Page 34 of Mystery in the Mountains

Her scent was overwhelming, and while he would normally have loved that . . . it was tinged with something else. Whatever it was, he didn’t like it.

“Get in!” Sunny said with a smile.

After he slid in, it was almost like being transported back to his early twenties.

When Sunny had bought this, it was a junker. He and Abe got it running, and Sunny had decorated the inside. Looking around, not much had changed. There were two seats up front, a small table with purple upholstered benches, a kitchenette with a fridge and counter, a single burner, a bed in the back, and a curtain of bead separating the areas. And he had painted the outside with her favorite flowers.

He might not have done it if he’d realized it would carry her away. Who was he kidding? He would have done anything she asked of him . . . and after everything, he still would.

“Well . . . this is a blast from the past,” he said, forcing a smile, trying not to let anxiety in.

She said she wasn’t leaving, and at some point, he needed to trust her.

“Yeah,” she said as her sunshine expression clouded over.

Maybe she was realizing that, too.

“Let’s go,” Asher said. “I’m hungry.”

They pulled up to Ruby’s Diner. As they walked in, the bell jingled over their heads.

Betty came around the corner. “Sit wherever you like.” Finally, she looked up, and a broad grin covered her face as she set her fist on her round hips. “Well . . . aren’t you two a sight to behold.”

“We’re gonna go sit down,” Sunny said, pulling Asher along.

It was best not to encourage Betty’s antics.

Asher followed her to the booth and slid in across from her.

“What can I get you two?” Betty asked.

“Cheeseburger and fries,” Sunny answered.

“Make that two,” Asher added.

“Frank, two cheeseburgers.”

Ten minutes later, Betty slid two plates in front of them and sat to join them.

“The lunch rush is over. Tell me how everything is going at the house?”

Sunny squirted ketchup on her plate. “Good as can be expected.”

“What’s up with the crutches?”

“I just took a little tumble,” Sunny said as she dragged a fry through the ketchup.

“Some things never change,” Betty hummed.

Asher couldn’t help the smile that came across his face as he picked up his burger.

“So, Ol’ Ray told me that the suit in town today was doin’ some surveyin’ on the other side of town.”

“Where?” Asher asked.

The coal company had given them trouble in the past, but they hadn’t been around for years. He couldn’t help but wonder what had them all snooping around again. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. His family had managed to keep them out of Hecate’s Hollow but not without a fight.

“Down Ol’ Creek Road.”

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