Page 10 of Dodge

“How do you expect to pay for this… this…diner?”

“I’ll get a business loan. I’m sure Dad can pull those strings just as well as he could Duke’s.”

“Your father and I will not cosign any loans for you to throw away on a cheap diner,” she sneered.

“Then I’ll use my trust fund.”

“We’ll never approve it.”

“I don’t think you can keep me from using my own money.”

“Fauna, you need to stop this nonsense at once and come home before you embarrass us any further. You? Own a restaurant? A diner? Ridiculous.”

There it was. I was the black sheep of the family and a failure in their eyes. My brother rarely spoke to me, and I hadn’t seen my father much since I went to culinary school. Only for the token holiday here and there to make pretty family pictures for the obligatory postcards Mom always sent. None of my family came to my graduation.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Mom. I need to go. I have a long drive tomorrow and a lot to do.”

The phone went dead in my hand. No“Goodbye” or “Good luck.”

I swiped the screen closed and put it on the tiny nightstand. My sinuses stung, but I didn’t cry. I learned a long time ago that tears solved nothing.

The pics of the restaurant still showed on my laptop, along with the address and phone number of the realtor. I sniffed once, just because, and opened a new tab for Google Maps—this time for driving directions.

CHAPTER5

Dodge sighedand swore under his breath as he peeled another sheet from his sketchbook, crumpled it up, and stuffed it in his pocket. The Lair was filled with the anticipation of the big summer tourist season, and the party atmosphere sat thick in the air. Mute and Bruiser were down at the River’s Edge Bar while Betsey had the night off and was manning the bar here at the Lair. The queen in her kingdom. Brick held court in the main room as he shot a game of pool with Table. Stud and Hollywood were battling it out in a video game with several club women cheering them on.

Dodge spotted Donna as she sidled up to the newest and youngest member, Rafter. He’d been given his full membership patch this week. It was a bit like watching a mountain lion stalk its prey. Definitely a cougar moment.

The noise usually didn’t bother him, but for some reason, tonight he was restless. Probably because he was hiding. There was plenty of work at the garage to put in overtime, but even he had to sleep at some point. The truth was he didn’t want to go home. Reason number one was Mallory’s presence. She was still there even after the deadline he’d given her.

Who was he kidding? Any time he’d thought about making her leave in the past, he never had the strength to do it. It just wasn’t in him. It would be like kicking an eager puppy.

He threw the wadded ball into the nearest trash can and started over. The client wanted a giant multicolored spider on the hood of his classic Pontiac. Dodge planned on graphing it later, but he wanted to give the owner a few possibilities. If he’d gone home, he doubted he would have gotten anything done.

She’d gotten a job at a local chain grocery store and so far had stayed there, but her job history was sketchy. Seldom had she kept working at anything long term. A few months at most. Once, she’d worked at a convenience store for just over a year, but that was the longest she ever stayed employed.

Another reason was her pushiness for them to become intimate. In the past, he gave in more than once during her sporadic invasions into his life. Each time, just when he thought there was a glimmer of them working out, she disappeared. His heart had been broken and healed enough times that he didn’t think it would ever work again.

That was until the most recent car show over in Asheville.

He picked up a pencil and drew a few lines. Rounded abdomen, long legs, gold-green colors.

Fuck, I have to stop daydreaming.

“Heard Cathy over at the real estate office say someone called her today ’bout Mae’s old diner. Sucks for anyone buying that place. Need a whole lotta work to get it goin’ again,” Molly announced as she gathered her purse and car keys. She was Cutter’s old lady, one of the oldest and highest respected members of the club. “I gotta get to the station. Cain’t wait until I get off these night shifts.”

Molly worked as a part-time dispatcher at the sheriff’s office. Some townspeople thought it was weird for the club to have any connections with law enforcement, but somehow, they made it work.

Dodge shaded the abdomen for deeper perception, smudged the edges of the sketch with his finger, and then started drawing an eye in the middle of the abdomen. His thoughts wandered to the last time he’d gazed into a pair of them that intrigued him enough to stay in his memory. Almond-shaped, rare and appealing color, surrounded by thick black lashes that were real instead of glued-on fakes, Fauna’s image had cropped up in his mind from time to time over the last few weeks. He hated that he left her that morning, alone in front of her home. What was she doing now? Did she and her boyfriend make up, or did she find another job? She seemed to be a capable woman despite the drunk show in the bar. He was still surprised at how little alcohol it took to get her that way, but again, he put it down to her small size and not used to drinking. It would have taken a hard drinker a lot more than the two small shots she’d taken.

Yeah, the one who got away. She was probably better off since his life had gotten complicated. Again. It was hard to start a new relationship when the old one kept cropping up.

Dodge let his fingers work as he detailed the pair of eyes that took over the paper. A long nose with a small stud in the side, high cheekbones surrounded by a bunch of springy curls, full lips in an angry pout.

Nope.

He turned his pencil over and erased the down-turned mouth, then drew in a smiling one. That was more like it. This was what he wanted to keep in his memory. It would fade over time, but for now, he drew her as he wanted to see her.

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