Page 40 of Silent Heart

I didn’t look at her, keeping my focus on her coworker. When the slip of paper and my card were slid back, I snatched the pen from the waiting bartender. I didn’t even look at the total as I put a one, a two, and two zeroes before the point.

“Divide this evenly between the staff,” I instructed the bartender.

As I turned toward the exit, I heard Angelica gasp.

“This can’t be right!” she called after me.

“It is,” I responded.

“How much—” Harley hissed. “Holy shit, twelve hundred! That’s four hundred a piece.”

It should have been twice as much.I only kept the extra zero off, because I didn’t want to scare her into declining. Even now, I feared she’d be too proud to take the money. But after the hell the night shift had been, it was the least I could do.

As I walked to my truck, another idea formed as the clouds parted and moonlight bathed the ditch beside the gravel lot. Several plants swayed in the breeze, their color disguised by the moonlight caressing their natural fibers. The corners of my mouth twitched. Yes…that would be just the thing.

Chapter 17 – Harley

Stepping outside, I hoisted my purse on my shoulder. I’d had an hour since Kole left to sort through…everything. The guy I was hoping to spend even more time with came into my work. That was the first big burst of relief. He wasn’t avoiding me! The second came when he saved our asses. I couldn’t help but think that what he’d done tonight was for me. Why else would he have worked tirelessly? There was nothing in it for him. Without asking, Kole simply jumped into the insanity and took charge. He didn’t need guidance to figure out the restaurant’s systems. He handled the night like a seasoned pro, keeping his cool, barely saying anything.

What kind of man did that?

For that matter, what kind of man moved with such lethal grace?! Kole might be living in a gigantic mansion, but the way he’d smoothly put down Joe was mind boggling to watch. It gave me chills even now. If he’d wanted to snap the prick’s spine in two, I doubted there was anything we could do to stop him.

It was terrifying.

And downright the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I wanted nothing more than to rush into him, give him a big old squeeze, and thank him with all my heart.

“You broke up with my brother so you can go play rich girl with the lake crowd?” a voice sneered behind me.

I let out a long, strangled breath. Turning, I faced the bar-babe, smoking by her truck as she waited for her on-again-off-again fiancé to finish cleaning the kitchen. “Todd will be done soon. We were slammed tonight.”

“I asked you a question.” The woman pushed off her truck and flicked her cigarette.

“Tami, I’m not in the mood,” I sighed. “Derik and I went on two dates.”

Not that going to the truck pull or the two-for-one dinner at Denny’s last autumn counted, especially when I paid for both, drove his drunk ass home, and didn’t even kiss him. I’d only agreed to go out with him because his mother cornered me.

“I heard rich boy wrestled Joe pretty good. Should I expect him to come hunt all your exes?” Tami scoffed.

I let out a short laugh. “Only if they want to cause trouble. Tell Derik to learn from Joe’s mistake.”

“Dating you was a mistake,” she cackled.

Done with this conversation, I walked around her to my Passat. Tami kept slinging insults behind me, but my attention focused on the clump of wildflowers tied with twine on the windshield. The world faded. The night wind seemed to whisper a soft melody, cooling the back of my neck with a gentle caress. I knew without a shadow of a doubt who these were from.

He remembered.

It had been a little blip in the conversation at breakfast, and yet Kole remembered. My fingers wrapped around the cut stems. He hadn’t broken or tugged these from the dirt, but rather made clean and precise cuts. And they hadn’t been sitting out herelong, which meant he’d done it after finishing up his unofficial shift as a serving assistant at the Landing.

Kole had left as quietly as he’d come. The calm in the storm…until he wasn’t. From the way he took out Joe, it was clear who the true force of nature was. I hadn’t known how to approach him, and then he vanished before I could tell him Joe and his buddies deserved it.

Now, more than anything, I needed Kole to know I loved how he threw them out. And while his strength might intimidate me, I wasn’t scared of him.

Tapping my smartwatch, I cursed. There wasn’t enough time to run into town before the Piggly Wiggly closed. But…I worked at a restaurant. Just because everything was cleaned and put away didn’t mean anything.

Unlocking my car, I gently laid the flowers on the front seat. Tami let out another sneer as I raced past her. Back in the Landing’s kitchen, I took down three to-go containers. One for meat, one for buns and toppings, and the third was for fries.

“Whatcha doing?” Todd snapped.

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