Chapter 11: Evie

11

EVIE

I was thinking about Edge and replaying everything that had happened the night before when I walked into the diner.

"It's about time," Irene said when she saw me.

Glancing at the clock to make sure I wasn't late, my brows furrowed in confusion. "For what?" I asked.

Irene grinned. "If that goofy smile is anything to go by, I'm guessing you and Edge finally figured out y'all are more than the friends you claim to be."

"Yes," I said, and for the first time in my life, I truly understood what it meant to swoon.

Irene stepped closer and lowered her voice. "Don't keep an old lady waiting. How was he? On a scale of limp dick to wild ride?"

"You are by no means an old lady."

"Nice try, but you can't distract me with flattery. Now, spill. I've always wondered if those bikers lived up to the expectations of every woman who's ever gawked at them."

I couldn't help but laugh at her antics. "There's no need for you to wonder. I'm sure Ranger could satisfy your curiosity."

She arched an eyebrow and pointed one finger at me. "No."

"What?" I laughed.

Our banter was interrupted by the first two customers of the day. Walter and Buck were regulars who ate at the diner three times a week, though they usually came in for lunch instead of breakfast.

"Hey, guys," I greeted and looked at the clock. "It's a bit early for you two, isn't it?"

"Somebody wants to go fishing today, even though it's a diner day," Buck said and gestured to Walter with his thumb.

"You would've thought I asked him to reschedule his vacation with all the bellyaching he did about missing his usual lunch," Walter said.

"You could've picked another day."

"No, I couldn't. They're calling for rain for the rest of the week."

"What's wrong with next week?" Buck asked.

"You said you wouldn't complain if we had breakfast here."

Buck shrugged. "We haven't had breakfast yet."

"Can I get you a cup of coffee or something else to drink?" I asked, interrupting their back and forth. They were lifelong friends, and they bickered nonstop. It was entertaining and somewhat exhausting.

"Two coffees, please. And we'll need a couple of menus," Walter said.

"Here you go." I handed them two breakfast menus and gestured to the empty diner. "Sit wherever you like."

"Perks of being the early birds." Walter lowered his voice and leaned forward like he was going to tell me a secret. "He's less grumpy after coffee."

"I heard that," Buck said. "And for your information, I'm less grumpy later in the day."

"The early bird gets the worm."

"But the second mouse gets the cheese," Buck countered, causing me to laugh.

"I think he's got you there," I said as I brought their coffees to the table.

"Please don't encourage him," Walter teased.

"Wink twice if he's making you uncomfortable," Buck said. "I'll shove him out of the boat when he's not looking."

"You two are something else," I laughed and shook my head. "I'll be right back with your orders."

By the time they were finished eating, the diner was in full swing, and I barely had a chance to wish them good luck on their trip.

"Thanks, sweetheart," Walter said. "We'll see you at our regular time, the day after tomorrow."

"See you then," I said and headed back to the kitchen to pick up the next order that was ready. Halfway there, a commotion at the front door had me turning around to see what was going on.

Walter had his finger pointed at another man. "Watch where you're going, buddy."

"Fuck off, old man."

Buck shook his head. "What you should've said was, ‘I'm sorry. Please excuse me.'"

"Is that so?" the rude man asked and straightened to his full height.

"Yeah, that's so. Want us to show you?"

I turned to look for Irene and found her standing a few feet behind me, watching the scene.

"Should we do something?" I asked.

"We don't need to," she said without an ounce of worry in her tone. "That dipshit is about to get his ass handed to him."

"Are you serious?" I asked in disbelief.

Irene nodded with a sly smile. "They used to be professional boxers. That's how they met. After they retired from fighting, they teamed up, bought a gym, and started coaching."

I turned my attention back to the front when the man balled his fists and took a step forward.

Walter clapped his hands together and grinned. "Come on, boy. Let's see what you got."

I gasped when the man pulled his arm back and threw a punch at Walter. In the blink of an eye, Walter dodged the punch and plowed his fist into the man's face. He went down like a sack of bricks.

Buck looked down at the man and stuck out his lower lip, pretending to pout. "I didn't get a turn."

Walter ignored him and focused on the man on the ground. "Are you going to get up and leave on your own, or do you need a police escort?"

The man grumbled something I couldn't hear and got to his feet. Buck held the door open for him and waved at his back as he left.

When the door closed, the customers in the diner clapped and cheered. Walter made a show of bowing for the crowd.

Buck held up his hand. "Okay, folks, the show's over. Sorry about the disruption, Irene."

She waved her hand dismissively. "There's no need for apologies. I saw the way he almost ran you over coming through the door. He obviously needed a lesson in manners, and I'm glad he got it."

Walter nodded. "We'll get out of your hair now."

"Stay out of trouble," Irene said.

Buck winked. "We try, but trouble has a way of finding us."

"Does that happen often?" I asked Irene after the breakfast rush was over. I had witnessed no altercations between customers, with the exception of the arguing couple, since I'd been working at the diner, but Irene didn't seem surprised by the interaction.

