Page 58 of Cabins Cows Critics
“Can I order a burger, please?” I say, and the waitress nods.
“No problem, Hun, I’ll bring it over.”
“Thanks,” I reply, pulling out a fifty and placing it on the counter under the saltshaker by the register. “This should cover it and the soup, and I’ll grab another cup of that amazing hot chocolate if you have it.”
She nods, and I make my way to the booth nearest the fireplace, popping my bag on the seat beside me as the rest of my things continue to dry. The road outside is completely covered in a blanket of white, and the snow falls in heavy diagonal sheets, blocking my view of the moon above.
Someone shoves open the door to the diner, and the wind howling follows them inside.
“Connor!” Nial calls out, and I spin. “He’s in here,” he yells out the door and then jogs over.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, and he laughs.
“Me, fuck man, what are you doing here?”
Before I can answer, the door swings open again, and in comes Dean, Atlas, Skye, Sally-May, and Perry.
“Connor, thank the stars,” Sally-May says, wrapping her arms around my neck and squeezing tight. “When we saw your truck, and then you weren’t there.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask again.
“We’ve come to take you home,” Dean says, sliding into the booth opposite me. Nial files in after him, and the others crowd around me like they want to be sure they block any path to leave.
“You don’t understand. I had to leave,” I say, avoiding eye contact with any of them.
“We know why you ran,” Dean says, and I shake my head.
“You don’t.”
Nial reaches over and lays his hand over my forearm, and I look up.
“We know. And wow. Like really, wow, but also we love you, and we don’t care that you kept that part of your past from us.”
“I lied to you for years,” I say, my gaze moving from one to the other, but instead of the disgust I had envisioned seeing on their faces if they knew who I used to be, I see scared smiles.
Atlas leans against the side of the booth.
“We knew you had a past. Fuck, every person and animal, for that matter, on Beaker Brothers does. It’s not who you were that we care about, Connor. It’s about the person you are.”
“Even if that’s true, I can’t keep hiding from my past. They’re looking for me now. Sooner or later, they will find me, and that could mean a huge headache for all of you.”
Sally-May shrugs.
“We’ll be fine. We love you, Connor. You’re not going anywhere except back home with us.”
“Yeah,” Skye chimes in. “We’ll protect you if anyone finds you. We can send Chewie after them.”
“Those chickens would probably do a better job scaring people away than that llama.” I chuckle, and it’s the first time since I left that I can finally breathe.
“Look, I know I have a lot of explaining to do,” I say, and Nial leans forward.
“All I want to know is why are you here if you are like a private-jet rich?”
Dean folds his arms over his chest.
“Ignore that question. I don’t care why you came to Beaker Brothers,” he says, and I swallow the lump in my throat. “I only have one question.”
“I’ll tell you whatever you want,” I concede. It’s the least I can do.
