CHAPTER 3
The rhythms of the diner were as much a part of Lily as the red of her hair and the green of her eyes. She’d called it right. Within thirty minutes, the restaurant held a manageable four customers. There were a few hours until the lunch rush, so she invited Aiden to a booth and asked Annie to take over.
Aiden pulled out his wallet to pay his bill, but Lily waved him off. “No, after what you did for me last night, it’s on the house.” She smiled. “It’s the least I can do.”
He tipped his head in a gesture of thanks. “I appreciate it, though it’s completely unnecessary.” Wagging a finger, he said, “Don’t be doing this every time I come in, OK?”
They slid into the same booth they’d sat in the night before. What a difference a day makes, she thought, eyeing him. Today her heart was hammering for a very different reason. The only danger now was that this handsome stranger just might steal her heart if she wasn’t careful.
“You gotta deal, mister. The way you eat, I’d go broke in a month.” She let out a throaty laugh and was immediately self-conscious. He smiled and stared at her with…what? Admiration? She couldn’t tell for sure but found herself smoothing her hair and wishing she’d put on lipstick.
A disappointing thought suddenly struck her. He was new in town, so maybe he was just passing through. The words slipped from her thoughts and out of her mouth. “What brings you to town?”
“Thinking of starting a business.”
She straightened and tried to hold back the smile about to erupt on her lips. “Here, in Higgstown? What kind, if you don’t mind me asking?”
He tented his fingers and looked thoughtful. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe a little souvenir shop. I hear it gets really busy during the tourist season. I’m retired and don’t need the income. Just want something to keep me out of trouble.”
He looked to be in his mid-thirties. How odd to be retired so young. “So, you’d be staying here? For good, I mean?” She cringed inwardly, hating how lame and desperate she sounded.
A smile lit his face as if he’d caught her meaning. “More than likely. If I can manage to set something up.”
An errant lock of hair fell over his forehead, and it took all the self-control she could muster not to brush it back in place. “This probably isn’t the best time of year to start a business. Summer would be better, but then again, if you’re in no hurry, the scenery with the fall colors is breathtaking.” She looked away, wanting to kick herself for saying it was a bad time to start a business. What did she want to do, run him off?
“I like the scenery that’s in front of me right now,” he said, grinning broadly.
The heat of embarrassment reddened her cheeks, and an awkward silence fell between them. Aiden reached out, stopping just short of touching her hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
“No, no…you didn’t do anything to be sorry for.”
“What I’m trying to do is ask you out, and so far I’m not doing a very good job of it.”
Lily’s brows lifted with interest. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been asked out before. Every unattached guy in town had hit on her at one time or another and a few of the married ones too, but this guy was different. She didn’t have to worry about his motives. He was new in Higgstown and didn’t yet know how much she was worth.
She loved the scruff on his chiseled jawline and that dimple! It was cavernous, and he didn’t even have to smile for it to pop.
“So, what do you think? Would you like to go out with me tonight?” He leaned closer to catch her gaze.
“I’d love to,” she replied with more fervor than intended.
His smile split his face. “Great. When do you get off work?”
Lily pulled her order pad and pen from her apron pocket and wrote down her number and address on the back of a sheet. “I’m off at six.” She slid the paper to him, and when their fingers met, a sizzle of electricity shot up her arm.
* * *
Six o’clock came quickly, and Lily was out the door. Unusual for her, but the thought of seeing Aiden and knowing she didn’t have much time to get ready lit a fire under Lily. Denise, tall, scrawny, and still sporting pimples at twenty-four, was working the evening shift. Lily barely said two words to the poor girl before hurrying out. Normally, she’d stop and chat for a while but not tonight.
Her stomach fluttered with excitement as she got into her car and turned up the tunes. Before she realized it, she was singing—that was something she hadn’t done in some time. However, it wasn’t long before the dark thoughts sneaked up on her as they often did. Hell, why was she always punishing herself whenever a little happiness entered her life? She deserved some good fortune—probably more than most people after the ordeal she’d lived through, well, was still living through.