"Not really," she said. "Most of my customers are local and know I won't put up with bullshit from anybody. Occasionally, we'll get somebody who wants to cause trouble. More often than not, the customers will intervene and show them the door."

"What happens if the customers don't intervene?" I asked, even though I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.

Irene grinned. "You'll call the cops while I introduce them to the business end of my shotgun." I'm not sure what kind of expression was on my face, but it prompted Irene to pat my shoulder gently. "Don't look so worried. I've only had to do that a handful of times, and the last time was years ago."

Despite her attempt to reassure me, I felt uneasy for the rest of the day. Every time the door opened, I stopped what I was doing and looked to see who was coming in. The last time a man showed up at my place of employment and caused a problem didn't end well for me. Granted, the scenarios were very different, but panic and fear only needed minor similarities to make a connection.

Even though the rest of my shift was uneventful and the customers were pleasant, I was more than ready to leave when Marcy arrived. Surprisingly, she actually got there a few minutes early for once.

"Hey, Evie," she said while obnoxiously smacking her gum. "Can you cover my shift tomorrow night?"

"I'm sorry. I already made plans with someone."

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "But you always cover my shift when I need you to."

That was true. Unfortunately for Marcy, my priorities had changed. When I first started working at the diner, I took every opportunity I had to make extra money. By doing so, I'd been able to save up a decent amount and didn't need the extra hours with the same desperation I once had. I'd also met Edge and enjoyed spending time with him.

"I'm sorry," I said again, even though I really wasn't. Marcy had an unprecedented sense of entitlement and little to no work ethic. "If you can give me more notice next time, I might be able to help you."

"I thought you didn't know anyone in town," she said snidely. "How do you have plans?"

"My personal life is none of your business. I appreciate the opportunities you've given me to pick up some extra hours, but going forward, I need more than one day's notice."

"Whatever," she snapped and walked away from me.

"What was that about?" Irene asked, startling me.

"She asked me to cover her shift tomorrow and didn't like it when I said no."

"You said no?" Irene asked, feigning surprise.

"Shocking, right?"

She laughed. "Get out of here and enjoy the rest of your day."

"I'll see you tomorrow," I said and headed out to my car.

I'd briefly forgotten about the morning incident, but quickly remembered when a shiver ran down my spine as I walked across the parking lot. I felt like someone was watching me and was going to pop out to grab me at any moment, but I didn't see anyone around when I carefully surveyed my surroundings.

"No one's going to get you," I whispered to myself. "This isn't like before."

My efforts to calm myself were futile. I picked up my pace and practically dove into the front seat of my car, scrambling to close and lock the door. Shaking my head, I sighed. I'd always been good at freaking myself out.

Unfortunately, my nerves didn't settle after I got home. Every random sound had me tiptoeing to the nearest window to carefully peek outside. Even though I knew I was safe at the back of Irene's property, I couldn't seem to relax. I was on the verge of driving to the grocery store to buy a bottle of wine when Edge called. He immediately realized something was off.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

I briefly considered lying but decided to tell him the truth. If he couldn't handle what I considered justified paranoia, I wanted to know sooner rather than later. "A man showed up at the diner this morning and got into a fight with two of the regulars. They put him in his place and showed him the door, but the whole thing rattled my nerves."

"Did he say or do anything to you?"

"No. He barely made it in the front door."

"Did Irene call the police?"

I shook my head before I realized he couldn't see me. "No. Walter and Buck hung around for a little while to make sure he didn't come back."

"What time did this happen?"

"About thirty minutes after we opened. Why?"

"I'm going to have Byte pull the camera feed and save the video clips. If he comes back, we'll have proof of the previous incident. Irene really should have filed a police report."

"She probably still can. Should I call her?" I asked.

"No, don't worry about it. Irene knows what she's doing. If she didn't think she needed to involve the police, then she probably didn't."

I didn't like the way he said "probably didn't" but I tried not to overthink it and moved on to tell him about Marcy.

"It's okay if you need to work tomorrow," he said.

"Thanks, but I'm looking forward to our plans," I said. "And I really enjoyed telling Marcy no. You should've seen her face. She couldn't believe I said no. Then she got mad."

"Why is she still working there?"

"Because Irene hasn't been able to find anyone to replace her. Well, that's not entirely true. She's hired a few people, but they've all quit after a few days of training."

"Is Marcy the one training them?"

"Yes," I said slowly as realization dawned. "She's running them off, isn't she?"

"That'd be my guess. She probably knows Irene will fire her once she has a replacement, and she won't be able to come and go as she pleases if she has to get a job somewhere else."

"I bet you're right. I'll mention it to Irene tomorrow morning," I said and changed the subject. I needed to get my mind off work if I wanted to get any sleep that night.

In all honesty, I would've loved for Edge to spend the night, but I couldn't bring myself to ask him. Even though it didn't take too long to drive from Croftridge to Cedar Valley, we both had to be up early for work, and I couldn't rationalize asking him to drive out to my place just so I could sleep.

Later that night, as I stared at the ceiling while lying in bed, I regretted not asking him to come over.