Page 15 of Long Hard Fall

“Seasoned, plain or in a salad, it’s all been done way too much.” She set down her burger, took the top off, and loaded it up with grilled veggies.

The corner of Cash’s mouth twitched. His cousins often did the same thing.

“You like to grill?” she asked.

“No.”

She stopped and he laughed.

“If it wasn’t for the grill,” he amended, “I’d probably starve. I’m not an oven guy.”

This was the Abbi he remembered. Easy conversation, easy laughter. Something he didn’t often experience outside of family. At his age, women were looking for a night of fun that’d lead to a long-term relationship and since he had a reputation, they put extra effort into trying to tame Cash Walker. He often fantasized about a real relationship, but then his parents would visit. And there was the reminder.

“Where are you staying now?” he asked as he finished his meal.

She polished off her last bite. “I’m at the Nightstays. It’s a little more expensive, but the room’s bigger and since I was staying so long, I wanted the comfort.” A smile curved her lush lips. “It doesn’t smell like an old dishrag and the owner hasn’t tried setting me up with anyone.”

“Because those owners have children still in elementary school. Give ’em time.”

She giggled and they fell quiet for a moment.

Cash cleared his throat. He knew he couldn’t avoid the real reason why she was here forever, but he’d try. “Are you…just here for a few days?”

“I had two weeks of vacation. El—I had nothing else planned, so I used it to come here. I don’t know how long I’ll be here.”

“What do you do for a living?”

Her tone went flat. “I’m a bank teller.”

“That bad?” He’d never given the occupation a second thought. His bank was his parents’ bank, and his grandparents’ bank. He’d known all the employees for ages, even gone to school with some.

“No, it’s just not my thing.”

“Then why work there?” He couldn’t imagine not waking up and ranching every day. He’d lived that nightmare for eight long years, but it’d been better than being at home at the time. When Dillon had gotten out of the army, Cash couldn’t stand to be in the military without his cousin and had gotten out, too. Thankfully, when he’d moved back home, his aunts and uncles had sold the Walker Five operation to Cash and his four cousins—and his parents had moved away.

“It’s a respectable job. It pays the bills.” It had the ring of a pep talk she gave herself before each shift.

“There’s lots of those that do both and you can enjoy. What’d you go to school for?”

Her gaze darted away and she shifted in her chair. “Visual arts.”

Cash reclined in his seat and folded his arms. “Yeah, I can see how it can be hard to find work in that field in a small town, but there’s gotta be something.”

She gave him a look he couldn’t interpret. “I’m sure there is. So…”

Aw, shit. Here it was.

“You and my brother were good friends?”

Cash regretted his last handful of chips as they formed a lump in his gut. “He joined the unit a couple of years before he… Yeah, we were friends.”

“How often were you deployed?”

Cash readjusted his hat. He should’ve taken it off for lunch, but he wasn’t used to special occasions. “Three times. The first two weren’t uneventful, but nothing occurred like what happened to your brother.”

“How soon afterward did you get out of the army?”

This was starting to feel like an interview. He expected her to pull out a notebook and pencil from the bag she’d left on the kitchen counter.

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