Hard to Handle (Caine Cousins #2)(47)

“Hell yeah.”

“Cool. Give me some time to get shit ready for the day and we’ll head over.”

An hour later, Lynx was walking into the diner. He’d taken Copenhagen over to the store to chill with Calvin for a bit. When he arrived, Wolfe and Amy were already there, sitting at their table in the back. He glanced around, taking in all the faces, offering up a couple of waves.

“Hey, Lynx.”

Turning, he saw Darrell Jameson waving him over.

Lynx lifted his eyebrows in question.

“What can we do to help out at Reagan’s? Got a construction crew itchin’ to pitch in. You got some plans sketched out yet?”

“Workin’ on it,” Lynx told him. In fact, he’d drawn up the plans for the new place last night while he’d been sitting on his ass wishing like hell Reagan had stayed over again.

“When you get ’em, let me take a look. I can work on some of the permits, then I’ll grab more guys if I need ’em.”

Lynx nodded, then held out his hand. “Thanks.”

“Happy to help.”

Turning back toward the table, Lynx couldn’t help but smile.

This was what living in a small town was all about.



Reagan hadn’t been able to sleep at all last night. Seemed every time she closed her eyes, the memory of the explosion came rushing back. The fire, the heat, the fear … it all resounded in her head and her eyes had refused to close again. At one point, she had gotten up and rearranged the dishes in the kitchen in an order that made more sense to her. From there, she had situated the furniture in the living room on the opposite wall, opening up the space and making it feel a little less like Amy’s place.

By then she’d been exhausted, but sleep still wouldn’t come.

Part of her had wished she’d agreed to stay at Lynx’s when he’d offered, but she knew that was not a good idea.

For one, she was having a difficult time not thinking about him nonstop. Right now, Reagan needed to focus on getting her shit together, to figure out what was up, because her life had been turned upside down in the past few days. Definitely not spending all her time thinking about Lynx, wishing his hands were on here, wanting nothing more than to lose herself in him for a little while.

Which was the reason she was heading over to the bar. Or the parking lot, as it may be. She’d called the insurance company first thing only to be told it would take some time for them to investigate, to get the police report and whatnot. Luckily, she’d taken plenty of pictures, so she shot those over to them via email, hoping they would suffice. However, what she thought would be a simple, quick process sounded anything but. And now she’d added figure out how to pay the bills to her list of things to do.

She had some money put aside, but it wasn’t like she made a lot. The place had been in their family for decades, but when it’d come time for her father to take over, he had refused, letting it rot. She could still remember the heated argument she had with her father when she told him she wanted to open a bar there. He had insisted she couldn’t do it, and that had made Reagan work harder to make it a success.

It cost plenty to keep the bar open and Reagan refused to charge ridiculous prices for beer. When she’d originally opened, she had made a promise to herself that she’d keep it a local hangout. Most of the tourists ventured over to Marla’s Bar, where they could get liquor, dinner, and a little dancing. At Reagan’s, the highlight of the evening was when drunk fools wagered on their pool game.

But it was hers and she loved it. Now she just missed it.

Pulling into the parking lot, Reagan’s jaw dropped when she saw a couple of backhoes and tractors in the process of moving the debris into a dumpster.

She slammed Lynx’s truck into park and hopped out, waving her arms to get their attention.

When the tractor stopped, she marched over, her eyes coming to rest on Ed Davis, one of the regulars at her bar. “What’re you doin’?”

The man frowned. “Cleanin’ this up.”

“Why?”

He glanced over at the other man, then back to her. “Lynx Caine asked us to help out.”

Lynx.

Of course.

Reagan had to spin away from the man as tears flooded her eyes, her heart squeezing tightly in her chest.

Lynx was taking care of her. The same way he took care of everyone in this town. Anytime something happened — whether it was a new baby, a birthday, graduation, even a funeral — it seemed Lynx was somewhere in there, making things happen for people.

It didn’t surprise her, although at the same time, she didn’t know what to think.

Without saying another word, she fled to the truck and climbed in, not wanting them to see her cry, because there was no way she could hold back the tears now. Lynx had done this. He’d gotten some people over here to help out already.

What was she going to do with that man? Why did he have to be so sweet?

Of course, then her thoughts drifted to Billy. She hadn’t even heard from the asshole, and she knew he was still in town. No way did he not know about the explosion considering he’d been brought in for questioning. Nope, the man she’d spent ten years with hadn’t bothered to call and see if she was okay.

“Because he’s an asshole,” she muttered to herself.

The polar opposite of Lynx. Damn. She was in so much trouble here.