“Yep. Jeff mentioned there’s a diner down the road a few miles. Maybe we can start there.”
We walked out the front door. “I’ve never waited tables before.”
“Anyone can be a waitress, Cass.”
I rolled my eyes. Would I have to work early mornings or late nights? Working at The Velvet Box had the perfect hours—didn’t start too early, and I still got off before the sun went down. “Are you going to drive me to and from work?”
We got into the car. “If I have to. Or you can take the car.”
“I don’t have my driver’s license.” I wasn’t going to tell him that I was still scared to get behind the wheel. He knew that I used to be right after our parents died, but he’d never asked again or questioned why I never drove.
“Sure you do, Krystal.”
We went to a gas station down the street and got us each a cell phone. We needed them to apply for jobs, though I didn’t think Keith was going to get one. I really didn’t.
He pulled up to the diner Jeff told him about. It was what I’d always envisioned a diner would look like: a silver building with windows upfront that looked straight out of the 1950s. What I liked most about the diner was the name, Dovie’s. It reminded me of the nickname my parents called me: Little Dove.
“I’ll wait here,” Keith stated.
I sighed and got out of the car. He could apply for a job as a waiter or a busser, but of course, he wasn’t going to.
When I walked up the stairs to the front door, I saw the Help Wanted sign in the window, which gave me hope. What if it was fate? What if the universe was giving me a way to make quick tip money? Though, how much could I make in a town that had only one stoplight?
The scent of bacon and coffee filled my nose as I opened the door and entered the diner. “Take a seat anywhere,” a woman called out.
I opened my mouth to respond, but she turned and walked to a table with drinks in her hands. I waited for her to be done, and when she saw that I was still standing by the door, she walked over to me. “I’m actually here for an application,” I advised.
“Oh.” She smiled, and my gaze moved to her name tag: Shannon. “Let me grab you one.”
“Thanks,” I beamed.
She went behind the counter, and I stepped up to the other side. “Feel free to fill it out now or bring it back.”
“Thanks,” I said again and took the paper from her. Taking a seat at the counter, I filled out the application using my fake name, Jeff’s address, and a phone number I had to write on my hand to remember.
Fuck, I hated this.
It had been almost two weeks since I’d last seen or heard from Cassie. Seth submitted a missing persons report, and that was that. I was done with physical therapy, and my arm was more or less back to normal. I hated to leave Vegas, but I had to see my mom.
Like always, after the plane touched down in Nashville, I rented a car and drove to my mother’s, but this time when I arrived at her house, she wasn’t there. Mom had gotten the job at Dovie’s, and I was happy for her because she was happy.
It felt strange entering the house without her there, so after I put my bag in my room and freshened up, I drove to the diner. When I got there, the place was empty because it was after lunch, and the lunch crowd had come and gone.
“Bradley!” Mom yelled from behind the counter and then rushed to give me a hug.
“Hey, Mom.”
She kissed my cheek and hugged me tighter. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you too.”
She pulled back. “How’s your arm?”
“It’s great.”
“Good. Are you hungry?”
I grinned. “I’m always hungry, Mom.”
“Let me get you a sandwich or something. Sit at the counter.” She motioned to a seat, and I took it while she asked the cook to make me a turkey club. “So, what’s been happening?” she asked as she rested her elbows on the countertop.
I shrugged. “Vinny and Tessa got married. Paul is officially in Virginia at Quantico, and that’s about it.” Besides everything with Cassie.
“I’m still holding out hope that you’ll get married like your friends.”
I rolled my brown eyes. “I know, but not all of my friends are married.”
“Yet.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, yet.”
“But, you know, this girl started working here this week, and she is absolutely adorable.” Mom grinned. She did this every time I came to visit, and I wasn’t sure how she kept meeting single women to try to hook me up within such a small town where I practically knew everyone already.
“Mom,” I groaned.
She held up her hands as she raised off the counter. “I know, but one of these times, it will be the girl of your dreams. I just know it.”
I took a deep breath, thinking about Cassie. Could she have been the girl of my dreams? We barely knew each other, but there was just something about her that drew me to her.
“… you’ll meet a woman who you’ll start to care about, and then before you know it, you’ll never want to go a day without her.” Paul’s words played in my head as I watched my mom grab a plate with a turkey club and fries on it.
“Eat up. I just have a few more tables to help, and then my shift is over,” Mom stated.
The next morning, I woke up early to do yard work. The grass was overgrown, and the weeds needed to be pulled since it had been over a month and a half since my last visit. I started with the small lawn, carefully mowing to get the lines perfect. When I was done, I looked up and my gaze connected with Holly’s as she sat on Mary’s porch watching me. I smile and waved, and she did too.
When I walked back to the front yard after putting the mower in the shed, Holly was waiting there for me. “Hey,” I greeted.
“Hi,” she beamed.
“How are you?”
“I’m good. Just saw you out here and wanted to say hello.”
