Noah #2
My nose stung and my eyes got hot. Fuck. If I wasn’t careful, I’d break into tears right here. Finn had never been the serious, thoughtful one, but his words hit me deeply. Wasn’t that what I was doing? Forcing myself to be stuck and sad all the time?
I opened my mouth to thank him, but before I could, the bell over the door jangled violently, snagging my attention.
When my gaze landed on the person who’d just stepped in, a wave of anger washed over me.
Graham. In our diner.
“Is that…?” Finn asked.
I nodded. Or at least I thought I did. All my focus was fixed on the bozo at the door. He had on shorts that had pink palm trees all over them and a shiny aqua-colored polo shirt. Bright white shoes and socks pulled up to his shins completed the look.
He was probably headed out for a round of golf. There was no course in Lovewell, but there was a beautiful country club near the university about thirty minutes east of here.
There was no other excuse to be dressed the way he was.
I wasn’t even sure golf was an excuse.
Every eye on the place was on him. For good reason. He would have looked less out of place in a tutu.
Tess reached over my carefully cut pieces and clutched an entire chocolate chip pancake, then smashed it against her wide-open mouth.
“She’s got a Hebert appetite.” Finn laughed.
I rolled my eyes. Thor was on his fourth slice of bacon. If he was anything like his dad and uncles, there probably wasn’t enough food in the county to feed him.
Graham scanned the diner with his lip curled up on one side, as if he was afraid he’d catch some kind of infectious disease from the place. Thoughts like that were high treason in Lovewell. The diner was sacred.
Yes, it was the quintessential small-town diner, and yes, the menus were plastic the booths were vinyl and there was a beautiful pie case on the countertop featuring the daily specials, but Bernice and Louis kept the place in tip-top shape.
When Bernice appeared with a coffee carafe in hand, the smarmy fucker glared up at her over his menu. “I’ll have the eggs Benedict.”
Bernice took his menu with a grimace. Oh shit, she was not pleased. The guy was fucked. Everyone knew not to get on Bernice’s bad side.
“Sorry, hun. That’s not available today.” Her tone was so friendly, only someone who’d grown up here would know how much trouble they were in.
He huffed, his brows pulled down. “Eggs Benedict.” He spoke loudly, enunciating each syllable, as if she was hard of hearing.
“Not available,” she replied slowly, mimicking his tone. “How about an omelet? We make great omelets.”
“I don’t want an omelet.”
The omelets really were good, but Louis’s eggs Benedict was next-level. Comparing the two was unfair. Finn and I exchanged a glance. This guy had no idea how thin the ice beneath him was.
“Have you run out?” he asked.
She shook her head and gave him a polite smile. “No. Benedict’s not available.”
“If you have the ingredients, go and make it. What kind of place is this?” He scoffed.
“Sir, this is Lovewell, Maine,” she said, pulling her shoulders back. “And I know you’ll love your omelet.”
I almost laughed. Beside me, my brother’s face was split in a grin.
Graham stood and surveyed the surrounding tables. He pointed to Father Renee, who was almost finished with his breakfast. “That guy has it.”
Looking offended, Father Renee speared the last piece of his Benedict and shoved the massive chunk into his mouth, thus hiding the evidence.
“Is there a problem here?” Mayor Lambert, wearing his patented smile, approached the table.
“Who are you?” Graham hissed, looking around as every person in the diner blatantly stared.
“I’m the mayor, and I’ve been frequenting this fine establishment since before you were born, so how about you calm down and enjoy an omelet? The eggs are farm fresh and the coffee is excellent.”
Looking chastened, Graham sat back down and took a sip of his coffee.
He grimaced, his cheeks puffing out, and when he swallowed, it looked painful. “Ugh. This coffee tastes like swamp water.”
Finn leaned forward, his face lit up with glee. “Bernice gave him the out-of-towner coffee.”
“Out-of-towner?” I didn’t follow.
“The coffee here is good,” he said. “Not excellent like Lambert promised, but good enough.”
I nodded.
“But if someone shows up and rubs Bernice the wrong way—usually an out-of-towner, especially if they’re some rich prick from Boston in golf clothes…
” He peered over at Graham who was red-faced and holding his paper napkin like it was a live grenade.
“She breaks out the gross stuff. I doubt the machine they use for it has been cleaned in a decade. It’s really bad.
Like prison quality. It’s the perfect way to fuck with people she’s not thrilled to be serving. ”
I chuckled, the sound rumbling deep in my chest. “That’s savage.”
“She’s protective of Victoria. We all are. She’s one of us. She busts her ass every day to make the town better for everyone, despite all the shit she’s been through.”
Graham stuck his tongue out and wiped at it with a napkin as he yanked more from the chrome dispenser on the tabletop.
“Ready to order that omelet?” Bernice gave him her fakest smile.
“That’s it.” He tossed the pile of napkins onto the table. “You’ve lost my business.”
“Oh no.” Grinning, Bernice slipped her pencil behind her ear. “Now I’ll lose my Michelin star.”
Graham glared. “Looks like I’m headed to the fancy new coffee shop instead.” With a grunt, he picked up his Louis Vuitton man bag and stomped to the door.
“Good luck.” Bernice gave him a finger wave.
All around us, people were pulling phones out of pockets and purses, no doubt to warn Raeanna and her staff at the Caffeinated Moose that he was on his way in.
“Bernice,” Finn hissed. The sound was all tease. “Are you colluding with the other small-business owners?”
She nodded, though she didn’t look up from her device as she tapped one long nail on the screen. “He’s lucky I let him walk in here after what he did to poor Victoria.” She shook her head. “Shoulda put ex-lax in his coffee.”
Finn shot up straight. “Bernice.”
She glared at him. “Finn Hebert, don’t you dare sass me. I’ll call your wife.”
“Yes, ma’am.” His shoulders fell, and without another word, he picked up his fork and went back to eating his breakfast. Like the rest of us, he wouldn’t risk pissing off Bernice. She knew everyone and everything in this town. Not to mention the eggs Benedict were that good.
“And you.” She pointed at me. For a moment, her face softened. “You’ve got the cutest baby and the best girlfriend, but”—that stern look returned—“if you hurt her—”
I put my hands up. “I would never.”
“Noah is a good egg,” Finn said. “He knows he stumbled upon a winning lottery ticket when he moved into the apartment above Victoria Randolph. I swear on Marge that he wouldn’t.”
Damn, if my brother was swearing on his plane, he meant it. I wasn’t sure I really deserved that kind of loyalty.
Her shoulders relaxed. “Okay, let me go get the good coffee. You need a refill.”