12. Linda #2
They sat inside the idling vehicle for a long moment, staring through the front windows at the warm, ambient light reflecting off the glass.
"Hungry?" Linda asked, a sudden knot forming in her stomach.
"Starving," Penny answered, unbuckling her seatbelt with a swift click. "And dying for one of Pete's specialty mini pizzas."
"Oh, yes, I love those," Linda said, though a sudden wave of nerves made the cozy exterior of the building feel strangely cold. "I also love the homemade spaghetti."
"Yes, I think all of Pete's food is exceptionally good," Penny said as they stepped out of the vehicle and walked together toward the entrance. "He should be running a five-star restaurant in the city."
"I have asked him a few times over the years why he doesn't expand," Linda said, reaching out to pull open the heavy front door. "He always tells me that this diner is where he is truly happy."
"When I first arrived here on the island, I would have thought what a massive waste of talent," Penny admitted, stepping past the threshold into the rich aroma of baking dough and garlic. "But now that I've settled into the pace of the bay, I actually understand what he means."
"Well, then," Linda told her with a soft laugh, "congratulations, Penny Rawlings, you have officially become a Sweet Blossom Bay local."
"Thank you," Penny bowed her head in mock solemnity. "I feel deeply honored by the designation."
The two women laughed, their easy, carefree banter making them look like any pair of close friends arriving at a local spot for a late meal.
That is exactly what we are, Linda made herself repeat the words internally, anchoring her thoughts against the ambient noise of the room. Just two friends coming into Pete's warm diner for lunch.
"Ladies," Pete greeted them from behind the counter, a warm, welcoming smile lighting up his features. "Welcome, it is always a pleasure to have you."
"Hey, Pete," they chorused together.
"You're remarkably busy for this time of day," Penny noted, her eyes scanning the lively crowd filling the booths.
"Yes, the summer season is now in full swing," Pete told her, wiping down a section of the wood. "We hardly get any lull time between the shifts now."
"Do you happen to have a vacant table for us?" Linda asked, looking around the floor as she tried to stave off a sudden prickle of disappointment.
Pete gestured toward the rear of the room. "If you wouldn't mind the smaller, two-seater table tucked into the far corner. I'm afraid all the booths and bigger tables are full today."
"Not at all," Linda said, and Penny nodded her agreement.
"We don't mind where we sit as long as we get one of your delicious meals," Penny assured him.
"This way please," Pete told them, lifting a pair of laminated menus.
As they followed Pete through the narrow aisle, a familiar deep voice drifted directly from one of the padded booths.
Penny heard the tone at the exact same instant Linda did, and both of them froze mid-step.
Their heads turned in unison the second the speaker shifted his posture.
Their eyes locked across the short distance, and a look of sheer, unadulterated shock registered on the man's face.
Linda gulped in a sharp breath of air, her eyes widening as the space around her seemed to contract.
"Darius!" Penny breathed, her eyes narrowing angrily as her posture turned rigid. She cocked her head slightly, her gaze tracking past his shoulder to fix on the woman sitting directly across the table from him. "Are you seriously meeting with her?"
"Linda, Penny," Darius stood up so fast his knee clipped the underside of the table, causing the glass water goblets to rattle against the wood. "What are you two doing here?"
"We're here for a late lunch," Penny drawled, her voice dripping with an accusing, icy weight as she stepped forward.
"Though you seem to be here for significantly more than the good food.
" She cast a freezing, deliberate look across the table.
Her eyes met the startled ones of the woman in front of Darius.
"It's Dr. Wineberg, is it?" She gave the elegant woman a chilling once-over that lingered on her tailored suit as the woman nodded.
"I'd be careful with this man if I were you.
" Her eyes flashed with a look of pure disgust as she shifted her focus back to Darius.
"While he won't lie to your face outright, he manages to do so flawlessly by omission.
" She gave him one more icy glance that cut through his defensive posture. "Enjoy whatever this is."
Without waiting for a response, she took Linda by the arm.
Linda still had not moved an inch, her mind completely numbed by the sheer shock of seeing Darius in a private meeting with Dr. Debbi Wineberg.
Penny skillfully maneuvered her past the frozen corporate executive and guided her toward the small corner table.
As they settled onto the wooden chairs, Penny leaned across the table, her worried glance scanning Linda's pale face.
"Do you still want to eat here? We can easily head into town, or we can get take-out from this counter instead. You can wait safely in the car while I gather the order." Penny gave her a small smile.
"No," Linda refused, offering a firm shake of her head as she forced her hands into her lap. "We can't let them ruin our plans." Even though every single survival instinct she possessed was screaming at her to walk right back out the front door of the diner, she refused to back down or default now.
"Okay," Penny said, her jaw tightening. "Let's just ignore them."
They ordered their food when the waitress approached, and Linda tried her best to relax her shoulders.
It was a lot harder than she thought it would be.
Her appetite had vanished the exact second she saw his dark eyes, and a cold hollow settled beneath her ribs.
Her heart thudded violently against her chest, and her fingers shook like leaves on a tree in the middle of a windstorm.
Try as she might to swallow a single bite of the bread basket, she simply could not eat.
"Let's box this up and go sit on the beachfront," Penny suggested quietly, watching her struggle.
A sudden, cheeky grin broke through her protective anger.
"We could gather a good bottle of wine to go with it and sit at one of those public tables, enjoying the open sea view rather than...
" She glared over her shoulder toward the middle booth. "That."
Linda thought that was a great idea. Pete quickly boxed up their lunch orders into paper containers, and he even reached beneath the counter to present them with one of his best bottles of white wine and two real glasses.
"Enjoy, ladies," Pete told them, offering a supportive nod. When Penny reached for her wallet, he waved his hand to refuse the bills. "I told you before, Penny, you don't pay for anything here at this counter. Linda doesn't either."