Page 130 of Callahan

I walked in the bakery and dropped my head in defeat.

Aw hell.

Alan and Lainey were at a table by the register, and they were both laughing.

And not “ha-ha, that’s cute” laughing. No, it was the type of laughing that had Lainey wiping her eyes.

Alan saw me first and he stood with his arms open and exclaimed, “There he is!” His deep, booming voice echoed off the bakery’s walls.

Fuck, it was good to see him.

I didn’t hesitate to step into his embrace, and we hugged far longer than the average three seconds.

Finally, we separated, but he kept his hand on the back of my head while he beamed at me.

“I’ve missed you, bro!”

“I’ve missed you, too! Thank you so much for making the trip down.”

“Yeah, of course. Lainey was filling me in about everything that’s been going on around here! That shit is wild! You still haven’t caught the guy who jumped you, though?”

“No, not yet.”

“So, the two incidents weren’t related? What are the odds of that?”

Brian piped in, “Pretty slim, in my opinion.”

I added, “But we haven’t been able to connect anyone else to Lainey’s stalker.”

Alan looked over at Brian, like he’d just noticed him, and stuck his hand out.

“You must be Brian. Alan Callahan, nice to meet you.”

“Likewise. That was really cool of you to come all the way from Massachusetts.”

“Well, I figured since my little brother didn’t want to see his family after getting discharged from the Marines, I’d come to him.”

“That’s not it, and you know it.”

Alan turned to me with a grin. “I know; I’m just busting your balls. I haven’t been able to do that in a while!”

Lainey stood and said, “I need to get back to work, but Alan, it was truly a pleasure.” She nodded toward me and Brian. “Gentlemen, wonderful to see you as always.”

She’d taken three steps when I called, “Hey, do you have any blueberry tarts left?”

She went behind the counter and returned with a bag she handed to me.

“Of course, I saved you the last one. Your brother paid for it.”

I shot him a smile. “Aw, thanks, man.”

Alan, who was an inch taller than me, looked over my head toward Lainey and asked, “Seven thirty tonight? Make sure you bring your little boy.”

“I’ll bring the baby and the blueberry wine.”

They exchanged a look, then burst out laughing at the same time, which pissed me off.

“What? You guys spend thirty minutes together, and you already have inside jokes?”

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