Page 23 of Lucky in Love
“I’m fine. How’d the trip to New York go?” Sometimes he regretted telling her everything.
“Oh, well.” He lowered his voice. “I didn’t do it.”
“Really? Why not?”
Brody couldn’t tell if it was disappointment or relief in his mother’s tone. She’d never been outright rude to Chloe, but he sometimes got the impression that she didn’t really like her.
“Uh, we actually broke up instead.” No way he was giving details about why, especially not here, in the middle of the lunch crowd. The other patrons had given up the pretense of not watching him and were openly eavesdropping on his conversation.
“What? Why? What’d she do?”
The bells on the front door rang, and Nick walked in. Seeing Brody, he held up a hand and started his way.
“I can’t get into it now,” Brody whispered. “I’ll call you later with the details. Love you.” He clicked off just as Nick arrived.
“Mind?” Nick asked, nodding at the seat across from Brody.
“’Course not. Saved me from an awkward convo.”
“Chloe?”
“Nah,” he said. “My mom.”
“Ah, yes.” Nick chuckled. “I have one of those. She upset about the breakup?”
“Not sure yet,” Brody said. “She was kinda weird about it. Thanks for sitting with me. I get the feeling everyone thinks I’m The Grocer. Lunching with local law enforcement might be the only thing that keeps the pitchforks from coming out.”
“I bet. Stranger danger gets a whole new meaning in a small town.” He turned to the room and raised his voice. “He’s cool, y’all.”
An audible collective sigh rang out. Shoulders slumped in relief, eyes reverted to plates of food, and the whispers stopped.
“That was easy.” Brody chuckled. “Thanks. Any word on whether they’re closing in on this guy?”
“Green Valley Falls is in their search parameters, so I receive updates from the task force every few hours. I’m guessing there’ll be feds in town by the end of the day.”
“Hey, Nicky,” the waitress greeted. “What can I get cha?”
“Edna,” Nick said. “This is Brody. He’s staying out at Alex’s for a while. Don’t let Saul poison his soup, eh?”
“We that obvious?” Edna laughed. “Sorry, Brody, but you know, this whole thing’s got the town on edge.”
“State and federal law enforcement will be pokin’ around soon,” Nick said. “I trust you’ll spread the word?”
“’Course, hon.”
“Thanks. Can I get a turkey on rye and a slice of raspberry cheesecake to go? Boxed separate if it isn’t too much trouble.”
“You bet. If the cheesecake’s for Faith, I’ll run it over to her.”
“That’d be great. I gotta get back to the office.”
Brody liked how everyone seemed to know stuff about each other and thought it would be nice to someday live in such a close-knit community. That reminded him of his conversation with Nick last night.
“You told your friends about my misfortune in NYC?”
“Eh.” Nick shrugged. “They woulda found out anyway. No sense trying to keep secrets around here.”
“No worries. I get it.”
