Chapter Seven
Caleb
I didn’t know what was up with me, but I’d been in a consistently foul mood the last couple weeks. It’d begun with Shelby’s bullshit visit to the ranch, and I hadn’t been able to kick it. Not even a week with my boy had done the job.
He was back with his mom, and I was at loose ends, so I took a trip into town to have dinner with my brother, Cormac. We both worked at the ranch, but he managed the resort side, so it was rare we got to spend solid time together during the day.
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.
Still, she’d kissed me two weeks ago and was already off on a date with another guy. It didn’t sit right with me. Was I that easy to get over?
Hell, looked like I was.
“How are things going on the ranch?” Cormac asked, settling back in his seat. “Haven’t heard you cuss out the irrigation system lately.”
“Plenty of other things to cuss out, but that’s all part of the fun.” I forced my eyes down to the menu. “Everything’s fine. Busy, like always.”
“That’s good.” He flipped his menu shut without even looking at it. He always ordered the same damn thing anyway. “What’s Jesse up to this week?”
“School, the library, his usual haunts. His robotics club has a competition coming up, so he’s hyped about that.” My jaw ticced. “Shelby’s talking about moving him to Denver.”
Cormac’s eyebrows shot up. “What? Since when?”
“She brought it up a couple weeks ago then mentioned it again when I brought Jesse back to her. She wants to move there so her boyfriend can find work.”
“That’s…man. I don’t even know what to say.” He shook his head. “Is she serious about this guy?”
“Seems like it, but you know Shel. She’s always serious about one guy or another,” I muttered. “Jesse’s pretty cagey about how he feels toward him.”
Cormac went quiet for a minute, drumming his fingers on the table. “What are you gonna do?”
“Don’t know yet.” I rubbed a hand over my jaw. The stubble scratched against my palm. “I’m trying to keep the peace, but I’m not letting her move my kid three hours away. I shut that down fast, and I’ll continue to shut it down every time she brings it up.”
“Yeah.” He nodded firmly. “What is she thinking? Jesse’s family lives here. There’s no way he’d want to move that far away for one of his mom’s boyfriends of the moment.”
I blew out a slow breath, trying to unclench my shoulders. “I’m mad I even have to expend a second of mental energy on this.”
“I get that.” He picked up his menu again. “If Shelby tries to push it, we’ll figure something out.”
“Yeah.” My gaze drifted back to Alice before I could stop it. Her date was talking, and she was nodding along, her smile small and tucked away.
Cormac, oblivious, cleared his throat. “So, darts after this? Or you got an early morning tomorrow?”
I forced myself to look at him. “Early morning. Let’s just eat.”
“All right.” He set his menu aside, grinning at the waitress as she approached. “Then I’m making you buy me pie before we leave.”
“Fine,” I agreed, but my mind wasn’t on pie. It was on the woman sitting across the diner, laughing softly at something another man said.
Wondering why the hell I disliked it as much as I did.
A couple days later, I still hadn’t outrun the dark clouds looming over my head. Instead of going home after work and sinking further, I took another drive into town to see Phoebe.
Sugar Rush was hopping with late-day caffeine seekers.
Phoebe, Camille, and Hailey bustled behind the counter, making drinks and helping customers.
Deacon had been put to work, busing tables and wiping them down.
Though if I had to guess, he’d volunteered.
If he had a choice, I was pretty sure he’d never let Phoebe’s feet touch the ground; that was how gone for my sister he was.
It sure made it easy to see him like a brother.
I greeted him then planted myself at the end of the five-person line, letting my gaze wander around the place.
It was mostly women chatting in small groups, a couple ranch hands looking scruffy after a hard day of working, and people tapping away on laptops.
My eyes snagged on a table by the front window.
Alice.
She was sitting across from a man with an open laptop in front of him.
He was older than the guy at the diner, with salt-and-pepper hair and a pressed dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up.
He was talking, leaning forward slightly.
She smiled as she listened. Small, interested, like she cared about what he had to say.
He wasn’t making her laugh like the other guy had, but her attention was rapt.
“Next,” Phoebe called, dragging my attention back to the counter.
I stepped forward, giving her my order of black coffee and one of her pecan sticky buns.
“Are you doing okay?” Phoebe asked as she punched my order into the register.
“Fine.” I jerked my head to the side. “Who’s that guy, the one with Alice?”
She peered over my shoulder. “Oh, that’s Charlie. He’s on year five of working on his novel. Sometimes, he and Alice brainstorm ideas. I think she’s writing too.”
I turned back, noticing the closed laptop in front of her. What was she writing? And what did Charlie have to say that was so fascinating?
“Why do you ask?”
I faced my sister and shrugged. “Just curious. I recognized him but didn’t know his name.”
She huffed a laugh. “Because you live in your own world. Charlie’s here almost every time you come in. It wouldn’t kill you to pay attention to something other than the ranch and Jesse.”
I smirked. “That hasn’t been proven.”
She waved me away. “Go wait for your drink and get out of my face.”
I reached over the counter to tug the end of her braid. “Only teasing you, Phe-Phe.”
She swatted at my hand, but her eyes crinkled for a second before she gave her attention to the next customer. I moved down the counter to wait for my drink, checking my phone for messages to give me something to do.
I told myself not to look back at Alice. She was none of my concern. Of course, I looked anyway.