just that we were young and impressionable and very, very goofy. “I’m excited to see you. Do you want to go to an open mic night?”
“Do you think we’ll have time?”
“Hopefully. I mean, there’s not much else going on up here.”
“Asides from you doing Wade Hart.”
“Yes, asides from that. And that can’t happen right now anyway because he’s disappeared.”
“And because he’s holding a deep, dark secret. Don’t forget the deep, dark secret.”
“How could I?” I began looking for a parking spot. “I have to go, Lucy, I just got into the village and I’m going to park and meet up with Gordon. I’ll speak to you later?”
“Yes. Can’t wait to see you.”
“Can’t wait to see you, too.”
I smiled into the air and the music started playing again as Lucy hung up. I was excited to see Lucy and Jolene again. I wanted them to see where I lived, what I’d been doing, and I wanted to hug them both. I could feel the buzz of excitement in my veins. It would be so comforting to have a piece of home here with me.
I found a parking spot and then headed to the diner. I walked in and looked around but I didn’t see Gordon.
“Howdy.” Beryl walked over to me, a pen in her hair and a curious look in her eyes. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, my friend and I would like to grab lunch. He should be here soon.”
“Hmmm.” She pursed her lips and then mumbled something under her breath.
“Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”
“You’ve been making all sorts of friends since you’ve been here, haven’t you?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that, no.” I shook my head and followed her to a table. “Do you have any specials today or can I get anything on the menu?” I looked up at her as she placed two menus on the table.
“We always serve everything on the menu.” She took her pen out from behind her ear and tapped it on the table. “Mr. Wade going to be joining us?”
“No,” I shook my head. “He’s out of town.”
“Is he now?” She raised an eyebrow. “Hmm.”
“Do you know him well?”
“Mr. Wade?” She shook her head. “Not really. We knew his father, though. He used to come in here all the time.”
“Oh really? With Wade and Henry?”
“Not so much.” She shook her head. “T’is a sad thing what happened.”
“What happened?”
“You know with his wife, and the business.” She shrugged. “Nearly lost everything, they did.”
“Oh?” I asked her curiously. “But I guess he worked it out?”
“He worked it out, all right.” She nodded. “Yup.”
“Wade and Henry seem like nice men.” I decided to see if I could prod some information out of her. She had to know something. Hadn’t she been warning me at the pub that the Hart men were no good?
“They seem to be fine.”
“Were they close with their father?”
“Not really.”
“Did they have a big funeral for him?”
“A funeral?” Her eyes widened and she stared at me for a few seconds without blinking. “Death is a funny thing, isn’t it? It can bring so much heartache, and in other ways so much joy.”
“Joy?” I blinked. Who would be happy that someone died?
“You’re meeting that boy Gordon?” Her face grew tighter as I nodded. “You be careful, you hear.”
“Careful of what?”
“There’s a lot of secrets in this town.” She leaned forward and looked me in the eyes. “There’s things that people don’t want to get out. And there’s people that will use you to make sure that—” Suddenly she stopped talking and straightened up. Her gaze flew to the door that had just opened. Gordon was walking into the restaurant, a big smile on his face as he headed towards me. Beryl looked at him and then back at me. “You just be careful, Ms. Savannah,” she said softly. She walked away from the table, and seconds later Gordon was sitting across from me.
“What did that old biddy want?” He glared at Beryl’s back.
“Oh, you don’t want to know.” I faked a laugh, feeling slightly uneasy. Why did he make me feel uncomfortable? He was my friend. A supportive person I’d met in this small town. I needed friends, and I needed to stop being so suspicious.
“I probably don’t.” He laughed and picked up a menu. “Let’s see what they have. I’m starving.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah, I missed breakfast.” He nodded and then leaned forward. “So, heard anything from Wade? He’s not back already, is he?”
“No, he’s still out of town.”
“Okay, so where did he go? Was it