Page 17 of The Moment He Saw Her

“Who have you employed you don’t know?”

He didn’t sigh out loud, but it was internal. “She looked desperate, bro. Give me a break.”

He withstood the hard look from his brother because he’d been on the receiving end of it for years.

“Okay, but don’t come crying to me when she steals from you and leaves.”

“I’ll try not to react like you did when Phoebe thought you were a dickhead. Now get out. Bye, Ally,” he added.

His niece hugged him, and then they left. Ryder finished cleaning up, switched off the music, and then set the alarm. He stepped outside the door to the cold and darkening sky, yawning.

Ryder loved this town, and unlike his siblings, he’d never left it. He’d traveled but had always returned to Lyntacky. His mom called him a homebody, and it was the truth.

Locking his door, he looked up the street and saw a few cars but no people wandering about in the cold. Libby’s car was gone.

Thinking of a night with the heat turned up and a game on his big-screen TV, Ryder decided on takeout for his dinner. Yes, he liked to cook, but he didn’t want to after a day of it sometimes.

Driving up the street slowly, he looked left and right, realized he was searching for Libby Gulliver, and instantly stopped. She was a big girl and could look after herself. Plus she was a stranger and not his problem.

Parking outside the Do-Si-Do Diner, he pocketed his keys and went inside.

“Colder than my mother-in-law’s kiss out there, Ryder,” Linda, the owner, said as he entered. “You go on and shut that door now. No sense in letting the cold in.”

Following instructions, Ryder immediately felt the heat. The place was full of people like him, who couldn’t be bothered to cook, and unlike him, wanted company.

In a family with five siblings—three with partners—a mom who was heavily involved in her kids’ lives, an uncle who’d come back and helped his sister raise her kids when her husband had died suddenly, plus Ally, you got little peace. Ryder enjoyed what little he got.

“What can I get you?” Linda said from her position behind the counter.

Skin the color and texture of a five-month-old orange, Linda was one of the more vibrant members of Lyntacky. Her uniform was bright pink and a step back to the sixties. Her hair was black this month and piled high on top of her head. In the bun was a pen.

“Two meat loafs and apple pies to go. Thanks, Linda.”

“You got one of your family over, or is one for Libby Gulliver?” Linda asked as she put his order through.

“Who?” Ryder asked. This shit with Libby needed to be stomped out before they had him marrying the woman. He’d only spent an hour, if that, with her, but once this town got their teeth into a piece of gossip, they hung on.

“Don’t youwhome, Ryder Duke. I know she works for you and that you and she looked close this morning. Plus she came in here, and I called around but couldn’t find her any accommodations. I then advised her to ask you if she can take your spare room, seeing as you’re friendly, and she said she’d do that.”

Stay calm. “God’s truth, Linda, I don’t know her, but she looked down on her luck, so I offered her a few days’ work before she moves on. I really don’t want a stranger staying in my house. Plus she’s not my type.”

Linda’s eyes softened. “You Dukes are good folks.”

“We try,” he said, giving her the smile that his mom said got him anything he wanted. “So that order is just for me because I’m hungry.” He refused to ask if Linda knew where Libby was staying now. That would just add fuel to the already-smoldering fire.

Linda laughed, sounding like a two-pack-a-day smoker. “I’ve never known a family of boys who eat like you do. Not sure how your mother kept your bellies full.”

Ryder just smiled again.

“Hi, Ryder.”

He turned to watch Nina, a beautician in town, enter. She was wrapped up like a mummy, so he could only see her eyes.

“Got enough clothes on, Nina?” He’d thought a time or two about dating her, but she had a really sharp tongue that could slice a man in half in seconds. Under all those clothes was a beautiful woman, but not one he was game to take on. Besides, the town was too small to make an enemy of anyone if things turned sour, and he liked her as a friend, so there was that.

“Every winter I talk about moving, and then summer comes, and I remember why I love this place.”

“Agreed,” Ryder said.

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