6. Bradyn
CHAPTER 6
brADYN
“ B radyn Hunt. I have to say it’s good to see you.” Conner Matthews, the owner of Pine Creek Café, reaches out and shakes my hand. He’s owned this place for nearly fifteen years alongside his wife Talia. They moved here two decades ago, and the rest is history.
“Good to see you, too, Conner. How’s the family?”
“Jessie got engaged,” he says. His oldest daughter had just turned twenty-three right before I left.
“Really?”
“Really. I’m feeling old these days.”
I laugh. “Adam is a good guy, though. He’ll treat her right.”
“He is, and she’s happy, which is all that matters.” He smiles. “You want your usual?”
“Three months away and you still remember?” I take a seat in a corner booth.
He laughs. “You’ve eaten here so much over the years it’s branded into my brain.”
“Fair enough. The usual is good, thanks.”
“Anytime. Talia will be right out with your water.” He heads back around the counter and into the kitchen while I shrug out of my jacket.
The café is lean tonight with only a few other tables taken. One with a group of teenagers laughing and happily chatting about their day, and the other with Mandy Bell, the town’s librarian, and Betty Elliot, the owner of our local coffee shop.
I’m honestly surprised Lani isn’t over there with them since the three of them have been thick as thieves since elementary school.
“Here you go, honey.” Talia sets a glass of water in front of me and steps back. “It’s good to have you back in town.”
“Good to be back.”
“You doing okay?” she asks, eyes narrowing on me.
“I’m doing good, thanks for asking.”
“Always. You boys are like family. It’s tough when you’re gone.”
“Hard on us, too,” I admit.
She smiles softly and pats my shoulder. “You are some of the best men I know.” The bell rings over the door, and Lani walks in. She offers Talia a wave then turns back toward the door and smiles.
Sammy steps in, her hair loose around her shoulders and curled softly. She’s traded out her ranch attire for a pair of leggings and a long cream sweatshirt that hangs nearly to her knees. She surveys the diner and stalls on me.
Our gazes hold, and I am completely unable to tear my eyes away from her even though, on some level, I know I should probably wave or smile or do something—anything—to stop myself from staring at her like she’s the last piece of pie on the planet and I’m a starved man.
Then Lani turns and waves before crossing toward me, dragging Sammy in tow.
“Hey there, big brother.” She slides into the booth, and Sammy slides in beside her, keeping her focus anywhere but on me.
“Hey, how’s it going?” I say, finally regaining the ability to speak. Who is this woman that she has me behaving like a lovestruck teenager?
“Good. Since you guys wrapped up at the ranch early, I convinced Sammy to come out with me. We’re headed over to the movies after this. Of course, I had to drive all the way over there since she doesn’t believe in cell phones.” She nudges Sammy with her shoulder, and she grins in response.
Going to a movie here in Pine Creek consists of attending the small community theatre where they’ve set up a projection screen. They only show movies on the weekend, and everything they show has been out for months, if not years.
“Fun. What are they playing tonight?”
“ Angels in the Outfield .”
“A classic,” I reply with a smile and a quick glance at Sammy, who now has her gaze trained on a menu Talia dropped off.
“That’s what I told Sammy. But she hasn’t ever seen it.”
At the mention of her name, Sammy looks up.
“You’ve never seen Angels in the Outfield ?”
“I haven’t,” she replies. “Though I hear I’m in for a treat.”
“It’s one of the best.”
Lani looks at me. “You should come with us.”
“What?”
“Yeah, why not?” Lani looks at Sammy as though searching for confirmation.
“I don’t mind,” she says, though I can see the hesitation on her face. I just can’t tell if it’s because she’s feeling the same sort of attraction I am or if she genuinely doesn’t care for me. Though I can’t imagine it being the latter given I haven’t known her but a day.
“I don’t want to intrude on girls’ night.”
“Oh, stop.” Lani waves her hand. “You’re not intruding on anything. Unless you have a date or something?”
“What?”
“A date. Do you have a date?” Lani glances around the diner. “Are we taking her spot?”
“No, no date. I just didn’t feel like sitting at home tonight, and since Mom and Dad are having their weekly dinner for just the two of them, I thought?—”
“That you would eat with your little sister and her new friend then go with us to the movies as our chaperone. Much appreciated, Bradyn.” She beams at me, and before I can respond, Talia steps up to the table.
“Evening, ladies. What can I get for you?”
“I’ll have a cheeseburger with everything, barbeque sauce on the side, and onion rings, please. Oh, and a sweet tea.”
“You got it. How about you, Sammy?”
“Uh, I’ll have the club sandwich and fries, please. And a water.”
“You got it.” Talia takes the menus and heads back to place their order.
“How was work?” I ask Lani, hoping to keep the conversation light because Sammy looks about ready to bolt out of the diner.
“It was good. Had a full day of appointments then headed over to Mrs. Kinsley’s to drop off the prescription I’d called in for her.”
Mrs. Kinsley has been bedridden for the past six months after a nasty fall in her shower. She broke her hip in two places and fractured her wrist. As her doctor, Lani has gone above and beyond to make sure she’s taken care of until she’s back on her feet.
“How’s she doing?”
“Good. She said to tell you hi.”
“Tell her hi back the next time you see her.”
“Will do,” Lani replies.
The bell dings over the door again, and Lani glances over her shoulder as Gibson Lawson walks in wearing his sheriff’s uniform. He heads toward the counter, and Lani’s smile spreads.
“Let me out a sec. I want to say hi.”
Sammy slides out so Lani can slip out of the booth; then she takes her seat as I watch my sister head over toward the deputy.
She’s had a thing for Gibson since they were in high school, but neither of them ever had the courage to do anything. Then she went off to school and he stuck around town. He’d gotten married about three years out of school, but the marriage didn’t last long before she left town with a musician, leaving Gibson to pick up the pieces and pay off all the debt she’d taken out in his name.
It was nasty, and the town rallied around him to offer any support he needed. It’s sad, but I think that divorce is the reason he never asked Lani out even after she returned to town.
When Lani laughs, I turn my attention away from them, not wanting to intrude on my sister’s moment. “So, uh, how are you liking working at the ranch?”
Sammy shifts those gorgeous blue eyes to me. “I like it a lot.”
“Have you always had an interest in animals? Or did you grow up on a farm?”
“Just an interest in animals,” she says. “Never was lucky enough to spend a whole lot of time around them growing up.”
I nod, unsure how to proceed when her answers are very curt and don’t leave much room for conversation. Finally, because I can’t stand awkwardness when a conversation might clear things up, I lean in. “Listen, did I do anything to upset you?”
She looks genuinely surprised. “No. Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know, you just seem standoffish with me, that’s all.”
“I don’t really know you,” she says. “And I’m not much of a small talker.”
“Fair enough.” I lean back. “As long as I didn’t do anything.”
“You didn’t, I promise.”
“Good.”
She offers me a tight smile then turns her head to look outside. It’s dark, so aside from the streetlamps, she’s not seeing much. But in the glass, I can make out her reflection, and her eyes are speaking volumes.
She’s haunted. By what, I’m not sure, and I’m not nosy enough to try and find out. My rules are simple—if it doesn’t affect the ranch, I don’t need to know. And so far, it’s not affecting the ranch even though she’s clearly got a hold on me.
“Sorry.” Lani returns to the table, sliding in beside Sammy. Since the booth we’re in is rounded, she’s forced to scoot closer to me, though she remains a good two feet away.
Something about me unnerves her. I just wish I knew what it was.