CLAIRE DAVON

Excerpt

“What’ll it be?”

“Club soda. Extra lime.”

Kole, a ginger haired man in his mid thirties, raised an eyebrow. “It’s a mineral, then? Don’t want to get ossified?”

He’d been around Kole often enough to be able to translate his words into a question about soft drinks and drunkenness. He nodded toward the bartender and then slid his gaze toward Stormy. “I need to be clear headed.” Aiden’s tone was gravelly before he modified it. Kole had nothing to do with this situation, even if his sympathetic demeanor invited confidences. “I’ve got a problem.” The beer and peanuts smell of the bar was familiar. There was nothing like going to an old haunt to stir up memories. The woman in the corner whose face pointed the opposite direction was at the center of so many of them.

Kole’s discerning gaze took in the younger woman, his observation bearing the weight of his years of expertise. “She’s been irritated since she walked in a half hour ago. Mineral’s on the house. I don’t envy you your task. I’ve known Stormy a long time and she looks proper feargach.” Kole slid the club soda with two lime wedges to Aiden.

He picked up the drink and contemplated his next move. Stormy’s attention was on her phone, which he took for the ruse it was. He knew her too well not to understand her cues. Her hands gripped the phone so tightly her knuckles showed white. Her jaw was clenched and he bet if he were closer, he would be able to observe her left ear moving as she ground her teeth. All the little tells were obvious, for someone who understood what to check for.

He’d spent years studying those cues, for all the good it had done him. He didn’t do anything about it then and wasn’t about to now, even though her family had sent him to convince her to come home. They had trusted him and he wouldn’t let them down. He may not be blood, but he was practically a part of the family. That would never change.

He ignored the part of him that reminded him that last year had changed that, and this was just the fallout.