Rascal (Edgewater Agency Book 2)

by Kyanna Skye

  Susie grumbled, “Ugh, I would… but even though mom’s in full OCD mode she doesn’t know how to orchestrate a crew this size.” She shook her head. “I feel bad saying it, but Kelly’s problems will have to wait until I get everything straightened out here.”

  He nodded. Plan B. “It’s okay. Do you need help? What do you need me to do? Is there anything I can help with?”

  “The only thing I need you to do is get your tux fitted. You remember old man Chalmers?”

  He knew the name. Chalmers Tuxedos was the only place in town where anyone could still rent formal attire. He doubted that that had changed since he’d been gone. “Yeah, down at the old square, what about him?”

  “He’s got your tux, but his glasses are thick enough to be on the Hubble and I don’t trust his eyes without a fitting. Will you go and double check your tux for me? Oh! And check dad’s too! Dad got fitted yesterday but some adjustments needed to be made. Will you see if they’re done?”

  “Sure,” he said, nearly starting off for the door. “Anything else?”

  Susie shrugged. “I don’t know, I’m sure I’ll find something else wrong by the time you get back.”

  He lightly scoffed. “Think positive… positive thinking wins the game.”

  She smirked at him. “Whatever you say, coach.”

  He turned and went to the door. By the time he was halfway back to his truck a single thought kept repeating over and over in his head. Kelly’s here. The thought was both exciting and a little dreadful. He hadn’t seen her since just before she and Susie graduated. How had she changed? Had she changed for the better? For the worse? Was she one of the girls who was divorced and paying alimony? He hoped not. He didn’t know much about Julliard but he knew that it was a hard school to get into… harder even than being drafted to play pro ball.

  That was something.

  But if there was one thing that Susie was good at, it was a being a judge of character. Her job, her career, depended on her knowing how to read people. And if she thought that something was wrong with her best friend, then something had to be wrong.

  I need to find her, he thought as he climbed back into his truck. He wasn’t sure why or that it really was any of his business, but he knew that he needed to find her. His tux could wait. The more he thought about it the more he was convinced that something had to be wrong. It seemed strange; to be thinking this for someone that he hadn’t seen in years but there was tightness in his belly that unsettled him. He didn’t like that feeling and he knew that it would only go away once he had some answers.

  He needed to find Kelly.

  And he knew exactly where to start.

  “Order’s up!” cried the cook from inside the kitchen, placing two fresh plates on the delivery window behind the order counter. “Table two!”

  “Mine,” Kelly said, quickly stepping up and gathering the plates. She plucked one out and then the other and quickly danced her way from behind the counter and carried the plates across the room to the waiting customers that had ordered them. She slipped the plates in front of the men that sat waiting for their food, one of them a brushy-faced quarryman and the other a skinny man in a suit.

  “There are you are, gents,” she said, taking her hands back. “Can I get you anything else?”

  The brushy-faced one looked up at her, “How about your phone number?”

  She writhed inside, but managed to keep her smile in place and her voice politely cheery. “Sorry, sir, only what’s on the menu.”

  “I’ll wager that you’re on the desert menu, you’re so sweet,” he said with a wink. His skinnier friend looked embarrassed and put a hand to his forehead as if he had a sudden migraine and wished that he couldn’t be seen. She was able to sympathize with the skinner man and was pleased that at least one of her customers today had a sense of decency.

  She did her best to maintain her smile, though she almost laughed at the cheesy pick-up line. This guy wasn’t like Touchy Turk, but sometimes the ones who talked instead of touching could be just as bad. Sensing an opportunity to get away from him she said, “Well thank you for saying so, sir. Enjoy your meals.” Quickly she walked away.

  She felt like she was molting her skin as she did and quickly went behind the counter, washing her hands in the employee sink. Safe for a few moments she felt like she was washing away the grime that seemed to have leeched itself on her. The water burned her skin and it felt wonderful; like it was killing the germs she’d picked up just by being so close to that asshole.

