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Apache laughed as we all followed Drake out. Savage kept the girls close to him, and Jett bent and scooped up Isla, who looked frightened.
“Will we receive a similar reaction at the restaurant?” Drake asked Savage.
“Don’t think so. They were friends of the woman who raised me,” Savage replied.
“Then we’ll head there.”
I was anxious when we entered. The town was indeed split in two, as Savage had predicted. Half the people we saw gave us filthy looks; the rest said hello and looked curious. As we entered the restaurant, a shriek erupted from a woman behind the podium, and she came bustling out.
“Jesse, my boy!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. “Let me see you. You’re even more handsome than ever. If only Simmy could see you, she’d be ecstatic. Are these your friends? How many of you? Okay, I’ll get Jed to put some tables together, and we’ll have you seated.”
We all blinked in astonishment as the woman bustled away without any of us saying a word.
“Hi, Elaine!” Savage called, and she waved a hand in the air.
“Wow,” Harley mumbled, and I agreed.
Elaine came bustling back and herded us towards three tables which had been pushed together. A guy stood there with a beaming smile as he saw Savage.
“Jesse, looking good, son. Come and sit. I’ll take drink orders when everyone is seated,” he said.
“Hi, Jed,” Savage replied, reaching out and shaking hands with the man.
I felt relieved by their kindness. The restaurant was jam-packed, which spoke a lot about the food here. Jed brought our drinks, and we ordered our meals and settled in. We spent three pleasant hours there, eating and drinking while talking to Jed and Elaine. Even the girls eventually returned to a chatty mood.
Both Jed and Elaine were saddened by Earle’s ill health, and Elaine wanted to send Earle a care package, but he was on nil by mouth.
After a nice evening, we left the restaurant to return to the hotel. Savage had Isla on his shoulders, and Apache was carrying Harper. A flash of lights made me jump, and a local sheriff’s car pulled up.
We stopped as an overweight man got out with a thin deputy joining his side.
“Can we help you?” Drake asked as he moved to protect me.
“Well, boys, how about you pack up and go,” the sheriff said.
“Ain’t causing trouble, and here to visit a relative. Don’t see why we need to leave,” Drake replied.
“Your type isn’t wanted here,” the sheriff snarled.
“Our type?” Apache repeated. “Decent law-abiding folks?”
Jett laughed and muttered something as the sheriff glared.
“You think this is funny? We don’t like criminals here.”
“Which one of us has a criminal background?” Drake shot back quickly.
“Bet all of you have. Anyway, we don’t want you in Layton,” the deputy interrupted.
“Try researching before making accusations,” Drake retorted.
“Yeah, yeah. We want you to leave,” the deputy pushed.
“Don’t care what you want. Ain’t nobody here committed a crime, nor does anyone have a criminal background,” Drake replied.
“Listen here, boys, we can do this easy or hard.”
“What’s the hard way?” Drake taunted, and the sheriff flushed.
