Page 18 of Hit the Ground
He was standing outside the entrance to Gray’s Diner, tapping on his phone, dressed in one of his many suits. Seeing him in them always threw me off. Eight years my junior, it was hard for me not to think of him as a kid. He was supposed to be little Maccie, not Mr. Kelly.
Guess he’d always be Maccie to me, no matter how many sleek suits he owned.
I strode up to him and clapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, man. Lookin’ good.”
He grinned, slipped his phone in his pocket, and wrapped me in a one-armed hug. “You too. Bigger than the sun, as always.”
I poked him in the ribs. “Skinnier than a fence post.”
That’d once been true, but not so much anymore. Mac had outgrown his beanpole status years ago. He was as tall as me and lean but strong. Not that I’d ever concede that to him.
He smoothed his hand down his front. “That’s right. You better feed me before I disappear.”
Both of us laughing, we walked into the diner and waited to be seated. Cormac scanned the room before his gaze landed back on me.
“Surprised you suggested coming here. I thought Joy’s was your spot.”
“Most of the time, it is,” I agreed. “But I was in the mood for something different.”
“All right. I’m fine with that, but I’d be down for a round or two of darts after we eat.”
I lifted a shoulder. Not about to tell him I hadn’t been to Joy’s in almost two weeks, for Alice’s sake. Deep down, I knew I’d done the right thing, but that didn’t mean it felt good, and I was damn sure it hadn’t been anywhere near pleasant for her.
Eventually, I’d go back. Once she’d had time to lick her wounds. To do that, the least I could do was give her space. Then she’d see I’d done her a favor by cutting things off before they started.
Cormac and I were led through the diner by the hostess, stopping here and there to talk to people we knew, passing others with a wave. We were seated in a four-seater booth by a window near the back, menus slapped down on the table in front of us.
I scanned the menu, trying to decide between breakfast and dinner. From somewhere nearby, a laugh that sounded like leaves rustling in a cool breeze drew my attention. I raised my head, finding the source at a table kitty-corner from ours.
A man and a woman sat across from one another, his back facing us. The woman laughed again, and something about the lightness of it resonated in my chest.
I trailed my gaze over the flowing caramel waves resting on her delicate shoulders up to her face and jerked. Alice? That was what her laugh sounded like?
While I watched, her companion reached across the table to take her hand. Her laughter stopped, but she didn’t take it away. She let him hold it.
He was talking, and she was smiling. Smaller now. No more breezy laughs.
“What are you looking at?” Cormac twisted around to check for himself. “Oh, that’s Alice.”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “I’m not used to seeing her outside of Joy’s.”
“She looks good. Changed her hair up.” Then, like the do-gooder puppy he was, he raised his hand and called out, “Hey, Alice.”
She jumped in her seat, averting her eyes from the man to look at Cormac…and me. She was close enough I could see the flush rise in her cheeks as our gazes collided.
She slipped her hand free to wave back. “Hello.”
Cormac nodded. “Have a good dinner.”
She offered my brother—only my brother—a grin. “You too.”
Her eyes slid away from me, and Cormac twisted back around. “She looks different, doesn’t she?”
I shrugged. “Didn’t notice.”
Cormac snorted. “Didn’t notice, my ass. She looks nice. I’ve always thought she was sweet.”
I grunted, flicking open my menu again, staring hard at the words as they blurred together. All I could see was the way Alice had let that man hold her hand. Why was I fixating on that? We were barely more than strangers. What she did didn’t matter.
