Almost a Hometown Bride. Helen Myers R.

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      With no parking place available, Cain simply stopped behind those parked to let her out. Merritt could tell he had changed his mind about coming in.

      “Park in back,” she told him. “I can let you in from the rear and you can eat in the pantry-storage room. That’s where we take our breaks when it’s slow.”

      Cain shook his head. He was focusing on a state police vehicle beside a sheriff’s car. “I guess I’ll pass. See you around.”

      Knowing it was a waste of her time to argue, Merritt scooped the tote into her arms. “The offer stands,” she said before sliding gingerly to the ground. It took all of her body to slam the door shut; the wind was right in her face. She couldn’t blame him for being reluctant to take on the law on his first day back, whether or not the people inside were the officers who’d arrested him. He was probably thinking of Nikki being there and ratting on how she was getting him a free meal in back.

      Merritt thought about going around back herself, but it was dark and the footing could be treacherous depending on what Leroy had temporarily stacked in the alley. So she paused at the front door to stomp the excess snow off her boots and try to brush what she could from her shawl and jacket. By then Mr. Forrester, the independent insurance agent, came to hold the door open for her.

      “Have to help the girl with the goods,” he said, although he grimaced as his good deed earned him a face full of snow.

      Others in the place turned and a few applauded. One pragmatic person hollered, “Shut the door! Draft!”

      “I just served the last of your corn bread, sweetie,” Nikki told her while taking an order at the start of her usual section. “I hope you have more.”

      Merritt responded with an enigmatic look. Nikki hoped she hadn’t remembered or had run out of time. The young woman, who had changed into a lower-cut blouse for the evening shift, was as transparent as she was shallow. When she wasn’t consumed with her own interests, she was undermining the other waitresses. The only time she noticed anyone else was if it was in her best interest to make a good impression in front of a customer, like now, or she was trying to figure out someone she saw as competition. While she was semi-living with Paxton ranch foreman Josh Bevans, Nikki made no bones about looking for a one-way ticket out of Almost. Preferably out of Montana. She honestly believed she was meant for bigger and better things.

      “Any fried pies in there?” Sam Hughes asked. He owed the pharmacy at the other end of their block.

      With an apologetic shake of her head, Merritt said, “Not tonight. I had some stove repair to deal with. Your favorite is chocolate, right? I’ll get some made by tomorrow afternoon, okay?”

      “You’re a sweetheart, Merritt.”

      “And a Goody Two-shoes,” Nikki murmured as she brushed past her on her way to take an order ticket to the kitchen.

      In her clunky boots, shawl and too-large jacket, Merritt felt frumpy bringing up the rear as the other waitress advertised herself by swaying her hips all but shrink-wrapped in a leather skirt. How Nikki managed to work the night in those open-toed, four-inch heels was nothing short of miraculous, but she didn’t miss an opportunity to show off a pedicure any more than she did her other assets.

      By the time Merritt set down her tote, and shed the shawl, jacket and boots, Nikki was back up front. Relieved, Merritt tied her sneakers, then went over to Alvie at the grill as she tied on her apron. “Looks like it will be busy despite the weather.”

      “You okay? How are the roads?”

      “Already bad. Someone kindly gave me a ride.”

      “Good. Not a stranger?” Alvie asked, giving her a brief, stern look. “You watch for strangers even in these parts, Miller Moth. Especially in these parts.”

      To hide her guilty expression, Merritt turned to the tote to unpack. “You’re going to love the cheese sticks. That new cheddar your supplier recommended works so well. I think I actually prefer them to the Parmesan.”

      “Knowing how much you love them, that’s something. Bring me one when you finish—and tell Nikki to push the soup now that we have them. Did you have time to make the corn bread? Chili is moving tonight. No surprise there.”

      “Yeah, I heard Nikki served the last of them. I have two dozen muffins, which should get us through tonight easily enough.”

      “This weather makes people overindulge. If they keep inhaling the freebies the way they are, I’m going to have to go up on our prices. Everything okay at the house? You have enough wood? Did you leave the cabinet doors open under the sink before you left to try to keep the pipes from freezing?”

      “Not to worry. It’s all set.”

      “Child, you amaze me. I should have told Leroy to get his lazy backside over there earlier in the week to at least get the wood situation taken care of, but you know how he is. I’d be spending the rest of the week nursing his aches and pains instead of my own. And to add to the truck’s battery problems, this afternoon he found a tire’s gone flat.”

      Merritt might not own a vehicle, but she knew they required regular attention. A tire could go flat if the machine wasn’t driven once in a while. Her bemusement turned to guilt as she realized that she’d let Alvie think she’d done everything herself. But as Cain had said, she’d only be making things difficult for both of them if she admitted he handled the difficult work and heavy lifting. So she finished unpacking and got out front as soon as she heard more diners arrive.

      It was almost eight o’clock when Nikki’s boyfriend drove his silver, diesel, three-quarter-ton pickup into a parking spot up front and tapped the horn lightly. Only three customers lingered over dessert at that point. Nikki waved to Josh and ran in back to tell Alvie she was headed off for the night.

      “See you when I see you,” Alvie drawled. She already had her area cleaned up and had begun her prep work for the morning.

      It was general knowledge that maybe Nikki would be in and maybe she wouldn’t. It depended on how deep the snowfall was by morning, and whether the female alley cat ever got to bed—or, rather, slept once she made it there.

      In typical Nikki fashion, she stopped just outside the door and squealed at Josh, waving her hands in the air like a fictional maiden in distress. Merritt watched in quiet awe as Josh exited the warm cab to sweep her into his arms and carry her to the passenger side of the truck. No way was Nikki going to ruin her high heels, let alone plunge her bared toes in freezing snow. It would never cross Nikki’s mind to bring a change of footwear—like boots—to work. Merritt had heard her say on more than one occasion that a man had to be trained from the start. If he wanted a show pony, he had to deserve one, and that cost attention as well as money.

      Poor, foolish Josh, Merritt thought as the truck backed out of the slot. She caught a customer’s signal and went to retrieve their ticket. By the time she brought them their change, Cain had entered.

      He glanced around at the remaining diners, then took a counter seat at the far end of the kitchen. Merritt guessed he was still in no mood to be sociable and wanted to stay out of sight of the kitchen.

      “I thought you’d given up on the idea of dinner,” she told him as she brought a glass of water, silverware and a menu.

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