I nodded. “Well, hello.”
She giggled. “How long are you in town for?”
“A week or so.”
Holly played with her long black hair. “Maybe we could”—she shrugged—“hang out?”
“Yeah, maybe,” I replied even though that really wasn’t something I was interested in. I just wanted to hang out with my mom because it had been a long time since my last visit, and I wanted to make sure everything in her house was working properly before I left. Plus, something inside of me felt weird to consider going out with another woman when I didn’t know what had happened to Cassie. I felt as though there was no closure because she’d vanished without a trace.
“Let me give you my number then.” She bit her bottom lip as though that would turn me on. Maybe it would if I didn’t date for a living.
“Sure.” I almost told her that I didn’t have my phone on me, but then I thought better of it because I didn’t want her to have my number before I was ready to call her. I got my phone out of my pocket, and she rattled off her number.
“And just so you know,” she stated, “I decided to live with my grandma to save money.”
“Good deal.”
“So, anytime you want to get together, I’ll just be right over there.” She pointed to Mary’s house across the street and over one.
“Sounds good. I better get back to the yard work.”
“Okay.” Holly started to walk away, but then stopped and turned back. “Oh, and my friends and I have decided to go to Vegas the weekend before school starts. Maybe we can hang out then too?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her that I usually charged for all of these “hangouts,” but I didn’t because my mother would be pissed if I were anything but nice to Mary’s granddaughter. Plus, I couldn’t chance word getting back to Mom that I was an escort. “Yeah, I know all the best places.”
She smiled brightly. “Cool. See ya later.”
“See ya.”
I stuck my phone back into my pocket and started to pull u
p the overgrown weeds in the flower bed.
Dovie’s was packed with the workweek lunch crowd when I arrived. I swore the entire town went there every day for lunch. There was a spot open at the counter, and I slid onto the barstool, already knowing that I was going to order a mouthwatering bacon cheeseburger and fries. When I visited Mom, my diet didn’t exist, since I had burned a bunch of calories doing the yard work. Plus, I was in the South where everything was better fried, and the portions were huge.
“What can I get ya?” Mom asked, not looking to see that it was me.
“One of everything,” I replied. “No, make that five chocolate milkshakes and two of everything else.”
She tore her gaze away from her order pad and then swatted me with it. “I didn’t realize it was you.”
“Clearly.”
“What do you want, honey?”
“Bacon cheeseburger, everything on it, and fries. I’ll also take a water.”
“You ...” She sucked in a breath as she looked over my shoulder at something or someone. “Hold on.”
I arched a brow as she walked off and then out from behind the counter. She tapped another waitress on the shoulder, pointing in my direction as she spoke. The waitress’s long blonde hair swung away from her face as she turned around, but she didn’t look up to meet my stare.
I blinked.
And I blinked again.
What the fuck?
It felt like slow motion as I watched my mom and Cassie walk toward me. Cassie stared at her feet as though she was embarrassed or something. Or maybe shy because I was certain Mom had insisted on introducing her to her single son, and from what I knew about Cassie, she wasn’t used to meeting new people.
“Bradley,” Mom spoke. Hearing my name, Cassie’s gaze lifted to mine. Her sapphire blue eyes widened as my mother continued. “This is Krystal. Krystal, this is my handsome son, Bradley.”
I grunted. “Krystal? Your name is Krystal?”
Mom furrowed her brow and looked between Cassie and me. Cassie looked down at the floor and whispered, “Yes.”
“Krystal just moved here,” Mom stated.
“Oh?” I clipped. “From where?”
“Los Angeles,” Cassie lied. I could barely hear her over the loud clatter of plates and people chatting. She seemed nervous, probably because she thought she would never see me again. But why would she want that, and how the fuck did she get all the way to Tennessee?
“LA? Really?”
“I should really get back to my tables,” Cassie said and started to walk away.
“Oh, don’t you worry, hon. I’ll be here when your shift ends.”
Mom grinned, probably thinking that I was interested in Krystal. If she only knew that I had a million and one questions to ask Cassie.
As I ate my burger and fries, I kept my gaze on Cassie. She wasn’t going to leave without giving me answers. She never looked at me, and I wondered what she was thinking about. Was she going to lie to me about why she left or tell me the truth? What was the truth? She’d never been on a plane, she didn’t drive, but somehow wound up over seventeen hundred miles away? And she left everything behind in Vegas?
Over the next hour, the diner started to clear out, and I was counting the minutes until I would get to speak with her again.
“More water?” Mom asked.
“Sure.” I slid my glass toward her as she stood on the other side of the counter.
“I didn’t expect you to stay until my shift ended.”
Me either. “Nothing else to do.”
Mom filled my glass, and my gaze moved to watch Cassie walk out from the back, her purse on her shoulder. I slid off the stool in a hurry. “Cass—Hey, Krystal!”
She didn’t even slow down, and I grabbed her arm to stop her. “I have to go,” she said through clenched teeth, not meeting my gaze still.
