Page 3 of Hearts on the Mend

My eyes search hers, finally landing on that deep crease between her dark brows. “If you’re afraid about what might happen, I can st⁠—”

“Afraid?” She blows into her hands, then stuffs them into her jacket pockets, but not before wincing. “I broke his nose. I’m not afraid.”

“Maybe I should be.” I don’t mean to say it out loud, but when she grins, I’m glad I did.

Lush pink lips stretch into a wide, easy smile, her nose long and slim with a gentle swoop at the end. And enough freckles bridge her cheeks to look like the stars in the sky on a clear night in Montana.

“Consider yourself warned.” She shrugs, but not before I catch her sizing me up again. “I’m hungry. Want to grab something to eat? Swore I saw a few places down the street.”

It’s offseason, which means Merritt Point is mostly shuttered, especially past eight. “Not from around here?”

“Born and raised in the Hudson Valley, but I’ve been out in Wyoming for the last eight years.”

Guess it is a small world after all, because I’m based out of West Yellowstone. What are the odds I find the one person visiting from Wyoming in my small coastal hometown in the tail end of winter? Maybe a different guy would say something. Instead, I adjust my hat and do my best not to look at her too long.

But that smile…

“Ah, well, the diner’s good. Just another block up.” I point to Seas the Day, eyeing my truck not far away. I rented a small place near town, not that that won any points with my parents. I wasn’t about to sleep in a fucking twin bed on my time off. I sleep on the ground for half the year as it is.

“You?”

“Hmm?” I scratch the back of my neck, trying to land on some half-truth. Can’t seem to find one with her eyes fixed on my mouth.

“You from around here?” she asks again.

“Yeah.” A rough sound scrapes from my throat. A laugh, maybe? It doesn’t happen often. Not sure how to describe it beyond surprise at her question.

But maybe, her. This night.

She kicks at a frozen chunk of ice on the sidewalk. It sails past us, colliding into the brick building before bursting apart into a hundred tiny pieces.

I am from Merritt Point, but I’ve never felt like it. I’ve spent the last eighteen years traveling the West Coast as a hotshot and smoke jumper fighting wildfires.

I settle in the silence that follows. I prefer quiet. Easier to ignore the fact that since I came home for New Year’s to surprise my family, I haven’t been able to find my footing. Years of chasing fires does damage, and somewhere between the last jump and my drive back east, I stopped being sure I had anything left to give for another season.

“If you need to go—” she starts.

I reach out, bracing my hands on her shoulders so she doesn’t collide into the parking meter. But she doesn’t shake off my touch, and my hands linger longer than they should.

“No” is all I say before I finally let go and step around her.

“So you’ll get something to eat with me?”

The night’s chill bites through my flannel, but that smile of hers and the casual hope tossed into her invitation land harder.

“Not like I’ll leave you alone after all that trouble back at the bar.”

“There you go again.” She rolls her eyes. “Savior complex is really in overdrive tonight, huh?”

“It’s a real fucking burden if I’m being honest.”

The entrance to Seas the Day is through the restored stainless steel diner car. It’s attached to a brick building that’s nearly 150 years old. I twist to push through the narrow glass door, then feel heat hit my cheeks when Wyatt glances up from brewing another pot of coffee behind the blue laminate counter. He doesn’t acknowledge me. Guess he’s still pissed from when I made captain of the football team back in junior year.

Small towns suck.

An older waitress rushes out from the kitchen carrying a tray full of food for a group of teenagers crowded around another table. “I’ll be right with you two. Grab that back booth.”

I’d nod, but I don’t fit well here—too tall, my frame too wide. Every instinct says to turn around and head back to my truck. But I follow her anyway, before she glances over her shoulder to check that I am.