags, he gave her a small lift of his chin. “Take care.”
“Thanks, I will.”
Cole stared at her curiously after Dustin left. “What was that about?”
“I—”
Both she and Cole jumped when their food was slammed down onto the table.
“You can get your own damn drinks.”
“Will do. Thanks, Marty.”
She wrapped her hand around the full sugar dispenser, ready to brain him if he went for Cole.