“Just tell me what the fuck is going on,” I whispered, stepping closer until her shoulder was pressed into my chest.
“I can’t, Brad. I have to go.” She looked outside, and I followed her eyeline to a car with Nevada plates parked in the lot.
“Who is that?”
“Please,” she begged, her voice low. “I have to go.”
“Are you running again?”
Her blue gaze moved up and finally met my eyes. “I didn’t run before.”
“Then how did you end up here?”
“I have to go,” she repeated and looked out to the parking lot again.
“Just talk to me,” I pleaded.
“I have to go,” she said again.
I finally let go of her. “Fine, but we’re not done yet.”
She swallowed and then met my gaze again. “Okay. Tomorrow. Come earlier.”
I watched as she walked out the door and then got into the car with Nevada plates. I rushed to grab a pen next to the register, and as the car backed out of the parking space, I wrote down the plate number.
“Is everything okay?” Mom asked.
I smiled tightly. “Yeah, everything’s great.”
“So, you like her?”
It wasn’t that black and white. “Something like that.”
“What does—”
“I need to make a call.”
Mom blinked. “Oh, okay. I’m almost done and ready to go home.”
“Great. I’ll be outside.”
I walked out the door, grabbing my phone from my pocket to dial Seth as I walked down the stairs. Leaning against the rental car, I dialed him.
“Hey,” he answered.
“I found her.”
“Cassie?”
I sighed. “Yeah.”
“Where? How?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m visiting my mom in Tennessee, and somehow Cassie turned up working at the same diner as my mom.”
“I thought you said she didn’t fly or drive? How’d she get there?”
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me anything, but she’s with someone with Nevada plates.”
“Did you get the plate number?”
I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Yeah.”
“Give it to me.”
I gave him the plate number and then asked, “Why do you think she’s here?”
“You know her better than I do.”
“It makes no sense.”
He was silent for a minute. “Do you think she was in on the robbery?”
“I …”
“You don’t know her all that well, and she left town without telling you.”
My brain was on overdrive once again. I never once suspected that she was involved. During the robbery and right after, she looked scared. I’d seen it more times than I could count during my tours when civilians were put in danger. Cassie had that scared look on her face—the one where her face turned white and she went into a daze. If she were involved, then she was the best actress ever and should be in Hollywood and not working at Dovie’s.
“I’ll find out.”
“You’ll find out?”
“Yeah.” I took another deep breath. “I’ll find out.”
“Are you sure you want to?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if she is involved? Are you willing to turn her in?”
I closed my eyes and thought for a moment. Seth was right. I didn’t know Cassie at all, and something wasn’t right here. Sure, we’d kissed, but that was all we did. My feelings for her would go away over time—I was certain of it. “Yeah, I’d have to.”
“Okay. Well, this isn’t even my case, so I’ll wait to hear from you.”
“I guess you can cancel that missing persons report.”
“Actually, I’m not going to do anything until I hear from you again. I trust you.”
“Okay. I’ll let you know.” I paused. “Can you let me know who the owner of the car is, though?”
“Yeah, I’ll run the plates now and text you.”
“Thanks.”
“What do you think of my son?
” Shannon had asked as I waited for a plate of food to be served up and she filled her drink order.
“Ahh,” I’d stammered. Even if I didn’t know Brad, what was I supposed to say?
“He’s handsome, isn’t he?”
“Yes,” I’d replied because he was. He was perfect. His beard was a little longer, and I yearned to run my fingers through it, to feel it against my face. To feel a part of him again.
When I’d turned to meet Shannon’s son, I never ever thought it would be Brad. I was stunned, to say the least, but I was also nervous because I had no idea what would happen next.
For most of the week, Shannon had told me she wanted to introduce me to her single son who was coming to visit her soon. She made sure to tell me that he was single once she asked if I was dating anyone. And even though she said that he usually visited once a month, I never thought it would be Brad. He had told me that he visited his mom monthly, but what were the odds?
Or maybe it wasn’t odds at all? Maybe it was the universe once again bringing us together? Fate, as they call it. Or was it my parents guiding my way because they knew I would want to get a job at a place called Dovie’s because of their nickname for me? Whatever it was, I was okay with it. I missed Brad.
“He’s only here for a few days, but I think that will be plenty of time for you to get to know each other,” Shannon had said.
“You’re really pushing this.” I’d chuckled, trying to make it seem as though my heart wasn’t racing in my chest.
“One of these times, it will be the one.”
“You do this often?” I didn’t like hearing that she was always trying to set him up, but then I couldn’t do anything because once he found out that Keith was involved in the robbery, and one of the reasons he got shot, he’d never want to speak to me again.
“Not that often, but yes. Can you blame me?”
I’d stolen a glance at Brad briefly and then turned back to Shannon. “No. I’m sure he’s a great guy.”
“The best.”
Gin & Jewels Page 10
