AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Because you want to protect your brother?” I ask.
She takes a sip of her coffee, and I’m jealous of the mug. Those lips.
“You can’t protect that man from himself,” I say.
“Come on, Jesse, get real. Sheriff Davis will use this as an excuse to make my life more difficult. To make my family’s life more difficult. He hates Billy, and he hates me. And so does his son. The minute they smell blood in the water, they’ll be all over this,” she says, sounding more tired than angry. “Just like when they tried to enforce some bogus town rule and shut down the diner a few years ago.”
“Oh yeah?”
I remember, but the way her lips move when she talks makes me want to listen to the story again.
“Heat regulations,” she says. “Can you believe that? Deputy Dickhead Davis threatened to shut me down because my diner was ‘too hot’ during summer. He came in here with a thermometer. I had to get a new air conditioning unit installed. And then, after that, they tried to get me in trouble for how much hot air was venting toward the building next door. If it’snot Billy, it’s them, and they’re going to find a way to weaponize this against me. And it’s the last thing I need when we’re approaching the off-season. It’s not like the diner makes tons of money when there are no tourists around, and the menu… Ugh. Why the hell am I even tellingyouthis? You’re as bad as them.”
“I take umbrage at that comparison. Davis has serious small dick energy,” I say.
Marci snorts. “Yeah, you’re not wrong.” She realizes that she agreed with me and frowns. “I didn’t need to get the cops involved.”
“That guy had a knife,” I say. “You had to report it.”
“No, I didn’t. I?—”
“Then how are you going to deal with this?”
Marci glances past me at the street outside. The sun has started its ascent, and low light filters through the front windows. Cars drive by. The townsfolk will start opening for business soon, and Marci’s staff will be here any minute.
“What does it matter?” Marci asks. “It’s none of your business.”
“You almost died last night. I’m the one who saved you. I’d say that makes it my business.”
“It doesn’t. Just forget about my problems, Taylor. I can handle them myself. You and I? We’re never going to be friends. I can’t stand the cops in this town, and you’re basically the uber cop. The coppiest cop to walk the face of the earth. You’re running for sheriff for God’s sake.”
I wish the rest of the town saw me as the “coppiest cop.” They see me as a player with nepotistic tendencies.
“Hey!” Grant, Marci’s chef, gestures from outside, through the empty door frame. She lets him in, and he’s followed by two servers. I push up from the table, coffee untouched, and exit into the street. I stand there, watching Heatstroke come to life, my hands tucked in the pockets of my jeans.
Marci wants me to leave, but I can’t bring myself to do it.
Mrs. Peddleson from the florists across the street waves at me, and I wave back, giving her a broad smile. Until David, the bookstore owner, brushes past me and goes over to her. I drop my hand to my neck, pulling a face.
Fuck. Fuck.
People know me because I’m a Taylor. Not because I’m Jesse, the responsible, dutiful deputy who helps the town. I do my best, but I’m not going to win any popularity contests. As much as I don’t want to care what people think, I do.
The diner door slams behind me.
“Are you going to stand out here all day?” Marci asks. “You’re loitering.”
I turn to her.
“I have a proposition.”
It’s the exhaustion. I’ll blame it on that.
“Huh?”
Marci blinks those pretty green eyes, blue flecks highlighted by the morning sunlight.
“You need help, and so do I.”
