Despite the excitement, or perhaps because of it, the diner was packed. Having the sheriff and deputy show up with flashers on and toting a search warrant, signaling they were on official business, kept the patrons’ butts in their seats a bit longer than usual. Cell phones were yanked out of pockets, and soon word spread. Then it was standing room only at the Higgstown Diner.
As tempting as it was to turn the “Open” sign to “Closed,” Lily decided to keep the place open. What signal would closing up send? It would be an admission of guilt. No, she decided, she was going to hold her head high. She had nothing to be ashamed of or feel guilty about.
Lily was at the back of the restaurant, standing at the entrance to the hallway, when she saw Aiden in the doorway, broad shoulders blotting out the hazy autumn light behind him.
Soon, he was at her side. Strong, gentle hands rested on her shoulders. “Are you OK?”
She caught herself breathing in the scent of him—the outdoors, soap, and a hint of cologne. “No. Not really.” The warmth of tears gathered behind her eyes.
“Can you pack up quickly? I can take you home to pick up some stuff.”
His words not only baffled her but scared her too. Why would he want her to pack up? Was he here to collect her and bring her to the sheriff? “Why?” Lily choked out.
“Because you’re coming with me to the cabin.”
“What?” It didn’t make sense. That’s the last place in the world she wanted to see again. She turned away from him, trying to find something to do, busywork to take her mind off her troubles.
She cleared off a table and walked away, arms filled with dirty dishes. He followed her to the kitchen, waiting expectantly for a response. Lily put the dishes into a plastic tub with a clatter.
“Did you hear what I just said?” he asked.
“I heard you, but I don’t understand what the hell you’re trying to do, Aiden. What would going to your cabin accomplish?”
He spoke slowly, but sternly. “They’re going to arrest you.”
The tears she’d been trying to hold back finally fell hotly down her cheeks, and she wiped them away with her apron.
“You have to come with me, Lily. Give me a chance to help you, please.”
She huffed her displeasure. “How do I know you’re not helping them? I don’t trust you as far as I could bloody well throw you. Go home and I mean your real home. Go back to Chicago, if that’s where you’re really from.”
He reached out and tried to pull her into an embrace. She pummeled his chest, but he wouldn’t let go, pulling her closer until finally she let herself be held. She was crying now, sobbing into his shoulder.
“I’m not the enemy. I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you safe, but we have to move quickly.” He held her at arm’s length and looked her in the eyes. “Lily, trust me. I won’t betray you again.”
Confusion reigned. She wanted to trust him, yet she didn’t want to run. She was too tired for running.
“They’ll figure out I’m with you. Wilkins and Deluca will just come to the cabin to arrest me,” she said, shaking her head.
“I won’t let them in. They’ll have to get a warrant. It’ll buy us some time.”
She ran her hands through her hair, and it took everything she had not to pull it out in frustration. “Time for what?”
Aiden bent to her level and grabbed her shoulders. “To find the real killer.”
“You’re not making sense! There’s no use, Aiden. I might as well turn myself in. They’re coming to get me, and you can’t do anything about it.” She left him, made her way into the dining area, and looked around at the place she loved most in the world. She thought of late-night talks with her mother and sister, the three of them comfy in their pajamas, sharing a big bowl of popcorn, laughing. In those moments, she felt anything was possible. That life was good, that she was safe and her future was bright.
When she was older, her memories were of her mother waiting tables and Sara at the grill. Lily’s job was cleaning up, a bottom-of-the-totem-pole position. But she never complained because she was in the bosom of her family, a family she hadn’t expected to lose so quickly and tragically.
Soon she’d be leaving it all behind. Lily walked to what used to be their booth—hers and Aiden’s—with Aiden a step behind. An elderly man looked up from his coffee cup, one substantial gray eyebrow cocked as if to say: What the heck do you want?
Only he didn’t have to ask. Lily spoke before he had the chance. “Gerry, any chance I can sit here with my friend for just a bit?”
Gerry nodded furiously, his mouth full of the last of his coffee. He scooped up his newspaper and made his way to the register to pay.
“No need, Ger. It’s on the house today,” Lily called after him.
Too much was going on inside her head, and she wanted desperately to shut off her thoughts. Her stomach twisted with anxiety, and her mind churned with worry. What would happen to her beloved diner when she went to prison? Where would Rex go? And to complicate matters more, what just happened between her and Aiden? He’d hugged her; she’d let him, but what were they to each other? Should she dare put her faith in his words that he’d find the real killer? Or was he going to leave as soon as Wilkins and Deluca came for her?
“It’s got to be Zander Lyons or maybe even his wife. I don’t understand why they’re not taking a harder look at that family,” Aiden said, breaking into her thoughts.
Lily folded her arms over her chest and sighed. “No more. I can’t talk about this now.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I want to take in what’s left of my freedom.”
Aiden was quiet for a moment, then with a frown said, “OK.” He reached a hand across the table, obviously wanting her to take hold of it, but she turned away and he slid it back to his side. “Sorry.”
“Do me one favor?” There was a hitch in her voice.
“Anything.”
“If they do arrest me, find someone to take care of Rex. Maybe Annie would do it. Yes, I think she might. She loves him.”
“I’ll take care of him.”
She threw him a puzzled look.
“I’m staying in Higgstown until I can prove your innocence. I won’t rest until I find who killed your sister.”
She nodded and smiled, though it was perfunctory. “All right, but if you change your mind—”
“I won’t.”
Her thoughts turned to her friends at the Evelyn Harrison Seniors Center, especially Mrs. G., and her heart shattered. She’d never see them again, and what would they think when they found out she’d been arrested?
Through the din and clatter of the diner, she heard a cell phone ring. It was Aiden’s. He fished it from his jacket pocket and looked at the screen. “It’s Wilkins,” he said before answering.
Her eyes grew wide and her heart beat triple time, but she said nothing.
He hit talk and plugged his ear with a finger so he could hear over the commotion. “What do you want?” he said loudly.
Lily barely heard Wilkins’s familiar voice through Aiden’s phone but couldn’t make out what he was saying.
“Yeah, I’m still in town. I told you I wasn’t going anywhere.”
Aiden nodded a few times, then smiled the biggest smile she’d ever seen.
“I’ll let her know. She’s right in front of me.” He ended the call, returned the phone to his pocket, then got to his feet, pulling her with him. After planting a big kiss on her forehead, he said, “Turns out you’re not going to be arrested after all.”