shift begins in half an hour.” Joyce shuffled outside and headed to the house as William squeezed past the motorcycle and scratched his chin.
“Helping at the diner, eh?” Brandon said, collecting his suit jacket.
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
“What better things do you have to do?”
“Get this engine running for one.”
“Ah, there’s time.”
But that was exactly what William didn’t have much of and wanted to avoid—spending more time in Chinoodin Falls than he could afford.
* * *
ANNIE SPED INTO the diner. Her purse dangled from her wrist and a sweater was slung haphazardly over her shoulder as she swirled her hair into a messy bun. After calling hello to Joyce and playfully hip checking Karrin, her fellow waitress, on her scramble to begin her shift, she sprinted to the office. Beads of sweat were already perspiring on her lip when she stopped short at the sight of William carelessly rummaging through her desk as if he owned the place. The scene caught her so completely off guard, it took a moment for her to piece together a coherent sentence.
“What...what...what on earth do you think you’re doing?” she finally stammered, charging toward him and slamming her purse onto the desk. Her eyebrows shot up as she waited for an explanation, but William made no effort to answer her. He leaned comfortably back in her chair and a satisfied grin curled his lips. “That’s my desk, you know,” she pointed out.
“Good morning to you, too.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, I’ll tell you if you wouldn’t mind easing up a bit.”
“You tell me right now,” she commanded, her shadow darkening his handsomely chiseled jaw. She avoided looking directly into his eyes, hoping to avoid the mesmerizing pull of those blue pools. William stretched his hands, clasped them behind his head and leaned farther back in her chair.
“Seriously, Annie, I can practically see up your nose from this angle.”
Annie pursed her lips and looked around for the nearest thing to knock the easygoing smile off his face. She snatched the papers he was reading from the desk in one crinkled wad and smacked his shoulder with them.
In an instant, William was on his feet. “Hey. What’s the matter with you?”
“What are you snooping through?” She flipped through the papers with such speed, she couldn’t read or register what they were. The last few years she had tried her best to keep the paperwork for the diner organized—invoices, tax forms, payroll—but it was nearly impossible between working the floor and hurrying home to her children after each shift. As she eyed the evidence of her miserable bookkeeping abilities, it was his scent that finally made her turn her head. She caught her breath at its charming appeal and found William studying her. His gaze sending a series of tickles like butterfly kisses down her spine.
She didn’t know what was going on here, but she wasn’t going to stand around and twiddle her thumbs while he slowly pieced together an explanation. She could table this matter for later, after she had collected herself and put more distance between them. As she tossed the papers at him in a flurry, William sat back on the edge of the desk and crossed his arms.
“I was searching for your letter.”
“My letter?” she said with a sputter.
“Mmm-hmm. I know I missed your voice mail.”
“Voice mail?”
“Unless... Were you planning to apologize in person, Ms. Curtis?” William rubbed his stomach. “I was up all night, you know. It’s a wonder I didn’t have to go to the hospital after all.”
Annie scoffed. “I saw you when you left. You weren’t that sick.”
“No? Have you ever been poisoned before?”
“Are you accusing me of poisoning you?”
“Didn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Annie said, tipping her nose in the air on her way out of the office.
“What goes around comes around, Annie.”
“Remind yourself of that fact!” she called. Desperate for an outlet to funnel complicated feelings she’d ignored since she was seventeen years old, Annie attempted to start the coffee maker with a series of pointedly timed clangs and clanks. After a moment of telling it off in vulgarities muttered under her breath, she noticed a shadow behind her.
“Are you okay?” Miles was cautiously peeking from around the corner.
“I’m a little mad.”
He carefully pried a glass coffeepot from her whitened fingertips. “At my kitchen?”
“At you know who.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Nope.”
“Do you think revving yourself up on caffeine is gonna make things better?” Annie reluctantly smiled, snatching back the pot and shoving it into the coffee maker with a final clank. “You know, Annie, he seems like a decent guy. I talked to him earlier and...” Annie’s eyes narrowed as the husky college student hurriedly backpedaled. “I mean...he’s a total jerk, and I guess I don’t like him, eh?”
Annie jerked a nod of approval as she waited for the coffee to percolate.
“Too bad you can’t hide out in the kitchen with me today,” Miles suggested before chugging a soda.
“You know I’d love to, kid, but the farthest point from you know who happens to be the dining room.” Impatient for her jolt of caffeine, she stole a swig of Miles’s soda and rolled her eyes at the fact that that wasn’t nearly far enough.
* * *
WILLIAM GNAWED ON a piece of bacon while sizing things up from the end of the counter. Between observing the morning regulars and quietly recounting his youth slaving away in the diner, he had enough to occupy his attention. Though nothing was as fascinating as the way Annie Curtis could work the dining room. She carried food trays with ease and chatted to all like a long-lost friend. She winked at her regulars, anticipated their requests and bubbled with laughter until, that is, she had to walk within three yards of him. He had categorized himself as the black sheep over the years, depending on the situation, but Annie now helped him experience it at a more personal level.
“That’s it. Keep ignoring me,” he whispered under his breath. She’d marched past him into the kitchen, her face etched in a stern glare.
It was a figure at the entryway that finally drew his attention. A tall, hefty man with a commanding presence and pressed suit, who looked out of place in the small, folksy diner. William could feel the energy in the room shift as others followed the man’s arrogant saunter.
“Hello,
