Chapter 4
The Swing Through Cafe was Ryder’s baby. He’d purchased the building from Larry Limpet, who had basically kept it so he could play cards with his buddies away from his wife and not actually offer anything that anyone would want to eat for sale.
Run down, the place had needed gutting, and with hard work, his family, and some tradespeople, he’d done it.
Lyntacky was small, but they had tourists year-round for winter and summer sports, and the locals were in and out constantly. It had taken him time to earn their trust because like in a lot of small towns, they weren’t good with new things—even though his family had lived in Lyntacky their entire lives.
“Ryder, that soup was just about the best I’ve tasted, but don’t tell my sister that.”
“Thanks, Bart.”
The man was one of the octogenarians in town, and as far as Ryder was concerned, one of the only good things about winter was that Bart couldn’t wear his short shorts when he was walking. He was a man who loved fitness—his shorts, not so much. He’d exposed himself in the name of exercise to pretty much everyone in Lyntacky.
“Right, I’m off for a walk. I’m going to win the walking race.”
“They put that into the Lynpicks?” Ryder asked.
“They did, and I’m taking that first place. Although I did hear that Neville from Source is good and he’s entered.”
“But you’re better,” Ryder said loyally. The man wore those long gym tights that made his thin legs look like twigs, ear warmers, and a long-sleeved running top.
“You do know it’s hitting thirty-two degrees today out there, don’t you?”
“You young ones have no stamina,” Bart said with a wave of his hand.
Shaking his head, Ryder cleaned the coffee machine while his niece, Ally, who he’d picked up after school, cleaned down the tables.
“Hey, Uncle Ry, can I have my party here?”
“Right, it’s the big eleventh birthday soon. When did you get so old?”
“It happens every year,” she said, rolling her eyes like he was ninety. “You and the others just need to get used to the fact that I’m not five anymore.”
“You have to give us time, though, because you were once so cute and never talked back. In fact, you just thought we were the best.”
She smiled. “I still think you’re the best.”
“Thanks, baby girl, back at you.”
She was starting to fill out a bit now, but for a while, Ally was skinny and short, and now she was just short. Her clothing sense hadn’t changed; she still wore an odd assortment of stuff. Today’s selection was tartan leggings and a pink overskirt. Her sweater was navy, and on her feet were black high-tops. A green beanie was pulled over her dark hair that had pink streaks.
“You want to have it upstairs?” He had more tables up there, and in the summer, people sat on the deck, he and his brothers had built.
“Could I?” Ally jumped up and down, clapping her hands.
“Could I?” he mimicked, as was expected of her annoying uncle.
This kid was the only one in a big family and had melted their hearts from the first day they saw her. Her daddy, Duke number two, had raised her alone and done a good job with all their help.
“Yes, you can have it upstairs,” Ryder said, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket as it rang.
“Ryder, it’s Bob, from the garage.”
“Hey, Bob, what’s up?” Ryder continued to polish the chrome on the coffee machine as he listened to what Bob said. Ally danced away no doubt planning her party.
“The thing is, Ryder, that job for Ms. Gulliver is going to be pricy,” he said.
“And you’re telling me this because?”
“She’s your friend,” Bob said calmly. The man always spoke like that. His wife was a firecracker, so clearly they balanced each other out.
“Nope. Only met her this morning, so you go on and call her.”
“But she’s working for you, right?” Bob persisted.
“Right.”
“I can do the work if I know she has a job and is sticking around, Ryder.”
“Like I said, call Libby Gulliver with all these details, Bob.”
There was a long pause, but Ryder knew the man was still there. He could hear him breathing.
“Problem?”
Bob exhaled loudly. “I opened the trunk to check the spare and found something, Ryder.”
“A body?”
“Nope.”
“Millions in cash?”
“Nope,” Bob said.
“You got me, so spill,” Ryder said, watching his niece dance around the tables to the playlist she’d put on. He could only imagine what having his own kid would be like because this one pulled all kinds of emotions out of him.
“A white dress and matching shoes…. To me, it looked like a wedding dress,” Bob said.
Had Libby Gulliver run out on her wedding?
“It was all puffy with stuff under it.”
“Stuff?” Ryder asked.
“That netting stuff.”
“Tulle?”
“Maybe, but the point is, I think it’s a wedding dress.”
“What’s the problem here, Bob? People have shit in their trunks all the time, and that’s their business.”
“Get that, Ryder. Just saying that since she’s your friend, you should know that little girl is likely hurting.”
“I don’t know her, Bob. Met her today, just like you,” Ryder said through his teeth because his patience was running out.
“Now, Ryder, she needs a friend at a time like this, and I haven’t met her yet, just her car.”
