Chapter 9 #2
“Milly Thomas,” he said, stretching my name into a drawl that made my stomach drop. “Well, I’ll be. Penny’s little girl.”
I blinked. “Do I know you?”
He smiled without warmth. “Guess the rumors were true. You really did move back in. Pretty thing like you shouldn’t go diggin’ through what ain’t yours.”
Levi straightened in his seat, pulling his phone out. Cassie grabbed his arm in shock.
“Sir,” Ethel said from behind the counter, her voice edged. “You need somethin’?”
The man ignored her. Then, he took two slow steps closer, boots grinding grit into the tile. “You don’t know what you’ve got your hands on, sweetheart. That ranch doesn’t just belong to you. And a broken-down soldier won’t keep the wolves at bay.”
The diner went still. I slid off the stool, taking a few steps back. “I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.” He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place him—like a wisp of smoke in my memory bank.
He laughed, a harsh sound. “Same temper as your aunt. Didn’t do her much good either.”
I took a deep breath and tried to sound confident and calm. “You need to leave. Now.” I was relieved my voice didn’t betray me.
I took another step back when he reached out and caught my arm. His grip hurt and pinched. My body froze.
Then movement exploded all at once. Levi shoved back his chair, phone already in his hand. “Let her go,” he said, low but carrying.
Cassie’s voice trembled behind him. “Ethel, call Dale.”
The man seemed to weigh his options. Levi on one side, Ethel calling the police, and half the diner standing up as if to intervene. My heart skipped when the door banged open. Austin first, Mason a step behind. Mason’s voice came out calm and solid. “Let her go, Arnie.”
Arnie’s hand fell away, but his eyes stayed on me. “Got the town fooled into thinking you belong here, huh?”
Austin’s tone was quiet, dangerous. “Enough, Arnie.” He didn’t raise it; he didn’t need to. He took one measured step forward, broad shoulders and a cold look that caught my breath. “Don’t ever touch her again.”
Arnie’s mouth twisted into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “You can’t babysit forever, soldier.”
Austin and Mason moved between Arnie and me.
Arnie looked between Levi, Mason, and Austin. “Until we meet again, cuz,” then he slipped through the door, gone before anyone could block him.
Levi was already moving, scanning the street just outside the door. Mason swore under his breath and followed.
The noise rushed back in all at once—Ethel muttering something about Sheriff Dale, patrons murmuring. My pulse thundered in my ears.
Then Austin turned to face me. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” His face softened, and regret burned behind his eyes.
“Here, let me see.” I looked at my arm, still in shock over the whole thing.
What had Arnie said about Austin? Broken-down soldier keeping the wolves at bay?
But the man looking at my arm, his thumb rubbing gently against my reddened skin, was not a calloused-handed soldier.
He was my Austin, wasn’t he? His thumb moved to my wrist, rubbing circles before he took my hand, sighing deeply.
“Yes, I’m okay, just a little rattled,” I lied, only a little.
Austin’s jaw tightened, and I could see him battling his instinct to reassure me with his duty to protect me.
Austin nodded, then turned to me. He made up his mind. “Keys,” he said gently, holding them out. His voice was steady, but his jaw was tight. “Go home. Lock the doors. I’ll be right behind you.”
I opened my mouth to argue, to say I was fine, but the words wouldn’t line up. He pressed the keys into my palm anyway, his fingers brushing mine, closing around mine. “Please, Milly.” His eyes pleaded with mine.
Cassie stood then, eyes wide with worry. “I can drive her—”
“No, it’s okay.” I said, squaring my shoulders.
Austin nodded. “I’ll go with Mason. Help him call it in.”
Levi hesitated. “I’ll come with you.” He hugged Cassie, then nodded once, jaw set. “We’ll find him.”
Outside, the sun was bright. I got into the truck, hands trembling against the steering wheel. In the rear-view mirror, Austin’s reflection lingered in the diner doorway, eyes scanning the street.
The drive home seemed to take forever. Every curve of the road, every patch of shade, every bush and tree seemed to move with danger.
I half-expected Arnie to jump out at me.
When I pulled up at the house, I practically ran to the door.
I locked it behind me, then checked all the others, closed the curtains, and sank onto a stool in the kitchen.
My heart wouldn’t slow. My skin still burned where Arnie’s hand had been. And louder than anything else was the question echoing through my head.—
How did Austin know his name?
The old house groaned, the sound threading through the silence like a whisper.
I couldn’t sit still; I needed to be busy.
I went to the sink and started to do the dishes.
Two cups and two plates. Not a lot, but I scrubbed them, clean as a whistle.
Outside, a car crunched along the driveway, then a short time later, a door closed.
I didn’t move, not until the front door opened on Austin’s voice, low over the quiet. “It’s just me.”
I had a feeling that whatever ghosts he was chasing, they were closer now. And before the night was over, I knew I’d finally ask the question that had been building since the diner:
What aren’t you telling me?