“Can’t do that, Dad. There’s someone else in danger now, and I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”

With a grunt of pain he turned on his side and away from me. “Get out and let me wait for the Grim Reaper in peace.” He was done talking, and I was on my own to find out who’d had my dad by the balls all these years.

Chapter 23

Tashlyn

The incident in the bathroom had left me shaken. I realized that I’d been trying hard to ignore the giant, dangerous pink elephant in town. Someone wanted me gone, whether alive and walking out on my own two feet or the alternative. My presence was a threat to someone. I just had no idea who.

Everly had suggested that since there was no food in the house, we should go to the diner for breakfast. I didn’t have a big appetite, but I didn’t want to say no. She seemed disappointed about how her evening had gone with Finn. I hadn’t asked details and decided to wait for her to tell me. I’d also decided I needed to fill Everly in on what had been happening. I was living in her house, and she might just be in danger too. I wouldn’t blame her at all if she asked me to move out once I confessed everything.

We drove past Jem’s house, but his bike was gone. He was out and about already. Everly turned into the diner parking lot. “Oh good, most of the Sunday breakfast crowd has already come and gone. Be prepared, they usually run out of bacon by ten.”

“I’ll prepare myself for disappointment then. I thought you said this was a truck stop too. I don’t see any trucks.”

“They don’t generally come this way unless there’s a lot of traffic on the main freeway. Plus it’s Sunday.” Milly’s Diner had the usual nostalgic look, only it seemed the decor truly was vintage, as if it had remained the same since the fifties. There were even two coin operated carousel horse rides out front. One man was waiting while his little girl rocked back and forth on a blue horse.

I stopped and watched her. The hair on my neck stood up and an unexplained shiver went through me.

Everly noticed my reaction. “Tash, you all right?”

I shook myself out of it. “Yeah, I just had a major case of déjà vu. Like I’d been here before, riding that horse, just like that little girl.”

She took my hand. “Oh boy, you are hungry. What you need is some pancakes.”

I looked back once more at the little girl as Everly dragged me inside the diner. A woman with silvery hair and a warm pink complexion was filling salt shakers. “Hey, Ever, grab a table anywhere. And we’re out of bacon.”

Everly shot me a ‘told you so’ look. We sat in a booth near the back of the restaurant. I sat facing the front, and immediately, the green, round clock hanging over the door caught my eye. Its hands were covered in rhinestones and the words Milly’s Diner were painted across the face. I’d seen it before. It was possible I’d been in another Milly’s Diner at some point in my early life. It definitely wasn’t the kind of place Aunt Carly would have taken me, but I’d done some long trucking trips with my dad. I stared at the clock for a second.

“Hey, Earth to Tash, what do you think about me ordering French toast and you get the strawberry pancakes and we’ll share?”

“Yep, that sounds great.” The server filled our coffee cups and took our order.

Everly leaned back against the blue vinyl seat and looked at me. “Your lips aren’t as swollen today.”

I took a sip of coffee. “Man, that tastes good.”

“Yeah, yeah, now details.”

“No, you first.”

She sighed dejectedly. “Not much to tell. We sat and talked and laughed. I cooked him some scrambled eggs, which he devoured as if he hadn’t eaten in days. Then he gave me a peck on the cheek and left.” She tossed two packets of sugar into her coffee. “A peck on the cheek, can you imagine? Shit.” Her disappointment was palpable. There was a little heartbreak mixed in too. “What about you? You went straight to bed after Jem dropped you off.”

“I’d had a few sips of some highly potent whiskey. It had been a crazy night, and I wasn’t myself. Jem suggested it would relax me.” I thought about our few hours together naked in his bed, and my usual warm cheeks followed. “It definitely worked.”

She stared expectantly at me over the rim of her cup. “And are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“The incident in the bathroom. You came out of there looking as if you’d seen that face in the mirror, what’s the name of that lady everyone tries to conjure up at sleepovers?”

“Bloody Mary?”

“Yep. That’s how you looked. What happened?”

I glanced around at the counter and the stools. I’d been here before. It was no longer just an inkling or déjà vu. I’d sat in this diner before. I looked at Everly. “Some stuff has happened, Ever. Stuff I didn’t want to bother you with.”

“Like what? I mean aside from the obvious that you’re dating the town bad boy.”

I took another sip of coffee. It helped clear the slight hangover I was feeling from the whiskey. “I was working late at the mill last week, and I thought I heard a dog in the carriage shed where they make the first cuts. I walked inside to look for the dog, and someone knocked me out. I was lying about losing the sweatshirt. The person ripped the sleeve and tied me to the cradle arm.”

Everly’s face smoothed to white marble as she listened.

“I was just inches from being killed by the saw when Jem saved me.”

“Holy shit, Tash.”

“That’s not all. That letter my aunt sent me had been opened. Her letter had been shredded. There was a note inside telling me to leave town or die.”

She blinked at me as if she was struggling to absorb what I was telling her. “Tashlyn, I don’t even know what to say.”

“Last night, I was in the bar bathroom. Someone was smoking in the stall. Then a man’s voice, the same voice I’d heard in the mill, called me pussycat, just like he had before he knocked me out and tied me to the saw.”

“Jeez, Tash, why hadn’t you told me all this before?”

“I didn’t want to worry you.” I reached across and took hold of her hand. “I totally understand if you want me to move out. I’ll pack today. The last thing I want to do is cause you trouble.”

“No, you can’t. It’s not safe.”

“There’s more.”

Her shoulders collapsed as if she couldn’t bear to hear more.

“I was in the truck with my dad when he died. I don’t know how I survived or what happened after the accident, but I was in the truck when he went off the road.” I stopped for a second trying to decide if I should tell her the rest.

She looked at me expectantly, her face smooth with concern.

I swallowed. “I think Alcott Wolfe knows what happened, but Jem can’t get information out of his dad.”

She sat back. We fell silent as the server set down our plates. Everly stared down at her French toast. “Suddenly, I’m not all that hungry.” She looked up at me. “Tash, please don’t be mad when I say this. All right?”

I had no idea where this was going, but I was waiting for her to tell me to get back on the bus and go back to The Grog.

“I need to find out what happened,” I blurted before she could tell me to leave.

“I don’t blame you, but it’s not worth your life.” She looked out the window toward Jem’s house, then turned back to me. It was obvious the words she had for me were hard for her to say. “Don’t you think it’s a coincidence that Jem was at the mill ready to save you? And then at the bar? We hadn’t seen him all evening and then all of a sudden he’s there in the hallway?”

I blinked back tears as I leaned back away from the food that was now making me nauseous. “That’s just you jumping to conclusions because of your lifelong mistrust of him.” I spoke confidently, but in truth, her suggestions were poking at my heart. “He saved me both times.”