The Family Gathering (Sullivan's Crossing #3)(36)

He gave her a single nod. “No more tricks, Neely,” he added sternly.

She put up her hands. “Of course not. Um, I was just going to grab a chicken Caesar...”

He gave her a forced smile. “Then I have an appointment,” he said, not even bothering to conceal his irritation.

“Oh, for God’s sake! I’ll sit at a table or booth, as far away as I can get!”

“I’m going to have dinner at the diner tonight,” he said. “Take care.” He turned and walked down the street. Though it was tempting, he did not look over his shoulder. He went to the diner and found Lola was behind the counter.

“Hey,” he said. “I don’t see much of you here.”

“Two afternoons a week. It’s not for the money, I assure you. On my diner nights, I can feed the boys here.” She indicated two young men in a booth by the window. “On nights Trace works at the bar and grill, he usually gets a burger, but the only time he gets vegetables is when I give him dinner. Cole is a little harder to feed—he’s nineteen.”

“I guess I didn’t know Trace was your son,” Dakota said. “I eat at the bar a couple of times a week. I see him all the time. Good-looking kids, Lola.”

“Yeah, they’re gorgeous,” she said. “But they’re also good. I think. So what can I get you?”

“Just coffee. And I’ll look at a menu, but it would break Sid’s heart if I let someone else feed me.”

“Sid?” she asked, lifting eyebrows. “You and Sid?”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t say anything like that since she hasn’t agreed to go out with me yet. But that hasn’t stopped me from asking a lot.”

“I love Sid,” she said, grabbing a cup and pouring coffee. “She’s a sharpie, that one. She’s helping Trace with physics.”

Dakota was taken aback. “Wow. Bartenders are better educated than I thought,” he said.

Lola laughed. “She said she took a lot of math courses in college and she kind of wanted to see if she remembered any of it.”

“Huh,” he said, impressed.

“She remembers apparently,” Lola said. “Excuse me.” She turned and went to check on the boys.

Dakota took out his cell phone and made use of that phone number he’d recently scored. I know Neely went in the bar. Will you text me when she leaves and the coast is clear?

He sipped his coffee. A minute later he had a return text. Yes. You’re pathetic.





   Family connexions were always worth preserving, good company always worth seeking.

   —JANE AUSTEN





8

DAKOTA TOOK HIS usual seat at the bar.

Sidney gave the space in front of him a wipe and she was grinning. “Have you been hiding in your car? Slinked down in the seat so no one would see you?”

“No, I went to the diner and had coffee with Lola. I thought about having my dinner there but I know how much you like watching me eat.”

“It is a particular thrill,” she said. “Aren’t you being a little ridiculous? Can’t you keep the women at bay?”

“I had a doubleheader tonight. First Alyssa caught me on the sidewalk and she wanted a little showdown. Apparently she’s been worried that I was avoiding her because of some gossip I might’ve heard. I didn’t hear any. I told her I’m seeing someone.”

“Who?” Sid asked, putting his beer in front of him.

“You wouldn’t know her,” he said, lifting his mug and taking a big sip. “Ahh,” he said. “Then, after I got away from Alyssa, I ran into Neely a little down the block. Call me crazy but I think she was lurking. Hiding in the darkness. I didn’t see her, then she popped out of thin air. She said she wanted to apologize for her aggressiveness and she wanted to start over. I can’t think of a scarier thought. There’s something about her... She came up with this story that some guy she barely dated was practically stalking her and he might’ve been the one to—” Dakota cleared his throat.

“You’re hiding something,” Sid said.

“Can I have a Juicy Lucy, please?” he asked nicely.

“Yes, when you tell me what you’re hiding.”

“Why do you care?”

“I might have to rethink this wedding date if you’re sketchy.”

“I’m not the sketchy one!” he insisted.

He looked at her. She had one hand on her hip and a stern expression that said she wasn’t buying any of his bullshit and suddenly he wanted to look at that face every day for the rest of his life. How that happened, right then, right there, he had no idea. He could not lie to her. He sighed. “That night that Neely tricked me with her nonexistent flat tire, when I went back to get my car after dinner, one of my tires was slashed. The other three were deflated. Four flats.”

“But you didn’t come back here,” she said, perplexed.

“No. I called my brother and a tow truck. We talked to Stan, the chief. I didn’t want to mention it.”

“Why, for Pete’s sake?”

“I didn’t want to seem complicated...”

She laughed a little. Then she turned and put in the order for his hamburger. She checked around the bar to see if anyone needed anything, then returned to Dakota. “You are such a girl,” she said.