She clicked off the radio, her mind turning back to the morning of Wednesday, July 13, the day her world was turned upside down. She’d been on her way out the door, heading for work, when Sheriff Wilkins met her in the driveway. She’d smiled up at him.
The tall, wiry man had cleared his throat, then adjusted his hat. “Lily, may I have a word?”
“Yes, of course. What is it? Has something happened?” Blood had rushed to her temples and pounded there. She knew the look of a man who was about to deliver bad news.
He’d nodded toward the front door. “Mind if we go inside?” His tone had been as gaunt as he was.
Lily could barely move, but she’d willed herself forward with the sheriff trailing her into the kitchen.
“Please, sit down,” Lily offered and had taken a seat herself. She’d pressed her hands between her knees to keep them from shaking. Why was she so frightened? Instinct had nagged her, pressing every fear trigger she’d honed over her lifetime. Something was terribly wrong.
Wilkins had stared at her. Lily had watched him and tried to read his expression to gauge what was coming. He’d taken a seat and removed his hat, setting it on the table. “I’m afraid I have some bad news. Your sister’s been found dead.”
The gravity of his words had struck like a punch to the gut, and sucked the breath from her. Her world had gone black, and the last thing she’d heard before fainting had been the furious beating of her own heart.
By the time Lily got home, she’d managed, with some difficulty, to push the dark thoughts back into the recesses of her mind. Rex, her Irish terrier, clawed at the other side of the door as she turned the key in the lock and opened it.
“There’s my boy,” she said, bending to pet him. He was a quiet dog, never really barked, but somehow he always knew when she’d be home, even though her hours were never routine.
After taking Rex out to do his business and emptying a can of dog food into his bowl, Lily went upstairs to hit the shower. Aiden had said he’d be by at seven. That didn’t leave a lot of time for preening. She kept her shower short, and when she came out of the bathroom, Rex was waiting, curled up in his bed in the corner of her room.
“Hi, my little man. How’s my boy tonight?”
The dog stood and wagged his short reddish-brown tail excitedly.
“Mommy’s got a date.” She knelt beside him and kissed the top of his head. “Sorry to leave you again.” Despite her excitement, she felt a pang of guilt. Poor Rex had been alone all day, and now here she was going out at night. With a heavy sigh, Lily ran a hand through her damp hair. “Ah, hell, I need to get a life.” She eyed her dog again. “You understand, don’t ya?”
Rex wagged his tail as if in reply.
“I promise not to be too late.”
After blow-drying her hair and applying her makeup, she realized she didn’t know where Aiden was taking her. She hadn’t bothered to ask and he hadn’t said. Padding to her closet, she threw open the door and took inventory. She didn’t know what to wear. What would pass as a date in Higgstown, Maine? A movie, dinner, bowling? The last one she didn’t much care for.
God, how she wished Sara was around to give advice. It was unbelievable how complicated her life was now. Wilkins and Deluca were the enemy. How strange that felt, to be on the other side of the law, to be looked at with suspicion. Wilkins especially was a disappointment. He’d known her since she was a child. How could he think it possible she would murder the only person in her life she loved?
Lily shook the bad thoughts away again. At least her restaurant was still in business. She’d been afraid she’d lose customers, but hers was the only diner in town. When people’s stomachs got to rumblin’, they came just as before. Business was business, she guessed, and friendship another matter entirely.
“What do you think of this?” Lily said aloud, pretending her sister was standing beside her, knowing she sounded like she was off her rocker. But she really did believe Sara could hear her. She yanked a pair of khaki chinos off a hanger along with a blousy cotton top. “Should be good enough for bowling, dinner, or a movie.”
The crunching of tires on gravel caught her attention, and she peeked out her bedroom window in time to spy a silver Dodge Ram kicking up dust as it made its way along the meandering driveway.
Her heart took off in a sprint. She told herself to settle down between calming breaths. He was just a man for crying out loud. She took one last glance in the mirror and smiled at her reflection before heading downstairs to answer the doorbell that would ring any second.