Page 11 of Whiskey Chase
I eased to the curb half a block down from the diner. Moonshine took up the entire first floor of a three-story brick building. The whole block smelled like bacon and home fries. Leftover olfactory souvenirs from the breakfast crowd.
I led Devlin inside and slid into my favorite booth at the back of the diner. From this vantage point, I could see all the comings and goings of my neighbors.
Devlin eyed the greasy menu on the table with skepticism. I, on the other hand, didn’t need to look at mine. I always get the same thing.
“Well, hi there, Scarlett,” Clarabell the head waitress and proprietress of Moonshine said, plucking the pencil out of her brassy red beehive. She and her husband, Whitfield the short order cook, had been serving up plates of goodness for twenty-plus years now. “How y’all doing?”
“We’re doin’ just fine, Clarabell,” I said, ignoring the fact that Devlin had just had a rooftop freakout. “Thank you for the pepperoni rolls last week. That was real thoughtful of you.”
“You’re so welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed ‘em. Now, what can I get for you today?”
“I’ll have the open-faced turkey and a Pepsi,” I said, sliding the menu to the edge of the table.
Devlin looked up from the menu, indecision written all over his handsome face. “I’ll have what she’s having,” he said.
Clarabell gave him her trademark crooked smile and picked up the menus. “Sorry about your daddy, Scarlett,” she said before bustling off behind the counter.
It was a strange reality check, knowing that a week ago I’d been sitting in this very booth across from my father, trying to sober him up with coffee and home fries.
“My grandmother told me about your father,” Devlin began. “I’m sorry.”
“Thanks,” I said, my voice gruff. I hadn’t had time to get used to the idea of life without him. Every morning, my first thought was how hard it would be to wake Dad up and get him ready for work if he was in any shape to accompany me. It was still my first thought, but now it was followed with the realization that it was no longer necessary. I remembered in exacting, painful detail walking into his bedroom and finding him cold.
It was a hell of a way to start every morning since. But if I kept busy enough, I could run from it until I could stand to face it alone. “It wasn’t much of a surprise,” I confessed. “Seemed like it was only a matter of time.”
I didn’t want to tarnish my daddy’s memory any further by rehashing all the ways he failed my family. Not to a man who’d never meet him.
“I’m sorry.” Devlin said it simply authentically sweetly.
“Thanks,” I said and changed the subject. “How you feelin’?”
Clarabell returned with our drinks and a wink. Devlin toyed with the straw she left for him.
“I feel like I owe you an explanation,” he said.
I watched his face. Even though his brow was marred by a frown, he wasn’t hard on the eyes. He had that square jaw thing going for him. And stubble. I was a sucker for a manly five o’clock shadow. His eyes were coffee brown and troubled. His hair was a cross between light brown and blond and currently only styled by the nervous fingers he shoved through it.
“You don’t owe me anything until I’ve done the work,” I said. If he wanted to keep this relationship strictly professional, that was an option. Though I admitted I’d be the teensiest bit disappointed.
“I’ve been going through something lately,” he said. “Nothing like losing a parent, though.”
“Let’s not play my pain is worse than yours,” I said, giving his hand a squeeze before picking up my soda. “Pain is pain.”
He grimaced. “I was married. Technically still am for a few weeks at least.”
“Divorce or plotting her murder?” I asked lightly.
The corner of his lips curved up. “I’ll let you know.”
“What happened?”
“I was under the misconception that we were partners. I thought we were building something, following the same path. I didn’t realize her path involved fucking someone else.”
“Ouch.”
“Sorry, that sounded harsh,” he winced.
“Did you know him?” Growing up in Bootleg gave all residents a leg up on interrogations. We knew how to pump the unsuspecting for details regardless of whether or not it was our business.