  “Excuse me, miss?” said a man’s voice behind her.

  She knew that the voice was addressing her, though she wasn’t looking. “Yes, sir?” she asked over her shoulder, soaping her hands.

  “I was wondering if you could help me?”

  “Yes, sir,” she said, “our special today is our famous backed potato, filled with your choice of butter, sour cream, or bacon.”

  “That actually sounds good,” the voice said. “But that’s not really the problem. The problem is, I do need lunch… but I don’t have anyone to share it with me. I was hoping that you could.”

  She froze for a moment. The voice didn’t sound like one she easily recognized, not rough and sandy like the quarrymen that she was used to dealing with around here, but there was something familiar about it. She dried her hands and when she turned to see the face that owned that voice, she almost gasped.

  Chad Cinch stood before her on the other side of the counter.

  He looked very much like the last time she had seen him, though there were the few noticeable differences. He was taller, his shoulders had become broader, and the t-shirt he wore hugged to the contours of his body as if the very fabric itself wanted to attach to him. Through the thin fabric she could see all of the tattoos that he wore, trophies of his many past glories. He’d only had one tattoo the last time that she had seen him.

  That brought forth an old pain that she hadn’t felt in years.

  His hair was neatly combed, he had the scruff of a beard growing across his square jaw, and when he pulled his sunglasses off two of the deepest blue eyes that she had ever seen in her life stared back at her. His skin was lightly tanned from a lot of time under the sun and when he leaned on the counter the wood groaned from so much muscle.

  “Chad,” she said, her voice nearly a whisper.

  He smirked. “Hi, Kelly,” he said simply, his voice unusually gentle. He took in her appearance and suddenly she felt like she could dive into the tile beneath her feet to vanish if she wanted. “You work here?”

  Her hands began to tremble, her knees threatened to collapse out from under her. She self-consciously spread her fingers out over her pink waitressing uniform as if she could somehow hide it that way. The effort lasted only a moment before she realized that she was caught.

  “Uh, I…” she began.

  He arched an eyebrow. “Someone hasn’t been very truthful with my sister.” It wasn’t a warning or meant to be a threat. It was simply a statement of fact.

  She felt her throat going dry.

  “Come have a seat with me,” he offered, his voice gentle and more than a little inviting.

  She felt her heart stir and her breath became short, like she had just run a hundred meter dash in less than a second. Old feelings that she had thought to be drowned long ago resurfaced.

  “I can’t,” she said quickly. “I’m working…” the phrase all but confirmed his statement. She felt as though she had just tied herself down for the crows.

  “Yes, she is,” said a voice from beside her. Kelly suddenly felt herself turn a new shade of red when Mark, the diner’s manager, came walking up to stand beside her. He wore a sweater-vest despite the heat of the region with a hideous pair of slacks and his glasses gleamed in the nearly noon light. “And she doesn’t have any time for…” he paused, squinting his eyes through his massive lenses and taking in the figure of the man standing on the opposite side of the counter. “Chad? Chad Cinch?” he almost whispered the n
ame, as if speaking it would be enough to frighten him away.

  Kelly was surprised to see Chad looking a little self-conscious that his name was spoken with such reverence. “Yeah… that’s me,” he said, his voice cheery but not overly enthusiastic.

  “Oh my god,” Mark said, cupping his hands over his mouth like an excited schoolgirl. “I saw you play… Dallas Stadium… last year! I spilled beer all over my wife!” For a second, Kelly thought Mark really would start dancing and clapping his hands rapidly like a schoolgirl. “Oh my god, Chad Cinch is in my diner!” He dropped his hands and suddenly became more businesslike. “Whatever you’d like, sir, it’s on the house.”

  Chad nodded his head thankfully. “Thanks… uh, are you the manager?”

  Mark stood up self-importantly. “Yes, sir, I am.”

