Page 98 of Heating Up (Nugget)
“Is there a table available?” Aidan gazed out the window at the picnic tables on the lawn. “There’s one. You go get it and I’ll order our food at the window. What do you want?”
She told him a burger, curly fries, and lemonade and headed out to grab the table. The temperature was cooler than it had been in days. Still nice to have shade under a large redwood tree. Aidan joined her with their drinks. She imagined they’d have to wait a while for their food order to be called.
“A lot of people ahead of us?”
“It would appear so,” he said. “They looked backed up in the kitchen.”
“I wonder when Donna plans to put in the barbecues.”
“Before the fire, she seemed to be in a big rush. Maybe she put it on hold for a while until the crowds get back to normal.”
Griffin pulled up on his motorcycle, saw the line, and started to leave. As soon as he spotted Dana and Aidan, he made a beeline for their table.
“I thought he was going to Hawaii,” Aidan said, sounding put out. Dana blamed his grouchiness on the fact that he was working too hard.
“Not until after Tawny and Lucky’s wedding.”
“Great.”
Dana could’ve sworn she’d seen him roll his eyes. Lowering her voice, she asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
“I don’t like how he’s always coming around you.”
Griff was too close for her to respond, but the idea that Aidan might be jealous . . . well, that had never happened to her before, and as childish as it was, she liked that he felt proprietary toward her.
“Howdy.” Griff shielded his eyes from the sun. “The place is a zoo.”
“It’s like a grand opening.” Dana laughed.
“I heard about your office.” He shook his head and turned to Aidan. “What the hell is going on?”
Aidan lifted his shoulders. “We’re working on it.”
“I have security cameras at the Gas and Go.” The station was on the same street as Nugget Realty.
“You do?” Suddenly Aidan showed a bit more interest in Griffin’s company. “Would you mind if I came over and took a look?”
“Sure, but you can’t see Dana’s office from the Gas and Go.”
“What can you see?”
“A little bit of Main Street, but mostly the pumps, the inside of the convenience store, and a small section of the mechanic bays.”
“I’d like to check them out just the same. How many hours do your cameras record?”
“A few days,” Griffin said. “Then it starts recording over itself. You should have yesterday on it, though.”
“What about the day before?”
“Yep. Come over and check it out if you think it’ll help.”
“I’ll do that, thanks.” Someone called out their order and Aidan excused himself to get the food.
“You eating?” Dana asked Griff.
“I was thinking about it until I saw the line. There are hot dogs back at the gas station. You and Aidan going to the wedding?” He didn’t need to say which wedding. In Nugget, it was just “the wedding.”
“Mm-hmm,” Dana said and gazed at her tennis shoes.
