“Sorry!” he cried, snatching his coat off a peg on the wall. He stepped into boots and didn't bother lacing them, but did stop to press a hasty kiss to my cheek before he grabbed his car keys and yanked the door open. “I'll be back in three hours!”
The slamming door escorted him out.
All of us stared at each other, stunned in the wake of his quick disappearance. Seconds later, the Zombie Mobile roared to life.
Megan leaned forward. “You're right, Stella,” she said. “He is amazing. Thank you for reminding me.”
“I—”
She held up a hand to stop me. “You did the right thing. Sometimes I need to be put in my place.”
Chastising his sister. What a great first impression. Despite my concern, I could tell I'd earned Megan's respect. And maybe that wasn't an easy thing to earn.
“He's crazy about you, you know,” she said. “I can tell. I haven't seen Mark like this . . . ever.”
“Like what?” I asked, my voice raspy.
“Like himself,” Justin said with a laugh.
“Normally when Mark has a date or a girlfriend, he's different. Subdued. Quiet, even. And yes, such a thing is possible.” She frowned. “Just . . . different. This idiot is the same idiot that I grew up with, and that is very telling. I mean he just up and left in the middle of breakfast without explanation and no one here batted an eye.”
Justin laughed again. “Definitely being himself.”
My heart registered an emotion deeper than I'd ever expected to feel. It thudded around my chest for a while, like it wasn't sure where to go. I didn't know what to do with it, so I just let it flail for a few minutes until I could wrangle it back under wraps.
“Thanks.” I swallowed and managed a wry smile. “I think.”
Megan studied me without reservation. “Just don't break his heart? He's had it broken so many times. He's . . . the divorce wasn't easy, and although he'll lie to me until the day he dies, I can see his face when Lizbeth is around.”
My eyes widened.
Megan smiled. “Yeah, I know how he feels about Lizbeth. Mark thinks he's so suave and mysterious, but the man wears his heart on his face.”
“Does JJ know?” I asked.
Both of them shook their heads simultaneously and my lips twitched with a smile. Had they already reached that point in their relationship where they thought the same thing? Was that a phase?
“Doubtful,” Megan murmured, “although JJ does know Mark better than anyone else on this planet, so maybe.”
She looked to Justin with a questioning expression and he just shook his head and said, “Nah. JJ doesn't see it.”
“If he does,” Megan continued with a shrug, “it certainly hasn't concerned him at all. Mark takes on a lot. He's always been the glue between us siblings and it's weighed on him. Even though he wouldn't admit it. Just like JJ leaving has been hard.”
“I won't break his heart,” I whispered.
And the promise rang all the way into the deepest caverns of my heart because it had the same echoes of trust that Mark had in himself. Maybe he really was rubbing off on me in great ways.
22 Mark
Leaves scattered past my feet as I crossed the parking lot of the Frolicking Moose and stepped inside. To the right, four women crowded around the back of a car. Three of them were bent to their phones, the fourth had her eyes darting at the coffee shop ahead of me, then back. Despite the chill, their short skirts fluttered in the wind.
I grinned.
This was better than I expected.
When I stepped inside, Ellie's light eyes peered at me from behind the counter, where she stood at the drive-thru window. Normally, she had a wild look in her eyes. She was a true child of the outdoors. I'd been hiking with her, and she'd always been a beast. There was a drive of competitiveness I admired about her, but something dim lived in her expression now. No doubt that had everything to do with Devin Blaine's unexpected departure.
“What're you doing here?” she asked, then passed a drink to someone outside. Ellie had always been tough and hard to impress, but now that Devin had ditched, she appeared to have moved to permanently pissed off.
“Hey, Ellie.”
She stared at me. I stepped up to the counter, which was a mixture of old and new. Some of the wooden beams that the construction company had pulled down from overhead were repurposed into new cabinetry to keep a mountain-like feel. Lizbeth had created half a dozen Pinnable boards that she talked about constantly while the Frolicking Moose went into full reconstruction in the spring and early summer. Instead of an old fishing stop pretending to be a coffee shop, the new Frolicking Moose had been reborn as mountain funky—a perfect blend of new and old.
That was Bethany—constantly turning things around and making them better. Maverick included.
“Mav is here, right?” I asked.
She nodded. “Upstairs.”
“Thanks.”
“Did you see the creep in the car?” she asked, tilting her head to the right with a scowl.
“Yeah, on my way in.”
“What's he want?” Her gaze darted to the clock above the front entrance. “I've tracked him there for twenty-three minutes. If he's there for seven more, I'm confronting him.”
Trust Ellie to know every single person that surrounded her and for what amount of time.
“He's not here to cause trouble for you,” I said. “I recognize him.”
Her lips rounded into an O when understanding dawned. The guy was a reporter at the Jackson City Gazette. He'd done a piece on Adventura after it opened up.
“You doing good?” I asked. “I miss having you at Adventura with your sister.”
Ellie’s lips thinned.
