Chapter Four
Lark
The Dairy Bar looked wrong.
That was the only way I could describe it.
From the outside, it looked normal. The front windows were still intact, the faded sign hung above the entrance exactly where it had always been, and the little wooden bench sat beneath the window like it was waiting for someone to sit down with a milkshake.
Tiny things were off, though.
Things most people probably wouldn’t notice.
I noticed all of them.
Oliver stopped his bike beside Jude’s, but I didn’t move right away. My arms were still wrapped around Oliver’s waist, and I could feel the heat from his back through his leather cut.
The ride had only taken ten minutes, but it had also been the best ten minutes of my morning.
I leaned closer, bringing my mouth near his ear. “You know, that was a lot more fun than driving myself to work.”
He stared straight ahead. “It was just ten minutes.”
“A very exciting ten minutes.”
“You need to get out more.”
“I’m trying. You keep telling me no.”
His head turned slightly. Even with the helmet hiding part of his face, I caught the look he gave me.
It wasn’t irritated. Not completely. There was something else there, something he covered up almost as fast as it appeared. That only made me want to bother him more. “Get off the bike, Lark.”
“Yes, sir.”
I swung my leg over the back and stepped onto the pavement. Oliver waited until I was steady before he moved, which I filed away with the growing list of things he did without drawing attention to them.
He checked.
He watched.
He made sure everyone around him was okay while pretending he wasn’t doing anything at all.
I pulled off the helmet and shook my head. My hair fell around my face in a tangled mess, but I didn’t bother trying to fix it beyond pushing it out of my eyes.
“How bad do you think it is?” I asked.
Oliver looked toward the building. “We won’t know until we get inside. I don’t think it should be too horrible.”
Ever stood beside Jude’s bike with her purse pressed against her side and a notepad in one hand. She stared at the Dairy Bar without saying a word.
The sight of her made something squeeze in my chest.
The Dairy Bar belonged to her parents, but Ever was the one who kept it alive. She ordered the food, worked the schedules, covered shifts, handled customers, and knew exactly how much chocolate syrup we went through on a Saturday afternoon.
This place wasn’t just a job to her. It was hers.
I walked over and bumped my shoulder gently against hers. “We’ve got this.”
Ever let out a slow breath. “Yeah, I’m really not worried about cleaning up. It’s more spinning the ‘everything is fine’ to my parents.”
I nodded. “Yeah, well, I’m sure you’ll think of something.” What that would be, I had no idea, but I knew Ever would handle it. “Just keep up with whatever it is that you told them for them to head down here.”
She grimaced and her eyes bugged out. “I fear I might have already messed up.”
Jude took the keys from her hand and headed toward the door before she could explain more. Oliver followed, but his eyes moved over the parking lot and the road instead of the building.
He was always looking.
A delivery van drove past. An older guy pushed a lawnmower down the sidewalk two buildings away. Nothing seemed strange to me, but Oliver watched everything like he was waiting for the world to give him a reason not to trust it.
Jude unlocked the door, and the bell above it gave a weak little jingle.
The place wasn’t destroyed. Junior had been tasked to take care of… Jester. I did not want to know what all that meant, and I was more than okay going the rest of my life not knowing.
Things were a bit askew and just needed a good scrub because of what had happened, but getting the Dairy Bar back open wouldn’t take much.
Jude moved close to Ever and rested his hand at the back of her neck. “This isn’t too bad,” he said.
Ever nodded, though she was still staring at the floor. “No. It could’ve been a lot worse.”
Ever’s phone rang, and she checked the screen. “My mom.”
Jude straightened so quickly that I almost laughed.
His expression barely changed, but his whole body went stiff.
I smiled at him. “Here we go.”
He gave me a warning look.
Ever answered. “Hi, Mom.”
Her mother’s voice came through loud and clear. “Ever Marie, what in the world happened?”
Ever pulled the phone slightly away from her ear. “I told you what happened.”
“You gave me the short version. How in the world did a cow get in the Dairy Bar?”
I blinked rapidly and realized Ever had really spun a story to her parents. I guess that was better than a crazy psycho trying to date her and then trying to kill her.
“I didn’t want you driving home in the middle of the night.”
“We would’ve been fine.”
“Dad drives like he’s eighty.”
“He is not eighty.”
“He drives like it.”
A man shouted something in the background.
Ever rolled her eyes. “Tell Dad I heard that.”
“He said he drives better than you.”
“That isn’t true.”
Jude looked like he was considering slipping out the back door.
Ever hooked one finger through his belt loop. “You’re not going anywhere,” she whispered.
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing.
Her mother kept talking. “We’re packed. Your father insists on bringing all the fishing poles home even though I told him there’s no reason.”
“You know,” Ever said, “I don’t even think you guys need to come. It’s really not as bad as I thought. I overacted when I called you.”
“Are you there?” her mom asked.
“Yeah.”
“Are you alone?”
“No. Jude, Lark, and Oliver are here.”
“Put me on speaker,” her mom ordered.
Jude’s eyes bugged out like he knew what was about to come.