He couldn’t win this and knew it. “Fine. Whatever. Don’t tell a whole bunch of people, Bob. That could be a good start to making her feel better.”
“You calling me a gossip, Ryder?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. Talking to people in this town was like eating soup with chopsticks. You got absolutely nowhere.
“Gotta go, Bob, a customer just walked in.” He cut the call before the man could speak again.
“So I’m a customer, cool,” his brother Brody said. “Coffee stat, then,” he added, walking to his kid.
Brody had the Duke look, but while tall, he was not as solid as the others. Zoe, of course, was a smaller version of all of them with the most attitude, but he wouldn’t be saying that out loud. She may be small, but she could be mean.
“Hey, baby, how’s your day been? Uncle Ry not working you too hard I hope?”
Ryder watched Brody pull his daughter in for a hug. Ally’s thin arms wrapped around his waist, and they held each other for long seconds.
“You finish up, and then we can go home and drag Phoebe out of her office, because we both know she won’t have eaten anything for hours except chocolate.” Brody released Ally, and she started stacking chairs on tables.
“Your kid wants her party upstairs. You all good with that?” Ryder asked, handing his brother a to-go cup.
“You kidding me? No mess to clean up or food to prepare?—”
“Oh, you’ll be preparing and cleaning,” Ryder cut him off.
“So I hear you took in a stray and gave her a job,” Brody said after his first sip.
The grapevine in this town was legendary.
“I watched her car break down and told her to come into the cafe if she needed help. She asked me for a job, Sawyer took her to the Circle Left, and Bob picked up her car. Nothing more than that.”
“Ha, not what I heard from Sybil Maynard at the police station. She told me she’s a looker, and when LouJean saw you and her together, there were sparks,” Brody said with a smirk.
“This town,” Ryder said. “It’s seven kinds of crazy.”
“Just seven?”
“And I can say, hand on heart, that Libby Gulliver is not my type.”
“Classy?”
“That with the eyelashes and expensive clothes.” His brother mentioned a celebrity, and Ryder nodded. “Exactly like her.”
“What the hell is she doing in Lyntacky, then?”
“No idea,” Ryder said. “But she’s here and going to wash my dishes if she’s any good, which tells me she’s desperate because I doubt Libby Gulliver has washed a dish in her life, but that’s just instinct talking.”
“Not sure where she’s staying, as the Circle Left just started renovating, so they only have a few rooms, and the rest of the accommodations in town are full,” Brody added.
“I didn’t know they were renovating.”
“Replacing the kitchen and laying new carpet upstairs. The bachelor party has taken the only rooms they have left. They’re going with the Slatters to ski and race about like idiots on the snowmobiles.”
“She must be staying somewhere because her car is not running,” Ryder said, wondering where Libby Gulliver was now. Not that she was his worry, but still, he needed to know she was turning up on time tomorrow.
Brody shrugged. “Someone will have taken her in. Nancy would make sure of that.”
“True,” Ryder said. He wasn’t sure why it bothered him so much that Libby Gulliver could even now be wandering the streets, but it did. Possibly because she had that rich girl, never-done-it-hard vibe.
“Back to the party,” Ryder said, pushing the woman from his head. “Her birthday is next Friday, right?”
Brody nodded.
“Theme?”
“Ally, do you want a themed party?” Brody called to her.
“I want to do nails and sing karaoke!”
“Hell,” Brody hissed. “Ten little girls all singing off-key. We’ll be deaf for days after that.”
“The nails, though, bro. No way am I part of that.” Ryder shuddered.
“Zoe, Phoebe, and Mom can handle it. So how come you employed this Libby Gulliver?” his brother asked.
“Move on, Brody. Bradford can’t give me more hours, and it’s going to be busy for the next few days, so I needed someone fast.”
“And you chose the classy city girl?”
“If she’s useless, she’ll go,” Ryder said, polishing his coffee machine again.
“You don’t know anything about her and hired her.”
“I don’t know anything about a lot of people and hire them,” Ryder said. “Now get out of my cafe. I need to finish up.”
“Who?”
“Who what?” Ryder asked.
“Who have you employed you don’t know?”
He didn’t sigh out loud, but it was internal. “She looked desperate, bro. Give me a break.”
He withstood the hard look from his brother because he’d been on the receiving end of it for years.
“Okay, but don’t come crying to me when she steals from you and leaves.”
“I’ll try not to react like you did when Phoebe thought you were a dickhead. Now get out. Bye, Ally,” he added.
His niece hugged him, and then they left. Ryder finished cleaning up, switched off the music, and then set the alarm. He stepped outside the door to the cold and darkening sky, yawning.
