Why Now? (14 page)

“Shit, woman,” I gasp, after taking a breath. “Was there any coffee in there?”

“It’ll put some hair on your chest,” she teases. “Besides, you asked if I had anything stronger.”

Plucking her mug from her hands I sniff it and find that her drink is just as strong as mine is.

Passing it back to her, I shake my head. “Warn a fella next time.”

She waits for me to pick my mug back up before tapping hers to mine. “Deal.”

We both drink. Now that I’m prepared, my second gulp goes down a lot smoother.

“Alright now, spill. Why can’t you live here?”

She spins on her stool so that her back is resting on the counter and she’s looking out into the empty parking lot. “There are times when everyone knowing you is a comfort and there are other times when it feels like a cage.”

“This is the last place anyone should live if they don’t want people in their business,” I agree.

“Right now it’s starting to feel like more of a cage than I can handle,” she whispers.

“Have you broken the news to your grandmother?”

Her gaze swings from the parking lot to me. “Nope.”

“Coward,” I mutter.

She elbows me. “Fuck off, Whitmore. Don’t you have a country to conquer?”

Taking another gulp, I rub my side. She has sharp fucking elbows.

Then she sighs. “I don’t have the heart to tell her. Part of me wants to take off in the middle of the night and leave her a note telling her I’m not cut out for this place.”

“That’d hurt her,” I caution.

She looks back out the windows of the diner, not at the parking lot but past it. “Which is why I’m still here, working up the nerve to tell her straight out.”

“How long to you expect that to take?” I ask.

She takes another drink but doesn’t answer me.

“That long?” I say, and take another drink as well.

It’s a question I don’t expect an answer to. She’s lucky she has a grandmother she loves enough not to hurt. It might suck now because she’s stuck here, but a time will come where she’d give her right arm to be right back here, working side by side with Mrs. Fairlane.

It’s not my place to tell her that. That’s the kind of lesson you only learn after they’re gone. The last year of my Gram’s life, I fucked up my knee. They went into debt after all of the procedures it took to fix it. I was too busy being angry at the world to understand the stress I was putting on them until it was too late.

Mrs. Fairlane is lucky to have a granddaughter who gives a fuck.

After draining my mug, I set it on the counter. “What can I do to help you finish closing up for the night?”

She finishes her drink and asks, “How are you with a mop?”

Sliding off my stool I reply, “We got floors on the rig and somebody had to clean them.”

Between the two of us, Sydney and I clean the dining area of Lola’s in no time.

When she’s in town, Sydney lives in the flat above the diner. After the cooking staff leaves, I follow Sydney upstairs.

She slips off her shoes the moment we’re in the door, her eyes closing as a sigh escapes her.

It’s easy to forget how difficult it must be for her to be on her feet nonstop. She isn’t the type to complain. Reilly could take lessons from her; I swear my sister could give classes on the art of bitching about shit.

After her quiet celebration of being barefoot, she cocks her head for me to follow her further into her place and presents her sofa to me with a flourish.

“It’s not much but it’s all yours.”

“It’s perfect. Thanks for letting me crash here tonight.”

“Anytime. If it’s cool with you, I’m going to bed.”

“Sure. Can you wake me when you get up?”

She grimaces. “I’m opening so it will be early. That okay?”

“Sure.”

“Night, Jake.”

“Night, Sydney.”

She turns and heads to her bedroom.

Given everything that happened, I expected sleep to be hard to find. It was the opposite. One second my head was hitting a throw pillow, the next Sydney was shaking my shoulder to wake me.

Blinking up at her I ask, “Where’s the fire?”

She’s already up and ready for the day. “There’s no fire but it’s time to wake up.”

“Did you even sleep?”

She laughs and I sit up. “Do I have enough time to take a shower?”

Tapping a watch that isn’t there on her wrist she replies, “A fast one.”

Doing as I’m told, I’m ready in no time, changing back into the clothes I wore yesterday.

She leads the way back down the stairs to the diner. Grabbing a stool, I hang out while she opens the door for the morning cook staff and gets a pot of coffee going. A few minutes later, she unlocks the front door and switches the
open
sign on.

She claims to have a vagabond soul but running a diner seems as effortless as breathing to her. Life has plans for us all. We might try to revolt against it but before long, we end up right where life planned for us to be.

Life seems intent on me being in Ferncliff. If the house hadn’t been trashed, I’d probably be on my way back to Santa Barbara right now.

“Eating here?” Sydney asks, and I nod.

Like her grandmother, she doesn’t ask what I want. Today I get a mug with a Monet painting on it, lily pads floating in water.

More people spill in, and after Sydney gets them settled she moves back over to stand across the counter from me. “What are your plans for today?”

“My insurance guy gave me the name of a couple of guys in town that could do the repairs. I need to meet with them and get quotes.”

“You should call Jimmy Hacket,” she replies.

Frowning, I take another sip of my coffee before I say, “Don’t know him.”

She smirks, putting one hand on her hip. “You know Jimmy Hacket. He was the kid everyone made fun of back in the day for having a lisp and being smaller than all the other boys.”

Shaking my head I mutter, “Still not ringing a bell.”

She huffs, moving her hand from her hip and slapping it on the counter in annoyance. She sinks down like her knees gave out at the thought of me not having a fucking clue who this kid is. The only thing that keeps her from falling on her ass is her hand on the counter.

She straightens back up and groans, “Come on, the boy who wore the same neon green hoodie for like three years.”

The moment she says neon green hoodie I know exactly who she’s talking about. “Alright, alright. I remember that fucking hoodie. Why should I call him?”

