Page 8 of The Fixer and the Fugitive

The man in front of her stared in shock, mouth agape. “You’re serious. You have no idea who I am.”

“The town lunatic? When it rains, do you take off your pants and play tambourine at the airport?” she guessed.

Instead of being insulted, he stepped forward and hugged her, very briefly until she squirmed and shoved him away. “You’re the one I’ve been searching for,” he whispered.

“So creepy,” she said, wrenching free of his embrace with another shove for good measure. Far from being offended, he was now beaming at her.

“This is incredible. Wait until I tell Chloe.”

“Tell her what? That you hit on me, told me I should have babies, and then hugged me? Exactly how understanding is your wife?”

“She’s going to love this,” he muttered, ignoring everything else she said. Maybe there was no Chloe. Maybe he really was crazy, in which case she should probably feel bad for making fun of him. Once again Celeste’s gaze traveled the horizon. Was this some sort of post-army wasteland? A place The Colonel used to stash all his difficult and antisocial operatives? She wasreally beginning to think it might be possible, especially when she looked forward again and realized the mystery guy was gone, had disappeared entirely as if he never existed. Maybe he hadn’t. Maybe her imagination was already playing tricks on her after so many days isolated at her orchard.

Cautiously, she made her way into the market. People stared, but no one else accosted her. She was able to load her cart with everything she’d need for a week—maybe two, if she worked hard to make it last. She loaded the items in the truck and headed for home when her stomach began to growl. Loudly. Lately she’d been subsisting on dry cereal and coffee and it wasn’t enough. She needed food, real food. And since she still had no idea how to cook, the thought of all the frozen meals she’d bought left her wanting.

Without allowing herself to overthink it, she turned and headed toward the diner she’d spotted at the edge of town. The lot was loaded with cars, so much that they overflowed into a nearby lot. Not that it meant much in a town where there was nothing else. But so many years in the army and traveling the world had taught her to care more about sustenance than taste. As long as it had calories and some redeeming nutritional value, she’d be satisfied.

Once again she parked and took a few breaths, gearing herself up to go inside and face the townspeople. It didn’t seem to matter how standoffish she looked or seemed. They talked to her anyway, and about bizarre, random things. She would have to change tactics and become blasé, so boring and vanilla she failed to arouse their curiosity. Mentally she prepped a few phrases to break out, bland things that wouldn’t invite further speculation.I retired from the army and moved here from DC.How could anyone want to know more after that? As far as Paradise was concerned, there was absolutely nothing special about her, outside the fact that she was new.

Having never lived in a small town before, she vastly underestimated how fascinating “new” was to the people who lived there.

Chapter 6

Every single person in the entire diner stopped what they were doing and turned their laser focus on Celeste. She wasn’t shy, but she had been taught to be wary, to blend in, to try and disappear. So to be in the spotlight now was so uncomfortable she momentarily froze, one foot in the air like a startled doe.

And then it was as if someone passed the memo at the same time to resume normal activity and ignore her. Because that was what everyone did at once. Eyes dropped, forks picked up, chatter resumed.

“There’s an empty booth. Feel free to take it,” a disembodied voice said from somewhere inside. Celeste didn’t try to figure out where. Relieved, she sank into the booth and picked up a menu, inhaling deeply. At least it smelled promising. A short time later a waitress appeared at the end of the table, tall and willowy with a baby resting on one hip.

“Hello, and welcome to Paradise. My name is Avery. Have you had time to decide what you’d like or do you need longer?”

She seemed so sweet, so utterly normal after the nonsensical morning that Celeste relaxed and even managed a smile. “Areyou eighteen?” It seemed to be the town commandment to be a teenage mother.

“Yes, plus a lot.” Avery hadn’t seemed to find the question odd. In any case, she was still smiling.

“I thought it was in the town charter that you had to be a teenage parent. I’ve encountered a few of those today.”

“Oh, I am a mother, and I was much past my teens, but this one’s not mine. I borrowed her from the Reeds.” She turned to nod at a couple in the corner and Celeste flinched. There sat the plastic-haired-pearlescent-toothed man from the grocery parking lot, along with a stunningly beautiful blond. He waved frantically at Celeste and pointed to the woman beside him mouthing, “This is Chloe!”

“Uh, huh,” Celeste said. “Is he delusional?”

“Who, Fletcher?” They turned to survey him in time to see him holding his bicep aloft while his wife poked it and shook her head. “Yes.”

“Right. What do you recommend, Avery?”

“Beef,” Avery said. “In any form, beef will make a good first impression.”

Since she was the second person to recommend beef, Celeste didn’t argue. She chose the pot roast and handed Avery her menu.

“I’ll grab a water and be right back,” Avery said. Celeste watched as she handed the baby back to the Reeds, guessing she took it in the first place so they could free their hands to eat. After depositing the baby she walked to the counter where a ridiculously handsome man handed her a plate with a smile. She delivered the plate and brought Celeste her water.

“What is up with the men in this town?” Celeste asked her.

“What do you mean?” Avery asked.

Celeste waved her hand toward the diner, encompassing Fletcher and the man behind the counter who, if the way hiseyes followed Avery was any indication, was somehow attached to her. “You don’t find it unnatural how pretty they are?”

“Oh, that. You get used to it.”

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