Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“ W ell, aren’t you a chipper one this morning?” Martha teased as Scarlet grabbed a fresh pot of coffee from the beverage station.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she replied in a singsong voice. Martha followed hot on her heels as she refilled mugs at the gossip train table. “It’s a bright, sunny Friday and the start of a holiday weekend.”
And last night had been the most amazing of her life. As for this morning... having Matt share with her what he had? Yes, it hurt her heart to know that he’d suffered such betrayal. However, it also made her heart so damn full that he’d gifted her with his story, that she’d been able to comfort him with her words and her body—just like he’d done for her.
Their budding relationship meant the world to her. He meant the world to her.
“Thank you, hon,” Mrs. Abbot said once her coffee was topped off. “How are you and Daisy getting along at Matt’s place?”
Mrs. Green gestured to Scarlet with her mug. “I’d say they’re getting along swimmingly by that hickey on her neck.”
Scarlet’s mouth dropped open as she gasped and slapped a hand over her neck.
“Bonnie,” Mrs. Yoshida admonished, though she was chuckling. “Don’t embarrass the girl.” She winked at Scarlet. “It’s on the other side, dear.”
Scarlet could only gape like a fish at the women, who stared at her with twinkling eyes.
Then they all burst into laughter.
“Oh, honey,” Martha said, wiping a tear away. “If only you could see your sweet little face.”
Ohmygod, these ladies . . .
Scarlet set the pot of coffee down and covered her heated cheeks with her hands. “Guilty as charged.”
“Oh no, dear.” Mrs. Yoshida shook her head. “There’s nothing to be guilty about with that one. All those muscles and manly goodness? It’s more like yay for you!”
“Absolutely,” Mrs. Green agreed. Then she pursed her lips. “He’s quite a bit older than you, though, isn’t he?”
Scarlet sucked in a breath and nodded. She hoped they weren’t going to judge.
“Is he good with Daisy?” Mrs. Green asked.
She couldn’t help her smile. “Matt’s wonderful with her.”
“Don’t you mean Matty ,” Martha teased, and the ladies laughed.
“My point is”—Mrs. Green waited until the table’s attention came back to her—“so what if there’s a big age difference between you two? You’re both adults. The man obviously knows you’re a package deal and loves your little girl. And Daisy loves her Matty, too. Besides, if I could bottle up the way that man looks at you...” She shimmied her shoulders while her compatriots hooted.
Scarlet didn’t want to ask, but curiosity got the better of her. “Um... how exactly does Matt look at me?”
Mrs. Abbot threw her a wink. “Like he wants to gobble you right up, hon. Yay you, indeed!”
Grabbing the coffee pot, Scarlet grinned at her favorite women. “Not gonna lie, ladies. You won’t be hearing any complaints from me.” Waving goodbye, she left Martha with her friends and continued to the next tables, chuckling the entire time.
Scarlet scanned the tables as she finished putting on a new pot of coffee. Paula was covering the far side, and everyone looked to be good, so she snagged a fresh rag and headed to the front to wipe down menus. The glamor of her job never ended.
Glancing out the front door, she frowned. The parking spots in front of the diner were angled, but a car had pulled in perpendicular to the curb. She debated whether she should say something as the driver’s side door opened. A man emerged. He was hunched over and wearing a heavy jacket. She winced. It was supposed to reach nearly eighty degrees today, but whatever. To each their own, right?
Menus now clean and dry, she placed them into their bin. The front door opened. She glanced up to greet the new customers. And froze.
The man in the heavy jacket staggered toward her. With each labored step, his jacket parted. She gasped at the bright-crimson stain covering his stomach.
Scarlet was moving before she could think. Reaching for the man, she called out, “Martha! Ray! Call 9-1-1!” She slung his arm over her shoulder, then grabbed him around his waist and tried to take some of his weight. “Sir, you need to sit.”
A customer rushed toward them with a chair. Scarlet took a step, and the man fell on top of her, bringing them both to the ground.
Somehow, she managed to scramble out from under him and get to her knees. With the help of another customer, she rolled the groaning man onto his back. His hands were pressed to his abdomen, but the amount of blood seeping past his fingers was staggering.
Shockingly blue eyes captured Scarlet’s gaze. Something tickled the back of her mind, but it vanished when the man coughed and moaned in pain. His face was ashen.
“Hang on, sir,” she said, untying her apron. She trembled as she shook out the extra pens and notepads she kept stashed in it. Pushing his hands away, she applied pressure to his wound with the balled-up apron. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered when his lips parted with another sound of anguish.
“The ambulance is on its way,” Martha said from behind her.
“All right, everyone,” Ray called out, one arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Let’s not be looky-loos. If you want to be useful, you best send some prayers up to whoever your god is.”
“I have more towels, Scar,” Paula said, passing her a fresh one.
Taking the new towel, she tossed her blood-soaked apron to the side and reapplied pressure to his wound. She met the man’s eyes and tried to give him a reassuring smile. “Did you hear that, sir? The ambulance is on its way.”
He shook his head. “Too late.”
Her gut clenched. The man’s voice was barely above a whisper, and the resigned look on his face threatened to break her heart. “Please hang on. Don’t give up. I can hear the sirens. They’re close. I promise.”
“You don’t understand . . .”
She could barely hear him, so she leaned closer. “What don’t I understand?”
He shuddered. “They’re coming for you, Sienna.”
Ice raced down Scarlet’s spine.
She reared back as if the man had struck her. She could only stare at him in shock.
He groaned again, and she realized she’d let up on the pressure. Correcting her mistake, she found her voice. “What did you call me?”
“Don’t matter. They want her.” His body seized, and his eyes nearly rolled into the back of his skull. When the shaking stopped, he whispered, “They blame you, and they’re coming. Not long now. They know. One for one?—”
The front door to the diner burst open, and two EMTs—Nora and Colton—rushed in.
“We’ve got it from here, Scarlet,” Nora said, gently pushing her aside.
Someone gripped her by the elbows and eased her to standing. She didn’t know who. Didn’t care. Her mind was in chaos.
She glanced back at the man. They’d put an oxygen mask on his face, and his eyes were shut. All the blood rushed from her head. She reached out and grabbed the nearest person.
“I got ya, darling,” Ray said, wrapping his arm around her waist.
Ray and Martha continued to speak to her, but Scarlet didn’t hear. The only noise in her ears was the erratic thumping of her panicking pulse. Because she’d realized something. The man being attended to, the one Nora and Colton were loading onto a backboard?
He was the mystery man who’d been looking for her.
“Honey, are you okay?” Martha’s voice sounded far away, like she was at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
Scarlet shook her head.
Sienna.
The man had called her Sienna.
Vomit surged up her throat, and she slapped her hands over her mouth.
“Matt,” she croaked, battling the nausea. “I need Matt.”