Jimmy Hacket had been at least three years behind me in school and we never ran in the same circles.

“He’s a contractor now. A great one from what I hear.”

“No shit,” I reply. “Good for him. Does he have some guys who help with the heavy lifting?”

She bites her lip, giggling her ass off before she says. “You’re not going to believe me, but his senior year he had the growth spurt of all growth spurts. I’d have to see the two of you next to each other but he might be bigger than you.”

My head snaps back. “Jimmy with the green hoodie got big?”

She laughs at my expression and nods.

“No shit,” I laugh with her.

Sydney gets his number for me and lets me use her phone to call him and the two other contractors. My phone charger is with the rest of my shit at Heath’s place and my battery is almost dead.

Then, she kicks further ass by letting me borrow her car for the day. It’s a silver convertible Beetle but it’ll beat having to walk my ass back and forth all over town.

She made me promise to return it by four. After I pay for my breakfast, I hit the road.

My first stop is Heath’s. His car isn’t in his spot so I get my shit and put his spare key under his doormat. I’ll text him after I charge my phone to let him know it’s there.

From his place, I go one town over to Target and stock up on shit so I can crash at the house. Nothing crazy, an air mattress, a cheap sleeping bag, and some food to eat and drink.

By the time I get to the house, the first contractor is already there waiting for me.

He takes a look at the damage and is willing to do the work but won’t be able to start for two to three weeks. His quote is good so I let him know I’ll be in touch, but it sucks that he’s not able to start right away.

When the next guy shows, I know by looking at him that he’s not going to work out. He’s got used car salesman-trying-to-convince-me-a-beater-is-a-Caddie written all over him.

He’s barely out the drive before I chuck his estimate in the trash.

Jimmy shows up next, and I’ll be darned there’s no way I’d recognize him if Sydney hadn’t said anything.

“How’ve you been man?” I ask once he’s inside.

His voice is softer than I’d expected given his size. “Things have been good. Work is steady which is all anyone can hope for.”

“Sydney told me to give you a call, said she’s heard nothing but good things.”

He looks at his feet, embarrassed by the praise. “Mrs. Fairlane has been good to me. Before Sydney moved back, she gave me my first job when I started my business and has been recommending me to people ever since. I guess she told Sydney.”

His mention of work being steady makes me nervous. “How busy are you now?”

Looking back up he must’ve read my face, “I take it you’re looking for work to start right away.”

Yep, he read me.

I scratch the back of my neck. “If possible. The place getting trashed means I can’t list it for sale or try and get a new tenant until it’s fixed up. The longer it takes for that to happen means more money out of my pocket that I don’t have.”

He nods and glances around the front entryway again before saying, “I got a job I’m working right now that my boys could finish up without me. That’ll leave only me, though, to work over here. If you’d work with me, I could lower the labor cost on the bid and start tomorrow.”

“No shit?” I reply, excitement in my tone.

One corner of his mouth tips up. “No shit.”

I offer him my hand, and when he takes it I give his a shake. “Deal.”

As he pulls away, I stand in the driveway relieved that at least one part of my life is looking up.

Unfortunately, I don’t get long to relish that feeling when Heath’s car moves into my drive so fast his tires squeal as he brakes.

“What the fuck man?” I growl as he throws open his door and charges toward me.

“Did you spend the night with Sydney Fairlane?”

He gets in my face so I put my hand on his shoulder to push him back. “Did I what?”

“You heard me. People saw you coming out of her place with her this morning,” he throws his hand out to wave at her Beetle, “and you’re driving her car.”

“You gotta be fucking kidding me with this shit.” I mutter, shaking my head at him.

“This shit? That’s what you think this is. You think it’s okay to kiss Kacey and then go straight to another woman’s bed.”

At that, my temper flares and I reach out to grab him by the shirt, pulling him toward me. “Nice to find out one of my oldest friends is a fucking asshole thinking that shit about not only me but a nice girl like Sydney.”

He pulls at his shirt, prying it from my fingers and taking a step back. His eyes that were wild with fury only a moment ago move to guarded. “What was I supposed to think?”

“She let me crash on her couch. Not that I owe you an explanation, but I’m giving it to you so you can set anyone straight saying shit about Sydney.”

He reaches up to drag his hand down his face. “Shit, man, I overreacted.”

“You think?” I bark.

He shakes his head. “No, you’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Who’d you hear it from?” I ask.

He grimaces before looking up at me. “Ace told me. She was crying but tried to act like she wasn’t upset. That’s why I got so pissed.”

Air seizes in my lungs. “Fuuuuuck.”

“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”

Not bothering to respond, I move past Reilly and into the kitchen.

“Kace,” she admonishes, annoyed at me.

Whirling to face her, I point at her. “This is all your fault. I still haven’t forgiven you for asking that question.”

Her eyes widen. “Fine, blame me for Jake finding out it was you that night. Whatever. But you’re the one who willingly sucked his face or is that somehow my fault too?”

She has a valid point so I focus on something other than my behavior. “Must not have been that great for your brother since he slept with Sydney last night.”

“I’m going to strangle Melody Hamilton for spreading that shit.”

Melody and I work together at the eye clinic; her husband works at a water treatment facility outside of town and has crazy hours. He was one of the first customers at the diner this morning and saw that Jake was already there and heard Sydney and him talking. He told Melody, who wasted no time calling me to tell me since she knew I had a thing for Jake and loved bursting people’s bubbles.

If it had just been her word for it I would have ignored her, but then a mutual friend of Kara Bradley, a morning waitress, Facebook messaged me to tell me that Kara told her Jake spent the night with Sydney and when she got to the diner he still had wet hair.