Ryder loved this town, and unlike his siblings, he’d never left it. He’d traveled but had always returned to Lyntacky. His mom called him a homebody, and it was the truth.
Locking his door, he looked up the street and saw a few cars but no people wandering about in the cold. Libby’s car was gone.
Thinking of a night with the heat turned up and a game on his big-screen TV, Ryder decided on takeout for his dinner. Yes, he liked to cook, but he didn’t want to after a day of it sometimes.
Driving up the street slowly, he looked left and right, realized he was searching for Libby Gulliver, and instantly stopped. She was a big girl and could look after herself. Plus she was a stranger and not his problem.
Parking outside the Do-Si-Do Diner, he pocketed his keys and went inside.
“Colder than my mother-in-law’s kiss out there, Ryder,” Linda, the owner, said as he entered. “You go on and shut that door now. No sense in letting the cold in.”
Following instructions, Ryder immediately felt the heat. The place was full of people like him, who couldn’t be bothered to cook, and unlike him, wanted company.
In a family with five siblings—three with partners—a mom who was heavily involved in her kids’ lives, an uncle who’d come back and helped his sister raise her kids when her husband had died suddenly, plus Ally, you got little peace. Ryder enjoyed what little he got.
“What can I get you?” Linda said from her position behind the counter.
Skin the color and texture of a five-month-old orange, Linda was one of the more vibrant members of Lyntacky. Her uniform was bright pink and a step back to the sixties. Her hair was black this month and piled high on top of her head. In the bun was a pen.
“Two meat loafs and apple pies to go. Thanks, Linda.”
“You got one of your family over, or is one for Libby Gulliver?” Linda asked as she put his order through.
“Who?” Ryder asked. This shit with Libby needed to be stomped out before they had him marrying the woman. He’d only spent an hour, if that, with her, but once this town got their teeth into a piece of gossip, they hung on.
“Don’t you who me, Ryder Duke. I know she works for you and that you and she looked close this morning. Plus she came in here, and I called around but couldn’t find her any accommodations. I then advised her to ask you if she can take your spare room, seeing as you’re friendly, and she said she’d do that.”
Stay calm . “God’s truth, Linda, I don’t know her, but she looked down on her luck, so I offered her a few days’ work before she moves on. I really don’t want a stranger staying in my house. Plus she’s not my type.”
Linda’s eyes softened. “You Dukes are good folks.”
“We try,” he said, giving her the smile that his mom said got him anything he wanted. “So that order is just for me because I’m hungry.” He refused to ask if Linda knew where Libby was staying now. That would just add fuel to the already-smoldering fire.
Linda laughed, sounding like a two-pack-a-day smoker. “I’ve never known a family of boys who eat like you do. Not sure how your mother kept your bellies full.”
Ryder just smiled again.
“Hi, Ryder.”
He turned to watch Nina, a beautician in town, enter. She was wrapped up like a mummy, so he could only see her eyes.
“Got enough clothes on, Nina?” He’d thought a time or two about dating her, but she had a really sharp tongue that could slice a man in half in seconds. Under all those clothes was a beautiful woman, but not one he was game to take on. Besides, the town was too small to make an enemy of anyone if things turned sour, and he liked her as a friend, so there was that.
“Every winter I talk about moving, and then summer comes, and I remember why I love this place.”
“Agreed,” Ryder said.
“What did you order?” she asked him.
“Meat loaf and apple pie.”
“That could work,” she said as Linda reappeared. “I’ll have what he’s having,” she added.
“Two of each like him?” Linda asked.
“Which sibling is coming to your house for a meal?”
“None. I like to eat, so sue me,” Ryder said.
“No need to get testy. It was a logical question considering how many of you there are,” Nina said.
“Whatever.” Ryder took the order Linda handed him, ready to get out of the diner before she brought up Libby Gulliver again and Nina heard. “See you around, Cleopatra.”
“Who?” Nina asked.
“Cleopatra, Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC and its last active ruler?” Ryder said.
“Still none the wiser,” Nina said.
“She would have been mummified after her death, and you look like a mummy all wrapped up like you are,” Ryder added patiently.
“Is Ally studying Cleopatra?” Linda asked, joining the conversation.
“Yes, and I had to help her study for a quiz,” Ryder said. “But honestly, Nina, you need to read more if you don’t know who she was because if your next boyfriend is smart, he’ll know stuff and you won’t.”
“I know stuff!”
Ryder smiled and walked out the door. Job done. He had a sister who he could annoy just as easily.
Getting back in his car, he started it but left it idling. Where is Libby Gulliver staying tonight?