see her, he needed to see her. But there were only so many hours a man could nurse his vodka martini in a bar on a Sunday night without attracting unwanted attention, so he took the on-ramp to Highway 49, going south. Halfway between Hot Water and the larger town of Colter, he turned into the crowded gravel parking lot of the best Chinese restaurant in the area, The China Chef.
A little won ton soup, a little chow mein, and he'd handle the vodka better, as well as the wait until he could be alone with Samantha.
Her recent attempt to end their relationship was worrying the hell out of him. He'd bulldozed right through the moment - how easy it had been to flatten her effort somewhat mollified him - but that didn't mean he'd squashed her doubts.
For God's sake, he had them himself. Where was this relationship going? How was it going to end? But Samantha made him feel young again, so he clung tenaciously to a youngster's ability to stride forward into an uncertain future.
He knew only that he needed her. Especially tonight.
Inside the dimly lit waiting area of The China Chef, the delicious smell of vegetables sauteeing in hot sesame oil made his mouth water. From the kitchen came the loud clatter of pots and pans as the cooks tried to keep up with the orders from the full dining room as well as with those from walk-ins like himself.
D. B. made his selection at the take-out counter, paid, then took a seat on the red vinyl bench placed against one of the foyer's walls. As he leaned back, he realized someone else was waiting there, sitting in the darker shadows at the far end of the bench.
"Samantha." Surprised, he wondered for a moment if he'd imagined her there.
But her half smile appeared very real. "Judge. Good to see you." Her guardedness was also very real.
He glanced at the cashier, then slid down the vinyl so that his thigh kissed hers. "You're not working tonight? I was planning on stopping by later."
She shook her head. "I had Andy take my place."
"Is something the matter?" Not that she didn't deserve time off, but he knew she worried, even on Sunday nights, about the crowd getting too rowdy if she wasn't there to supervise. That attention to her business, that acute sense of responsibility, only made her more attractive to him. His gaze ran over her pale face. "You look tired again," he said, reaching out a hand to touch her cheek.
She flinched away. "That's why Andy's on tonight," she answered lightly.
D. B. still didn't like it. "Have you seen a doctor?"
"Yes. Friday, as a matter of fact." She hesitated. "There's nothing for you to worry about."
That didn't sound quite right. "Samantha..."
She put her hand on his thigh, only an inch above his knee, yet just that gentle touch sent his mind skittering and blood rushing to his groin. "How was your Odd Fellows dinner this evening?" she asked.
He tried gathering his thoughts. "What?"
One corner of her mouth twitched and she drew her hand away. "I asked how your dinner was tonight."
"Long." With Samantha here beside him, his concern switched to the other person who had been worrying him. "Disappointing. I was hoping to persuade Dylan to go with me, but he refused."
She touched the back of his hand. "That bothers you."
D. B. took a long breath, released it. "The truth is, years ago - the summer Dylan left - I think I failed him." It felt surprisingly good to finally speak his fear out loud.
"Something to do with the kidnapping?"
His eyebrows rose.
She shrugged. "When the town's favorite son returns, so do the stories about said son. I've heard all about him and all about it."
Not all of it. Nobody knew, not even D. B., how Dylan had been affected by the kidnapping. He knew only that his son had changed afterward. Dylan's future plans, his natural optimism, his love for the place where he'd been born and raised, had been leveled by the events on that one fateful day.
And maybe by the things D. B. hadn't said ... and the things he had. "He was only twenty-three years old. Christ, I was forty-two and I didn't know how to react to the tragedy."
"No one could be prepared for what happened, D. B."
He let his head fall back against the wall. "We were all so damn frustrated. Grateful, ecstatic that the children were safe, but Alicia Bennett was missing.