  “Good,” Chad said, his voice lifting an octave. “Kelly here is an old friend. I was hoping I could share lunch with her… but if she’s busy…”

  For an instant, Kelly hoped that Marcus would have enough steel in his spine not to bend to his fanboy whims. The hope died almost as quickly as it formed.

  “No, no, not at all!” He looked at her and with a smile that he didn’t usually wear and a tenderness he had never spoken with he added, “Kelly, why don’t you go ahead and take your lunch break. You’ve earned it.” To Chad he said, “Feel free to take any seats you like. I’ll see to your order personally.”

  “Sounds good. I hear that your special is baked potatoes?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Then we’ll have two, please.”

  “Right away, sir.”

  “I’m obliged, thank you,” Chad said.

  Kelly felt as though she’d been rooted to the spot.

  “Well, go on,” Mark said, a tad of his old urgent tone entering into his voice.

  Kelly felt like a trout plucked from a stream and looking at Chad, he made a simple gentleman’s gesture, allowing her to pass first before him.

  Silently grumbling and partially ashamed, she rounded the counter and walked off. Every step she took brought back old thoughts and emotions that she had spent the last four years trying to get over. They began to mount inside of her like bricks in a wall, and she meant to use that wall to shield herself against an onslaught that she knew was coming.

  She picked a booth at the far end of the diner that was furthest away from any of the other customers, hoping that she would at least be able to secure her privacy for as long as she could. She knew the diner’s timetable and the lunch rush would be starting soon enough. She had to make this quick.

  Chad slid into the seat opposite her and folded his hands in his lap. She almost admired the way his muscles bulged underneath his shirt. There was something eye-catching about them… something appealing. Hell, he was appealing. She couldn’t deny it… but neither could a whole slew of women from across the country if the rumors she’d heard had been true.

  “It’s good to see you again,” he said, his voice honest.

  She felt a small rush of pride, but it was crushed by present fears. “How’d you find me?”

  He looked almost affronted. “Nice to see you too, Chad, how’ve you been?” he asked, his voice not mocking her, but more like he was pointing out that she wasn’t exactly being polite.

  She silently resented him for that.

  “Started at school,” he said, leaning back and resting against the seat. “I checked with the head of alumni relations… it’s amazing what being a pro-athlete can accomplish in your hometown.”

  She sat silently, waiting for him to make his point.

  “Susie said you’d gone to Julliard. I was surprised to find out that Hazel… Hazel Quint, you remember her, don’t you? She’s the head of the Alumni relations now.”

  Kelly remembered the girl. She was a lump of a girl with too many freckles and an uncanny ability to stick her nose into other people’s business. It was no surprise that she managed to land a job that continued with that trend.

  “To answer your question, Hazel told me an interesting story… that you never made it to Julliard. In fact, she had seen you here in town a few times, off and on. And each time she saw you, you were dressed ‘in one of those hideous pink waitress dresses from that old 50’s diner’ I think she said.”

  Kelly set her lip and looked intently at him. “She’s wrong. I did make it to Julliard… it just didn’t work out. And I missed home, so I came back.” Shame stabbed at her. She wasn’t given over to lying very much but in the last forty-eight hours she had told more than she had in the last four years. Of course Hazel had been right, she hadn’t gone to Julliard, but only a couple of people – her own parents – knew the reason why.

  “Really?” he asked. “Susie seems to think that you’ve been out there in New York all this time. She said that music school seems to have agreed with you.” He paused, his thumb tracing invisible lines on the cushioning of the seat. “Why didn’t you tell her that you were here in town still?”

  Kelly could only remain silent. Feelings that she wanted to keep buried were pushing their way up within her like a pot about to boil over. But she pushed those thoughts and emotions down, doing her best to keep a lid on it all.

  “None of your business,” she said.

  He gave a short nod. “You’re right, it’s not. But in a way it is Susie’s I think… she could tell that something wasn’t right when you saw her yesterday. She’s worried about you.”

