Emmet’s eyebrows rose. “Not a good idea.”
“I know. I’ve been stalling her, but I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to do it,” he admitted. She wasn’t a pushover, which was great since she’d be Alpha female, but it didn’t make it easy to convince her when she had her mind made up about things.
“If you do end up taking her out there, let Niko and Luca know so they can back you up.” From anyone else, the barely veiled order would have rubbed him the wrong way, but Emmet wasn’t trying to shove any kind of agenda down his throat. He was being the same older brother he’d always been.
“Sounds good. I’ll stop by the shop later to grab a ladder. The roof here needs some shingles,” he said as an afterthought as Emmet was getting into his truck.
“See you then.” With that, Emmet backed out of the drive.
Fifteen
Maple’s little Acura hadn’t run so well—ever. She’d bought it used, and although she’d brought it in for regular tune-ups when she’d had the money, it had never hummed so smoothly. It was almost like driving a new car. She turned the radio on and glanced in the rearview mirror. Jaxon was right there, following her into town. When she caught his gaze in the mirror, she blew him a kiss, then giggled when he grinned at her.
He stayed right behind her until they reached the intersection that would take her to the downtown area. He turned right, honking his horn at her before driving away.
The lunch crowd had already dissipated by the time she got to the diner. She grabbed a booth by the window, taking the old place in. Bonnie wasn’t due for another ten minutes.
The diner hadn’t changed a whole lot from what she could remember. The minty green faux leather benches were now a cotton candy pink, but the tables hadn’t changed. The chipped tabletops were still that same seafoam green they had been back then, only now they had more chips and more stains covering the old Formica. The tops of the stools that lined the long counter had pale yellow bases. All in all, it gave the whole place an Easter egg feel. She couldn’t help but smile. It was butt ugly but felt so much like home that she couldn’t hate it.
“What can I get you?” a petite waitress in her late fifties with her hair done up in an old beehive style asked.
Maple didn’t even have to think about it. “Do you guys still make chocolate shakes here?”
“You know it, honey,” the woman said with a southern lilt. “Still need the menu?”
“Yes, please, but I’ll start with the shake.”
The woman, who’s name tag said Maggie, smiled. “You got it, sugar.”
By the time she’d swallowed her first sip of ice cream yumminess, Maple was convinced she’d died and gone to heaven. The shake was as good as she remembered. Maybe even better. She took another sip and moaned.
Bonnie came bouncing in a few minutes later with a huge smile on her face. “Hey Maple, I see you already got your favorite. Have you ordered some food yet?”
“Nope, but I couldn’t wait for this.” She grinned at her old friend—the shake had been the highlight of her Sunday afternoons for years.
“Hey Maggie. How’s Frank? Still taking it easy after his surgery?” Bonnie asked the other woman when she reached their table.
“Like I could keep him quiet. The old coot thinks he’s still in his twenties.”
Bonnie laughed. “Sounds about right.”
“You want the usual, honey?”
Bonnie handed the unopened menu to the waitress. “You know me too well. Say, have you met Maple Hudson?”
Maggie’s eyes rounded, then widened some more when she took a deep breath through her nose. “I can’t say that I have. It’s a pleasure, Maple. Good to finally have you here,” the woman said oddly.
“Thanks, it’s good to be here.”
“What can I get you?” Maggie asked, reminding Maple that she had yet to say what she wanted.
She placed her order for a cheeseburger and handed her menu over, smiling at the woman who seemed to call everyone by the same sweet name.
“Coming right up.”
“So, tell me. What have you been up to all these years?” Bonnie asked her. “Have you married? Kids?”
Maple took another sip of her drink, barely keeping from closing her eyes in chocolate ecstasy. “I went to school and became an accountant. I work for a firm called Harper, Marrick, and Clark in New York. Never married. No kids. How about you?”
Bonnie waved her left hand in front of her, showing an empty ring finger. “I’m not married, but not for lack of trying. My mate needs convincing, it seems. As for work, you already know that I’m at the library. I became head librarian a few years back when Mrs. Wentworth retired, so I get to do all the reading I want, and no one can complain about it, or shush me, either.”
She grinned. Bonnie had always had her nose stuck in a book when they’d been kids.
In no time, their food had arrived, and they continued talking as they ate. Conversation flowed as though the years between them hadn’t happened. By the time they finished eating, they were giggling like the girls they’d once been.
“I have to get going. My bladder is about to explode, though. I’ll be right back,” Bonnie announced more than an hour and a half after they’d arrived.
Maple wished she could take another sip of what was left of her now mostly melted shake, but she was stuffed. She’d have to be sure to come back for another before she left town again.
The chime above the door rang, and two burly men walked in. “What can I get you boys?” Neither of them smiled when Maggie greeted them at the counter.
“Coffee. Black,” the first one said as the other scanned the room.
The second man’s gaze stopped
