Page 21 of Burning for Alexander
“You’re a hard man to find,” a woman nearby said as she took the seat across from me. I recognized her from her social media, attractive, probably in her mid-thirties, with a thick blonde braid, straight bangs, and a few scattered freckles across a suntanned face.
“I’m at one of the most popular restaurants in town during the dinner rush,” I said, shooting her a friendly smile. “Maybe you’re just a terrible seeker.”
Her laugh was easy and warm as she reached out a hand. “I’m Max’s friend Katherine, but everyone calls me Kaidee. Nice to meet you.”
I stood partway to take her hand so she didn’t have to stretch across the table. “Oh shit, was that today?”
She waved me back down in my seat with a laugh. “No. I was supposed to arrive tomorrow night, but there was a storm headed through Yellowstone. I decided I’d prefer to be tucked up in your place than in a muddy tent puddle. Hope that’s okay.”
“Yeah, fine.” I did my best to hide my exhaustion and disappointment with friendly conversation. It wasn’t her fault I’d made subconscious plans to make love to my bed tonight. “Did you order yet? Want me to get you something? They have great burgers and razor-thin onion strings.”
She held up a glass of beer. “Already ate and got myself a refill, but I’m happy to keep you company.”
“Tell me about Yellowstone,” I said.
Thankfully, she carried the conversation from there, even drawing interest from some of the people sitting near us. By the time my meal came, I’d made several new local friends and felt comfortable with my new houseguest.
The food helped wake me up, and the beer calmed my aching muscles, so that within an hour, I felt like a different person.
“Ah, so you can laugh. Max said the two of you used to laugh until you puked,” Kaidee said, eyes twinkling over the amber beer in her glass.
“Max has never met a story he couldn’t turn into a joke,” I said, remembering the man who’d been my friend since we were placed in the same group foster home. I’d learned years later thatcracking jokes like Max did was a common coping mechanism, but at the time, I’d simply thought fate had finally brought me someone good to lighten my load. “I’ve never laughed as hard as I do when the two of us get together.”
She reached across the table to squeeze my scar-free arm. “He misses you, you know. Said you broke his heart when you moved away.”
The hairs prickled on the back of my neck. For a split second, I thought it was some kind of childhood trauma response brought on by these memories, but movement out of the corner of my eye revealed Alex Marian coming to a sudden stop. His eyes seemed riveted to my table. Or maybe to the half-empty beer glass next to where Kaidee’s hand still clasped my forearm. Or maybe I imagined it because he lurched forward toward the ordering counter as if he hadn’t even noticed I was there.
“…go back to your place?” Kaidee asked.
My eyes had followed Alex, noticing the stiffening of his back and shoulders, but I quickly blinked back at Kaidee. “Sorry, what?”
“You look tired, Judd,” she said with a kind smile. “I think we need to get you home and into bed.”
I glanced back at Alex, wondering if I should say something to him, to ask why he’d left my office so quickly or why he hadn’t fought me harder on the open-flame permit. Before I could decide, it was his turn to order, and someone nearby asked if my seat was available.
“Er, yeah. I’m headed out,” I mumbled, standing to dispose of my dishes so he could take my place.
After the heat of the small, crowded restaurant, the cool night air was a relief. I sucked in a lungful of it and tried to relax my shoulders.
“You want to talk about it?” Kaidee asked.
At first, I wondered how she knew about my mixed-up feelings regarding Alex Marian, but then she added, “Must be a pretty big change living in such a small place after Philly.”
I let go of my thoughts about Alex and gave Kaidee an amused side-eye. “Who’s asking, you or Max?”
She shrugged, and it was the first time I noticed her body. She was fit and trim in a sleeveless cotton sundress that was cut low enough in the front for me to get a hint of her full breasts. The dress itself was shorter than I realized, showing off shapely legs and delicate feet with purple-painted toenails in strappy sandals.
Max was right. Kaidee was a beautiful woman. The kind who didn’t use makeup or fancy clothes to impress.
The kind who would normally be just my type… if I weren’t so bone-deep tired.
“Yeah, I guess it’s a big change,” I admitted. “But I like it. Today, we had a wildfire drill on the mountain, and it was a hundred times better than any training exercise I did in the city. Bright sunlight with zero humidity, mountain air with a cool breeze, and we even saw a cow moose and her calf in the distance. Can’t find that in Philly.”
“Sure can’t. That sounds amazing.”
I nodded. “It was, but I’m glorifying it a little. It also kicked my ass. I almost slipped into the river, got covered in mud, and used muscles carrying portable pumps that I’d forgotten I even had. I’m wrecked.”
She laughed as we arrived at a Subaru that had a muddy bike strapped to the back. “This is me.”
