Page 6 of Dead Man's Alibi

Chapter Three

Main Street Diner

Jill Harrington satin the corner booth at Main Street Diner with a full mug of coffee, a half-eaten Belgian waffle next to a little puddle of grease where bacon had once been.Her laptop was open in front of her, and she was thinking about the cabin outside Marietta instead of her book.

She had been a resident of Montana for over three years now, and for the entirety of those three years she had spent nearly every waking minute within arm’s reach of her grandmother.

At first, it had been because Grandma was recovering from a stroke.Between the effects of the stroke and Grandma’s twenty-some-years long bout with a muteness that had been psychological, not physical, Jill had determined to stay and take care of her grandmother instead of returning to Boston.

Now Grandma was physically completely recovered from her stroke,andshe’d had a breakthrough when it came to her muteness.These days, Grandma spoke more than she ever had since Jill could remember.She was more settled, moreherselfthan she’d been in some time.

Which meant Grandma had started to make noise about Jillhaving a life.Insisting she could handle being alone up at the cabin outside of town.Insisting Jill not spend another year hiding away in a tiny mountain cabin with her grandmother.

Jill wouldn’t call ithiding, but she’d had to admit she was eager to feel more like… a member of society instead of some kind of shut-in.She didn’t want to leave, didn’t want to move away from the cabin.Shelovedtheir tiny home.

But being able to head into town without making arrangements for Grandma, being able to stay away for a few hours without worrying?It held some appeal.

Or Jillthoughtit would.Today was the first real test of their mutual independence.She had determined she was going to write at the diner for a couple hours in the morning.

So far, she’d spent more time considering worst-case scenarios than doing any writing.Jill wondered if this was what mothers felt like when they went back to work after having a baby.

Luckily, she had predicted her concentration might be a little fractured.Like a muscle, it would need to be rebuilt.Trusting her grandmother was okay by herself.Being on her own schedule without having to worry about Grandma’s.

She’d never been much of awriting-around-other-peopleperson anyway.She tended to get distracted by conversations, who was coming and going.So, she’d planned to focus on research this morning.

The bell on the door tinkled and Jill looked across the diner.Lucky her, her research subject had just walked in.

Cal Bennet was a fascinating man for a wide variety of reasons.She’d only just gotten to know him in the last year, since he’d been an infrequent visitor to Marietta before that.Then she’d been tangentially involved when he’d worked through some of his traumatic amnesia and remembered that as a young man, he’d witnessed his father kill his mother.

It still gave Jill a shudder to think about.And amazed her that he could be so… resilient.Because even as secret after secret had landed blows on him and his family over the past year, he looked…

Good.Not just because he was handsome, which he was.The Bennet brothers all were.A kind of tall, dark, and handsome that arranged itself differently on every brother, just like their personalities all seemed to be polar opposites, but the visual result had the same overall effect.

Even when he’d been so lost.Losing weight, dealing with the psychological impact of his trauma, and then the physical effects of a gunshot wound when he’d stepped in to save his brother.He was just… a good-looking guy.

Jill had mostly ignored that, but in the past few months, it was impossible to ignore that she found him fascinating.She found him attractive.And she’d never really let her imagination get carried away in that department because she knew the complex breadth of his issues, and her connection to them was… complicated.

But when he flirted with her, which he did on occasion, she kind of forgot about that.

Then she had to remind herself that he flirted withanyone and everyone.Charm was just second nature to Cal Bennet.

Last night was definitely case in point.

“Morning, Jill,” he greeted, sliding into the seat across from her.

His smile was… not like last night.It was that kind of vague one he used as a shield, but not a weapon.

Still, she smiled back.Because this was work.“Morning, Cal.Thanks for meeting me.It’s so much easier to get a sense of things in person than over email.”

“No problem.I’m surprised you’re in town two days in a row.”

Jill smiled ruefully and explained her grandmother’s new directive while a waitress came over and filled Cal’s coffee mug.He gave her the same exact smile he gave Jill.

Which she shouldnotbe noticing.

“I keep reminding myself she is physically capable of taking care of herself, and she has access to a phone to call if she needs me to come home.”

He took a sip of his coffee, leaned back in the booth, and studied her with those intelligent brown eyes that tended to pick up on everything, if he wanted them to.“Why do I sense abutsomewhere in there?”