BRADLEY

“Another order of waffles, please.”

“You can’t be serious.” Lexi drops her rag onto the counter and watches me for any sign of a joke. “That’ll be your fourth one today.”

“I have been here all day.”

“What’s going on?” She leans against the counter, oblivious to the rest of the diner as she sets her laser focus on me. “You’ve been fidgety all afternoon.”

“I’m just hungry.”

“No, you’re eating yourself into a coma.” She gives a smile, and then tries for a joke. “How are you supposed to carry me to the bedroom tonight if you’re too full to move?”

I try for a smile back, but it’s clearly not working. The thing is, I’ve been here all day waiting for Leo to show up. When I left his place last night I figured that surely he’d crumble to my demands and drag his ass here this morning.

After all, my demands are hardly unreasonable. Fifty-fifty split, just like we went in, and I’d leave quietly. He gets to keep the gym and the customers, and I’m out on my own. That, and an apology.

I figured it would be a no brainer. Neither of us would win if we got lawyers involved, especially not him. So why the hell hasn’t he shown up yet?

“You’re not fooling me, Brad. What’s going on? I told you not to worry about the other stuff,” Lexi whispers. “It’ll take care of itself. Or, we’ll figure it out together and move on. Until I get kicked out of this place, I’m just going to keep making my waffles, and you are going to keep eating them. No sense stressing when there’s nothing we can do.”

“I told you I’d take care of it.”

“That’s what I’m saying! You don’t have to! We’ll be fine.” She reaches out and squeezes my hand, giving me sympathy it doesn’t feel like I’ve earned. “Maybe it’s a sign. Maybe we’re supposed to move to a new, bigger and better location.”

I’m spared a response by the entrance of three new arrivals—Lucas, Kitty, and Sasha. Judging by the box in Sasha’s hands and the coffee cups in the others’ hands, they’ve come from next door.

“Sasha’s is closed for the day,” Kitty says. “Time for dinner. Can we get some poutine tonight? I’m feeling fat.”

“Oh, I haven’t had poutine in forever,” Sasha says with a nod of agreement. “Let’s make it a super-sized order.”

“Jumbo-sized,” Lucas agrees. “I’m starved.”

“Yes, your highnesses,” Lexi says, looking over my shoulder. “Get in line behind this guy. It’s his fourth order of waffles for the day.”

I get a quick round of applause and some raised eyebrows from the group as I force a smile and return their greetings.

“Eating for two?” Lucas says, elbowing me in the gut. “I thought you’d been putting on some weight.”

“Isn’t he glowing?” Kitty agrees. “He just has that sheen about him.”

“That’s called the food coma sheen,” Lexi says. “He’s stress eating.”

“What’s the stress?” Kitty asks. “Your therapists have arrived. Dish.”

“Forget about it,” I say. “Maybe I should switch my order and share the poutine.”

I’m not hungry. I haven’t been hungry since my second order of waffles, but I’m not particularly excelling at making conversation today, and I needed a reason to stay at the diner for as long as it took to see Leo’s apology. If he apologizes. The chances are getting slimmer and slimmer as the daylight wanes.

“He’s worried about my rent going up,” Lexi says. “But we’ll figure it out. Customers will follow, even if we move locations. It wouldn’t be so bad.”

“Not at all,” Sasha chimes in. “I’d have to move too, and maybe we could just combine shops. Save on real estate. I’ll do the baking and coffee, Lex takes on the rest.”

“Not a bad idea,” Lucas says. “Where do I fit in?”

“Right where you are,” Kitty says. “Which is the same place I fit in. On the eating side of things.”

Lexi turns away to get their order started when the door opens and another figure walks into the restaurant.

I don’t bother to turn my head because I’ve been swiveling my neck all day, and I’ve got a crick in it. One disappointment after the next as the bridge team came in, then the grandmothers, then Barb and her water aerobics group, and then...half the city.

“What the hell is he doing here?” Lucas’s voice is low. “He here for you, Hamilton?”

My head jerks up, and I’ll pay for that tomorrow. I’ll be lucky if I don’t need a neck brace by the time this day is over. But this time, it’s worth it.

Leo’s eyes meet mine as he walks through the door, a hint of surprise at finding me here. Then dismay takes over as he scans and finds an audience watching him. Kitty, Sasha, Lucas—everyone but Lexi, who’s busy humming and tossing some fries.

Leo glances behind him, probably calculating how quickly he can get out of here. If we hadn’t all turned to look at him, he would’ve slunk away like the skunk he is, but now, it’s too late.

Stepping the rest of the way through the door, he strides across the room and stops next to me at the counter. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I was just about ready to throw in the towel,” I say. “Didn’t expect you to show.”

“I didn’t expect to find a show.”

“If you’d arrived earlier, you wouldn’t have.” I scan him over. “Don’t let us stop you from doing whatever it is you came to do.”

He fishes in his pocket, drags out two slips of paper, and hands them over. My eyes land on the top one first, the signed contract. His signature is on it, releasing us from our duties to one another and the gym.

My chest constricts as I flip it upward and peer underneath at a check. The check. These two slips of paper are my future. They’re closing old doors, opening new ones, and setting me free from the garbage of these last three years.

My exhale is somewhat shaky. The time has finally come to move on. From business, from the accident. From the ugly fog that took over afterward, and the ensuing years of silence and quiet.

Glancing around, surrounded by old and new friends, resumed and improved relationships, I look at Leo and nod. I have no ill will toward him, no anger or resentment. Just a whole lot of nothing.

“Lexi,” Leo says, clearing his throat. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Her shoulders straighten at the sound of his voice, and she spins slowly from her place at the stove. “What the hell are you doing in my diner?”

“I’d like to speak with you in private.”

Lexi glances at me, then at her friends. “Whatever you need to say, you can say it right here.”

“But—”

“Okay, then goodbye.”

I look down at my empty plate, hiding a smile. If I’d ever thought Lexi couldn’t handle herself, I’d have been dead wrong. The iciness in her voice sends shivers down my spine, and I’m the one she likes.

Leo attempts another throat clear, but he botches this one like a teenage boy. When he speaks, his voice cracks. “I’m sorry.”

“For?” I jump in, but I’m silenced by Lexi’s glare. I quickly apologize and fall silent.

Lexi fixes her stare back at Leo. “What are you apologizing for?”

“For using you to get back at my business partner,” he says, his knuckles gripping the counter so hard they go pale. “I wasn’t interested in your space until I realized it would hurt Brad.”

“And?” she presses.

“And what?” he asks.

“And you left my assistant a five percent tip last time you were here!” Lexi folds her arms. “Give Sasha another five bucks. Don’t be a cheapskate. She’s amazing, and you were insulting.”

Leo blinks in awe at her, and I can’t hide a laugh either. With the amount of money I have in my hand from Leo, five bucks is a drop in the bucket. I can see him thinking this is a joke.

Which is a huge mistake.

“You think this is funny, huh?” Lexi rounds the bar and comes face to face with him. “Well, it’s not. I don’t care if you owe her thirty cents or a thousand bucks, it’s the principle of it. Give her the rest of the tip she deserves, and I’ll accept your apology.”

Leo gives a stunned shake of his head, then pulls out his wallet and smartly forks over a ten-dollar bill. “Are we good?”

“I’d say good is overkill,” Lexi says. “We’ll call it even.”

Leo takes a step back, looks at all of us, and spins on his heel. He tries his best to exit with whatever shred of dignity he has left... and it’s not much.

“That settles that.” Lexi hands over the money to Sasha with a wink. “Be careful not to spend it all in one place.”