“You already are, Mom,” Ever smiled.
“Jude, honey?”
He cleared his throat. “Morning, Mrs. Keller.”
“You haven’t called me Mrs. Keller since you were twelve.”
“Right.”
“Are you taking care of my girl?”
Ever’s smile softened.
Jude looked down at her.
“Yeah.”
“You’d better.”
“I am.”
Ever’s father shouted in the background. “Why the hell did you let a cow in the Dairy Bar, Jude?”
Jude looked like he wanted to disappear.
Ever covered her face. “Dad!”
“What? I’m asking.”
Her mother sighed. “Ignore him. He’s being ridiculous. We know it was a freak accident.”
“I’m not being ridiculous,” her dad called. “In all the years we’ve owned The Dairy Bar, we have never had a cow in there.”
“You’re embarrassing her, James,” her mom hissed.
“That’s my job,” her dad grunted.
Ever looked toward the ceiling. “God, take me now.”
“Quiet, James, or you’ll be on the side of the road with your fishing poles,” her mother threatened. “How bad is it?”
“It’s not bad,” Jude said. “Just needs a good clean and disinfect.”
Her mother sighed in relief. “Thank God. Maybe we don’t need to come, but we’re already packed.”
“We’re coming,” her dad said. “We can always hit up the casino for a day or two.”
“As long as you don’t gamble away your life savings, that sounds good,” Ever laughed.
I gave Ever a thumbs-up. Wrecker had wanted her to get her parents skedaddled as quickly as possible, so this was good.
“We should be there by two.”
“Okay, Mom, see you then. Drive carefully.”
“Tell that to your father.”
“I heard that,” her dad shouted.
Ever ended the call and took a deep breath. “Hopefully, they will just be here a day and then leave.”
I nodded. “I mean, yeah. If we get this place cleaned up before they even get here, then maybe they’ll just head to the casino today.”
Ever pointed at me. “I like that plan.”
“See? I have good ideas.”
“You have ideas,” Jude corrected.
I gasped dramatically. “Rude.”
Ever laughed for what felt like the first time all morning. “I’ll take that,” she said. “Come on, Jude. We need buckets, disinfectant, and every rag we own.”
Jude nodded toward the back hallway. “There’s a mop bucket in the storage room.”
“I’ll grab the cleaning stuff.”
The two of them disappeared through the swinging door into the kitchen, their voices fading as Ever started rattling off everything she’d need.
The Dairy Bar suddenly felt... quiet.
Too quiet.
I glanced around at the empty booths, the sticky floor, and the streaks that still needed to be scrubbed away.
Leather shifted beside me. Oliver reached up, shrugged out of his cut, and folded it once before laying it carefully across the back of one of the chairs.
I frowned. “What are you doing?”
He looked over at me like I’d asked why the sky was blue. “Taking off my cut.”
“I can see that.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “If we’re going to get this place cleaned up,” he said, “we should probably start cleaning.”
I blinked. “You’re... helping?”
Another look. “Lark.”
“What?”
“You planning on talking all day or actually doing something?”
I crossed my arms. “You don’t have to.”
He was already rolling up the sleeves of his black T-shirt. “I know.”
“No, I mean...” I shifted my weight. “You don’t have to help clean. Wrecker told you to babysit me. He didn’t tell you to scrub floors.”
His hands paused for just a second before he looked at me. “I’m not babysitting you.”
“Stick to me like gum on a shoe,” I parroted Wrecker’s words.
“Those were his words.”
“Exactly.”
He held my gaze for a long moment. “I’m here because he told me to stay with you.”
“I know.”
“I’m cleaning because you and Ever shouldn’t have to do it by yourselves.”
The words landed somewhere deep in my chest.
He didn’t say them to impress me. Didn’t puff himself up or wait for me to tell him how nice he was.
He simply stated it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
We needed help, so he was helping. That was it.
I smiled before I could stop myself. “That’s... annoyingly attractive.”
“It’s practical.”
“Uh-huh.”
“It is.”
I stepped closer, unable to fight the grin spreading across my face. “You know, Oliver...”
He sighed like he already regretted whatever was coming.
“...you’re a lot nicer than you pretend to be.”
“I’m really not.”
“You absolutely are. You know what your problem is?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“You keep doing nice things.”
“I don’t.”
“You do.”
“I really don’t.”
“But then you ruin it by acting grumpy.”
He looked at me with the flattest expression I’d ever seen. “I am grumpy.”
I laughed. “Fine.”
He pointed toward the stack of upside-down chairs. “Quit talking and help me with the chairs.”
“Bossy.”
“Move.”
I saluted. “Yes, sir.”
He muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like unbelievable as he grabbed the first bottle of cleaner from the counter.
The swinging door pushed open behind us.
Ever walked out carrying a bucket filled with hot water while Jude balanced an armful of towels, spray bottles, and a mop.
“This is all we’ve got,” Ever said. “Ready to work?”
Oliver already had a rag in his hand. “I’ve been ready.”
I grabbed another towel from Jude before he could hand it to me. “Let’s get this place looking like a Dairy Bar again.”