The Stranger's Obituary by Jessica L. Randall

Author:Jessica L. Randall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: small town romance, magical speculative fiction, cozy mystery, sweet romance, clean romance, family, paranormal mystery, comedy, cozy paranormal, supernatural
Publisher: Jessica Randall
Published: 2015-06-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

The Sheriff’s Secret

Frank Larson had his burger raised halfway to his mouth when Mina walked in the door. The other customers reacted much the same to her presence, food suspended in various states of consumption. She never came in here.

At what she did next, Frank's brows pulled together, his jaw lowering another degree.

She walked up to Doug's new stereo and pressed the button, changing the station from country to classical. She turned the volume up loud. Then she walked up to Frank, jerking her head toward the bar.

Frank forced a smile and grabbed his burger and soda. No fries. After the incident last week, Roberta wanted him to stop coming to the diner altogether. They'd settled on no fries.

As he dumped his meal on the counter, Doug, no doubt as confounded as the rest of them, retreated to the back of the kitchen. Frank sat facing Mina on the bar stool. He remembered when she was a little girl and he'd take her and Bernie here to give their mother a rest. Mina always got a chocolate shake.

“You want a shake?” he asked, his voice raising to a hopeful pitch over the music.

She shook her head, her face troubled. A grown up face. She'd become a lovely woman, a lot like her mother, but he worried about her, staying in that house all the time. But today he worried about why she'd left it. Something in her expression told him they were in for a big discussion, mostly in the form of lip reading if she didn't turn that volume down. Didn't matter. With his hearing lately he did more and more of that.

Mina's eyes traveled over his shoulder, her look packing a bigger punch than a Colt 45. She didn't look back at Frank for a moment, he guessed until everyone's eyes were on their own food.

“Too bad. Since Doug bought the place they're even better than they used to be. I sure enjoyed the cookies and fresh vegetables you brought over, Mina. You checking up on me again?”

“No, Frank. I have no doubt you could take a bullet and be back at work the next day. We're not worried a bit.”

But the look in her eyes told him she was lying. He hated everyone worrying about him like this. He hated feeling old. But even he had to admit, if only to himself, that he was afraid that day outside the diner. It had felt like someone reached inside his chest, grabbed hold of his heart, and squeezed.

But it was more than that. It was as if all kinds of emotions came crashing down on him. He'd felt anger, and guilt, and so much fear. Things came back to him that he'd done his level best to forget about.

Strangest of all, his body screamed with the need for something. He knew the feeling from when he used to drink too much and had to stop. It wasn't alcohol he wanted, but it was like that. These were things he hadn't told Roberta or the doctors.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.