Read Online A Family Circle 1 - A Very Convenient Marriage by Dallas Schulze - Free Book Online
Authors: Dallas Schulze
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truck roared by and she tried to imagine what it would be like to be standing beside the road when one of those metal behemoths rushed past.
Without a word, she pulled the door shut and faced forward in her seat. If she hadn't been so angry, she might have noticed Sam's almost silent sigh of relief.
They finished the drive to Nikki's house without another word being spoken between them.
Chapter 5
S am pushed the restaurant door shut behind him, closing out the cool, damp air. Winter, or what passed for it in Southern California, had arrived abruptly the night before, blowing in with the first storm of the season and drenching the southern half of the state. The rain had tapered off to a miserable drizzle, just enough to make visibility poor and keep the roads slick. Sam spared a moment of gratitude that he wasn't with the highway patrol. Or driving a tow truck.
Brushing the rain from the shoulders of his denim jacket, he looked around. He'd never been in the Wagon Wheel Caf6 but he'd been in places like it. The decor, if you could call it that, was strictly functional. A black-and-white-tile floor that showed signs of age, faded red vinyl booths and a few dusty plastic plants in pots scattered at random throughout the single room. He didn't have to look at a menu to know that the food would be plainly cooked, plentiful and reasonably priced.
"Find yourself a place and light, sugar. We don't stand on formality here." The woman who spoke was in her fifties. Her hair was a shade of red that owed nothing to nature, but her smile was genuine.
"I'm looking for someone."
"He's in the comer booth," she said immediately. "Said he was meeting his brother." She looked Sam up and down. "There any more like you at home? Maybe a few years older?"
"There's four of us, but I'm the oldest."
She sighed. "Ain't that always the way of it? Either too young or married or both."
Sam's smile lingered as he made his way between the rows of booths to the corner one. Keefe looked up as he stopped beside the table. He smiled, but Sam was shocked by the lines of exhaustion etched around his brother's eyes. Keefe was the younger, though by less than two years. At the moment, he looked ten years older.
"Sam." The single word served as a greeting.
"Keefe." Sam had barely slid into the booth when the red-haired waitress arrived. She set a thick white china mug in front of him and filled it with steaming coffee without asking.
"You two want to look at a menu, or should I tell you what's good?" She topped off Keefe's mug as she spoke.
Sam glanced at Keefe who shrugged indifferently. "What's good?" Sam asked.
"The steak and eggs is about the best thing on the menu, but don't ask for the eggs scrambled. Clive, he thinks a scrambled egg ain't done unless it crunches when you bite down."
"We'll take the steak and eggs," Sam told her after another glance at Keefe, who shrugged again. "Eggs over easy. Steaks rare."
"Comin' right up, sugar."
After she'd left, Sam looked at his brother. "You look like hell."
"Good to see you again, too." Keefe lifted his coffee cup and took a deep swallow. "I've been putting in a lot of hours."
"Including working all night? You look like you haven't slept in a week. I thought ranchers went to bed at sundown. Are you out branding cattle at midnight?"
"Don't pull the big-brother act on me." Keefe's smile was tight around the edges. "The only ranchers who go to bed with the sun are the ones who ranch for a hobby. I'm trying to make a living from the Flying Ace, remember?"
"I remember. How's it going?"
"I'm breaking even this year, which is about as much as I'd hoped. I wouldn't be doing that much if Jace Reno hadn't busted his butt for me this past year."
"He's a good friend."
"And a hell of a rancher. He should have a place of his own." Keefe swallowed the last of his coffee and set the cup on the edge of the table for the waitress to refill. "If I want a lecture on my life-style, I'll go see Mom.''
"Sorry."
Without a word, she pulled the door shut and faced forward in her seat. If she hadn't been so angry, she might have noticed Sam's almost silent sigh of relief.
They finished the drive to Nikki's house without another word being spoken between them.
Chapter 5
S am pushed the restaurant door shut behind him, closing out the cool, damp air. Winter, or what passed for it in Southern California, had arrived abruptly the night before, blowing in with the first storm of the season and drenching the southern half of the state. The rain had tapered off to a miserable drizzle, just enough to make visibility poor and keep the roads slick. Sam spared a moment of gratitude that he wasn't with the highway patrol. Or driving a tow truck.
Brushing the rain from the shoulders of his denim jacket, he looked around. He'd never been in the Wagon Wheel Caf6 but he'd been in places like it. The decor, if you could call it that, was strictly functional. A black-and-white-tile floor that showed signs of age, faded red vinyl booths and a few dusty plastic plants in pots scattered at random throughout the single room. He didn't have to look at a menu to know that the food would be plainly cooked, plentiful and reasonably priced.
"Find yourself a place and light, sugar. We don't stand on formality here." The woman who spoke was in her fifties. Her hair was a shade of red that owed nothing to nature, but her smile was genuine.
"I'm looking for someone."
"He's in the comer booth," she said immediately. "Said he was meeting his brother." She looked Sam up and down. "There any more like you at home? Maybe a few years older?"
"There's four of us, but I'm the oldest."
She sighed. "Ain't that always the way of it? Either too young or married or both."
Sam's smile lingered as he made his way between the rows of booths to the corner one. Keefe looked up as he stopped beside the table. He smiled, but Sam was shocked by the lines of exhaustion etched around his brother's eyes. Keefe was the younger, though by less than two years. At the moment, he looked ten years older.
"Sam." The single word served as a greeting.
"Keefe." Sam had barely slid into the booth when the red-haired waitress arrived. She set a thick white china mug in front of him and filled it with steaming coffee without asking.
"You two want to look at a menu, or should I tell you what's good?" She topped off Keefe's mug as she spoke.
Sam glanced at Keefe who shrugged indifferently. "What's good?" Sam asked.
"The steak and eggs is about the best thing on the menu, but don't ask for the eggs scrambled. Clive, he thinks a scrambled egg ain't done unless it crunches when you bite down."
"We'll take the steak and eggs," Sam told her after another glance at Keefe, who shrugged again. "Eggs over easy. Steaks rare."
"Comin' right up, sugar."
After she'd left, Sam looked at his brother. "You look like hell."
"Good to see you again, too." Keefe lifted his coffee cup and took a deep swallow. "I've been putting in a lot of hours."
"Including working all night? You look like you haven't slept in a week. I thought ranchers went to bed at sundown. Are you out branding cattle at midnight?"
"Don't pull the big-brother act on me." Keefe's smile was tight around the edges. "The only ranchers who go to bed with the sun are the ones who ranch for a hobby. I'm trying to make a living from the Flying Ace, remember?"
"I remember. How's it going?"
"I'm breaking even this year, which is about as much as I'd hoped. I wouldn't be doing that much if Jace Reno hadn't busted his butt for me this past year."
"He's a good friend."
"And a hell of a rancher. He should have a place of his own." Keefe swallowed the last of his coffee and set the cup on the edge of the table for the waitress to refill. "If I want a lecture on my life-style, I'll go see Mom.''
"Sorry."
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