  The knife of shame that she felt twisted in her heart. Susie really was a worthy friend and that she had lied to her didn’t feel well at all. Susie always had been able to discern when she, Kelly, wasn’t in a good mood and needed cheering up.

  She pushed those thoughts aside as well.

  “She has her own concerns at the moment,” she said softly.

  Chad was quiet for a short time. “I was happy to hear that Susie wanted you to be a part of the wedding.” He formed a slightly curved smile. “I was looking forward to seeing you again.”

  He spoke in a manner that was so smooth and cool that butter wouldn’t have melted in his mouth. Despite her feelings she felt a positive energy stir within her. He was charming. There was no denying that. He’d been that way when she’d first met him. At least that hasn’t changed.

  “Were you?” she asked, still feeling defensive.

  “Yeah,” he said, his voice still level. “I knew that I’d be seeing some old and familiar faces here. Shit, I’ve been in town for less than twelve hours and already I’ve seen people that I haven’t seen since school. But, I wasn’t looking forward – or even wanting – to see any of them.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “I’ve been wondering about you.”

  She felt her heart flutter a little and she looked away to hide her blushing cheeks. “I’ve been wondering about you, too,” she said, feeling an old surge of regret pushing its way to the summit of her emotions. “I see your name in the papers. ‘Bad Chad’ they call you. Drunk and disorderly, attempted theft, brawling…”

  He lowered his head almost shamefully. “Well… the news guys greatly exaggerated some of those incidents…”

  “Oh?” she asked, feeling her defensive power rising. “And all these women I heard about?”

  He froze.

  “Yeah, I’ve heard about that. You’ve got quite a loyal following,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. “One of them even has her own blog.”

  He tried to shake it off and look smooth about it. “You can’t trust everything you read on the net, Kelly. If you did–”

  “She described your tattoo in perfect detail,” Kelly said pointedly, almost spitting the words out. “The one that you had when you graduated that no one can see easily.” She leaned forward on the table, like a judge passing a sentence on a convict. “She said, ‘He told me I was sweet… that he’d never met anyone like me… that my skin was so soft it was like cream.’ Does that sound familiar to you? It sure as hell sounds familiar to me.”

&nbs
p; He froze again, a look of shame washed over his features. That surprised her. The Chad that she had known years before would have been proud of that accomplishment. He’d spoken those same sweet words to her long ago. That someone else, a stranger, could quote them… she had felt crushed. She had known his reputation around school and she had only agreed to tutor him because Susie had vouched for him. Later she had come to realize that his reputation was well founded, though no one could prove it. At least, not then they couldn’t. But once she’d seen that blog and read those descriptive words, she had found the truth.

  “That was a long time ago,” he said, his voice regretful.

  “The Bronze Age was a long time ago,” she retorted. “That blog was posted only four years ago, Chad. That’s recent history.”

  He said nothing.

  “Why did you come here?” she asked, going on the offensive.

  He folded his hands on the table, interlacing his fingers like he was about pray. “I came for the wedding.”

  “Not here to Holy Oaks… I mean here, to the diner? Why did you go looking for me?”

  “I wanted to see you,” he said.

  She waited, wanting to see if he would say any more. But no other words left his lips. “That’s it?”

  “Plain and simple.”

  She felt a small anger surging within her. She could almost see the Chad Cinch in front of her that was written of in the papers and spoken of on the news. He was looking for another woman to drag into his bed that might increase his popularity or whatever after another sexual escapade. Somewhere in the past she had realized that that was all she had been: an episode in his life. She had no desire to be a re-run. Chad was anything but plain and simple. She had known that from the beginning. “Well, you’ve seen me… and I’m humiliated. I suppose you’re going to go back to Susie and tell her what you’ve learned?”

  His face fell, like he was actually hurt that she assumed he would do such a thing. She felt a small pang of regret at it, but she recalled who he was now and why he often did the things he did. The regret faded instantly.