AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Midnight Rooster Diner, Haleswood
Heather Morris refilled coffee cups along the front counter of the Midnight Rooster with a smile on her face. She served the same food, made the same small talk with the regulars, people she’d known her entire life, and let the routine hide her secret reality.
Let the smile the whole town expected to see on her face every day hide the terror coursing through her with every beat of her heart.
The door opened on a wash of cool air that defied the sunshine.
“Good morning, Sheriff Cochran.”
“Mornin’ Heather. I need mine to-go today, plus one more.”
She poured him a cup of coffee to tide him over and headed for the kitchen to give the orders. That Brian Cochran needed a second breakfast order told her he had someone sitting in the jail cell. She puttered in the kitchen as long as she could without raising eyebrows. The sheriff couldn’t be dealing with anything related to her situation or he would have mentioned it.
If he knew.
She hated the little “if” voice that had been her annoying, constant companion since she’d handed over the file outlining her concerns to FBI Special Agent Dale Nichols.
He probably thought she was in on it.
“Hey, Heather, I need my to-go cup.”
She turned, her ever-happy smile in place for Bobby Ray Wilson. “Sure thing.” He’d asked her to the homecoming dance sophomore year to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. Must have worked. Right after that homecoming dance he’d reunited with the ex-girlfriend. They’d married almost as soon as they’d graduated and now she was pregnant with their third child.
Now who was jealous?
Heather ignored the “if only” voice and placed the cup in front of him, knowing to leave room for him to add cream and sugar. “How’s Annie feeling?”
“Fantastic. Second trimester is a breeze for her.”
“Give her my best,” Heather said, aiming for the kitchen to pick up ready orders. She wasn’t jealous. Not over Bobby. No, she was jealous of the relationship in general. Bobby and Annie had each other to lean on when life got tough.
She delivered food, knowing who preferred which condiments, and returned to the counter for her usual morning chat with Sheriff Cochran.
“Just a few more minutes.” She said it the same way she said it every other time he had a to-go order. “Should I put in a lunch order for later?”
“No, thanks.” His eyes locked with hers. “I’ll have someone call it in when we know who will be where.”
She nodded. Smiled. Walked down the counter topping off coffee and clearing dishes. “Who’s in the tank today?” she asked as she returned to the sheriff’s end of the counter.
“A drunk and disorderly from the Darling Club. You know how it is.”
She did know because she listened to her older brother, J.C. Morris, talk about his work as a deputy. She braced for the next question.
“When are you going to settle down and put in your application?”
Her routine reply was more of a struggle than it should have been. If he knew… damn “if” voice. She cleared her throat. “I have a job.”
“Two at last count,” he said raising his cup to his mouth.
She enjoyed the vast differences between the two. Mornings here at the Rooster kept her in touch with her entire town—even when they annoyed her. Her afternoons and a few evenings were spent working on the databases for the Department of Natural Resources. It wasn’t a high-powered career, but she loved it. She especially appreciated the flexibility of her telecommuting schedule. Why did everyone think she needed to do something more structured?
“Which is just how I like it,” she replied with the standard answer before doing another walk down the counter collecting on tabs and clearing more dishes.
The cook called out and Heather ducked into the kitchen to pick up the sheriff’s order. She didn’t want to join the sheriff’s department. Not as a deputy anyway. Seeing what her brother had gone through, she knew she didn’t have the patience for that kind of career.
And if the sheriff knew what she’d been doing…
She barely had the patience to wait one more day before tracking down Special Agent Nichols. His silence was driving her nuts. Maybe he didn’t get it. Maybe he’d been too busy on something else.
