Page 18 of Colt
She turned and put her hand over his mouth. I couldn’t miss her blush or the smile that couldn’t be hidden beneath her palm.
“Besides the newlyweds, these are a few of myother brothers,” Colt said. He pointed down the line. “Shep, Cam, and Bray.”
They were big men and the table was too awkward for all of them to slide out to stand and introduce themselves. I gave them a little wave as they offered a quick “hey” or tip of the hat. Out of the five brothers, four of them wore Stetsons.
Shep was the one who didn’t. He was the one that said, “Saw you at the grocery store the other day. Sorry I didn’t say hi.”
I gave him a small smile. “Same.” I didn’t remember seeing him and I doubted any woman with working eyes would not look at Shep twice. I must’ve been studying the chip options a little too closely if I missed him.
Colt nudged me to slide in so I was between him and Bray.
A waitress appeared at the table and set two coffee mugs down while holding up a steaming carafe.
“Hey, Mabel,” Colt said. “Coffee for me. You want some, pretty girl?”
I nodded and he flipped both cups over. Mabel filled them.
“You’re the new doc at the hospital,” Mabel said and I glanced up from the paper placemat that had the menu printed on it.
The older woman was maybe in her sixties. Possibly seventies. Gorgeous gray hair cut in a no nonsense bob. She wore jeans and a t-shirt that had a drawing of the neon sign on the front. She had a pencil behind her ear, a half-apron with an order book in one pocket and straws in another. Her smile was broad, genuine and I had no doubt she probably knew everything about everyone in town.
“I am.”
“My grandson’s friend was in there last week for a broken arm. Heard a new lady doc put a green cast on him. Even signed it.”
I remembered the case. “That’s right. How’s he doing?”
She waved a hand. “Fine. Boys bounce right back. Ask any one of these Wilder fellers about that.”
“Don’t go givin’ away any stories about Colt, Mabel. He wants to keep this one,” Cam told her.
I flushed when Colt winked at me. Multiple thoughts collided in my head at once. I wasn’t sure what Cam meant bythis one,as if Colt had taken a long string of women to breakfast in the past. Or one in particular that knew the brothers well enough for one of them to mention her in a roundabout way. Also that Cam knew Colt’s intentions. I didn’t even know they’d talked since we ran into each otheragain yesterday. And what kind of secrets did Colt have?
Mabel zipped her lips with her hand, then asked, “What can I get you?”
She was looking my way. “Oh, um,” I glanced down at the menu. “Denver omelet, please.”
“White toast or wheat?”
“Wheat, please.”
She looked to Colt. “Usual, please. Thanks, Mabel.”
With a decisive nod, she made her way down the line of tables topping off people’s coffees on her way to the kitchen. Clearly, Colt ate here often.
“So, Molly, tell us all about yourself.”
I looked around Bray, which was kind of hard to do since he was so broad. “Shep, right?”
He grinned, set his hand over his chest that was covered in a navy long sleeved t-shirt. Across the chest it read Wilder Auto Repairs. He was the one who’d towed my car.
“Yup. The cute one.”
“Whatever,” Cam said beside him, rolling his eyes.
“You can’t call yourself cute. It’s gotta come from a lady,” Trig said. He glanced down at Ellie. “Tell Shep who’s the cutest, sugar.”
She rolled her eyes. As she was about to answer,Mabel came back with a huge tray ladened with dishes. She set it on the empty table beside her and started passing the plates around. I sat back as the table filled with all the food the Wilder boys seemed to eat for breakfast. Once her tray was empty, she said to me and Colt. “Your meals will be up real soon.”
