I’m going to fix it for her. For her and Jo. I’m going to fix ALL the things. I just need—
Snap!
“Ow! Mari—I thought you liked me!”
“That’s before I knew who you were.” The towel connects with my thigh and I take another step back.
The door to the kitchen swings open and a man I’m guessing is Big Mo ducks through the doorway. He has bright eyes, rich umber skin, and a dark beard hanging down his chest, fitted with a hair net.
“Need a hand?” he asks, eyeing me.
“I’ve got it. Just uno necio—a little pest.” Mari practically shoves me out on the sidewalk. I hear the metallic clack of the lock turning. Then she snaps the blinds shut one by one until the view inside is obscured.
Tank stands with his arms crossed a few feet away, one brow lifted. “Took you a minute. Did you get some food to go?”
“Uh, no.” I lick my lips and rub my arm, where the worst of the towel whippings left a red mark. I’m still seeing that little twitch of a smile on Lindy’s lips. Those beautiful, kissable lips.
Tank pats me on the shoulder, and I jump. “Well?”
“What?”
“Are you going to help me convince your brothers?” Tank asks.
Oh, right—the brewery. The whole reason I’m here. Or the reason I was here.
I clap him on the shoulder before heading for the Aston, careful to keep Jo’s drawing from getting bent.
“Are you kidding? This place is coal just waiting for someone to squeeze a diamond out of it.” I relish the look of shock on his face.
“Are you serious?”
“Deadly. Now, come on, Pops.” I unlock the doors and climb behind the driver’s seat. “Let’s discuss how to convince the rest of our family. Most especially James.”
Tank’s grin is too big for his face as he climbs into the passenger seat. “I knew once you saw it, you’d see the magic.”
I did see magic—just not the kind he thinks. The enchantment is all about Lindy. I am no less under her spell than I was years ago. If anything, it has strengthened with time.
That said, I’m not sure if fixing up the town or somehow earning a second chance with Lindy is the more daunting task. I have a feeling the town is going to be a piece of cake, comparatively. No pun intended.
As I start down one of the country roads, Tank squints through the windshield. “You’re going the wrong way.”
“I’ve got one more stop we need to make before heading back to Austin.”
“What else is out here?”
Nothing much—only the woman I think might be the love of my life. The one who just had me chased out of the diner like a dog.
Which I probably deserved, and then some. But I plan on fixing that, on making amends beginning today and every day after that. As long as it takes, starting with a sincere apology that’s long overdue.
Chapter Five
Lindy
“You look like you just saw a ghost,” Jo tells me, her green eyes seeing, as usual, far too much.
I FEEL like I’ve seen a ghost. My heart is a shivering, hollowed-out husk and my hands are shaking. “I don’t believe in ghosts, Jojo.”
Whether I believe in them or not, I did just see a ghost. A Class IV entity, according to the Ghostbusters classification system, which I know about thanks to an article I wrote on real-life hauntings as classified by the Ghostbuster’s system.
The particular ghost who just appeared in Mari’s diner—Patrick Graham—has haunted me for years. Until today, he’s done so in memory, not in person. And if I see him again before I have time to recover, I will fall completely apart.