Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
A horn blows behind me, letting me know I’ve been sitting here longer than I should have. I pull over to the side of the road and park my truck. From here, I have a perfect vantage point to see Annie at work.
She writes something down in her pad, smiles, and grabs the menus off the table before walking back to the kitchen. All I can do is stare at her. What the hell is going on? What is she doing?
When she moved out of the house, I thought for sure she’d go back to her family. This whole week, I’ve pictured her on some yacht in the Pacific or lounging on a beach somewhere. Hell, shopping in Paris or whatever rich people do. But I never imagined this. I never thought she would stay in Whiskey Run, and she sure as hell wouldn’t be working as a waitress. Hell, her family has enough money that they could buy this whole damn town if they wanted to. None of this makes sense.
As I sit in my truck, gawking at the woman that is my everything, I don’t know what to do. One thing is for sure: I’m not leaving here until she talks to me.
CHAPTER 2
ANNIE
Kathy sets an empty tray down next to me and puts a hand on her hip. “Well, you have the gossip mills running.”
I’m waiting for the cook to finish an order, and I’m cleaning up the counter while I wait. I don’t look at Kathy. Hell, I don’t even want to acknowledge her because I know her and her type. She’s just wanting information from me to feed into that gossip mill she’s talking about. In response, I just shrug.
She takes a step toward me. “Annie, what’s going on? People are saying you left Dustin.”
I blow out a breath. Maybe it was a bad idea to stay in Whiskey Run. I should have known there would be questions. My original plan was to go to New York, but I only got as far as downtown Whiskey Run. I had come here to Red’s Diner to eat a piece of the Blaze cinnamon apple cake, trying to decide my future, when Violet, the owner of Red’s Diner, listened to me while I cried about my marriage ending. Before I knew it, she gave me a job and found me an apartment to live in. She said it was all too new and that I shouldn’t completely upend my life without some reflection.
I tense as I feel Kathy staring a hole in me. One thing is for sure, she’s not going to back off. I’m going to have to tell her something. I suck in a breath, and with a lowered voice, I tell her, “Dustin and I are separated, Kathy. As you can imagine, it’s a hard time, and I don’t really want to talk about it.”
She rears back as if I’ve hit her or something. Of course, she’s offended that I don’t want to talk about my life going to shit. I try to ease my denial with a smile. “Thanks for asking me, though. I appreciate your concern.”
“Order up,” the cook calls through the window from the kitchen. I turn quickly and take the order off the shelf and put it on the tray in front of me. Without another look at Kathy, I walk over to deliver the food. I have a forced smile on my face as I set the plates out on the table, and after making sure they don’t need anything else, I walk away.
I’m almost to the back when the bell announcing a new customer chimes. I turn with a smile on my face, ready to greet the newcomer, and practically trip on my feet when I see Dustin Clay, my husband, walking in the front door.
His eyes are on me, and it’s just like every other time he’s looked at me. There’s no hiding the attraction he feels for me. It’s always been obvious that he wants me. I just wish that was enough. I turn my head quickly and walk to the back of the restaurant. Kathy is standing there with a huge smile on her face. “Oh my God, Dustin is here.” She practically claws my arm. “And he’s sitting in your section.”
I swear Kathy is practically foaming from the mouth she’s so excited that she’s got a front row seat to the drama.
She fluffs her hair, and whether she does it consciously or not, she unbuttons the top button of her shirt. “I can take him if you want. I mean, if it’s going to be too hard to talk to him or whatever.”
She ends that offer with a lick of her lips, and it takes everything in me not to smack that smirk off her face. Yes, it’s going to be hard to face Dustin, but it would be even harder to stand on the sidelines and watch Kathy throw herself at him. I grit my teeth. “Thank you, Kathy, but I got this.”