Chapter One
“I didn’t mean to spend so much time at my mom’s. Things have just been hectic,” Sherman said as he walked out the front door. “She lives here by herself, and she isn’t getting any younger.”
“I just miss you,” Payton said over the phone. “I thought you were dead, and when I find out you’re not, you take off, barely giving me any time to spend with you. Do you want me and Miller to come there and help out?”
Sherman stood by his decade-old sedan. A lot of the blue had faded into a weird pale color that made the car look sickly. There was a large crack along the windshield, and whenever Sherman took a turn around a corner, it always sounded as though the tires would fall off at any second. The heat had also gone out, which made driving a freezing experience since it was the dead of winter.
But Betsy was all Sherman had. He hadn’t inherited money like Payton had, so he didn’t have the luxury of purchasing a new car. In fact, Sherman didn’t have the luxury of not worrying how his bills would be paid.
What he hadn’t told his cousin was that he’d been fired from his job when he’d missed so many days. That hadn’t been Sherman’s fault. He’d been kidnapped, tied to a chair in an abandoned building, and nearly blown up.
He still had nightmares about that.
Now he was out looking for a job in Fever’s Edge. Sherman loved Maple Grove, but the memories of nearly dying there had left a bad taste in his mouth.
“Nah, you don’t have to drive here. It’s cold as shit out and the roads still haven’t been cleared from the last storm.” That wasn’t entirely true. The main roads had been salted, but Sherman had to stop his cousin from coming to town. “Look, Payton. I just need to clear my head. You know, take some time to myself.”
“I don’t like it,” Payton said then sighed. “Okay, I’ll give you your space, but if you keep blowing me off, I will hunt you down.”
Sherman smiled. “Wouldn’t expect anything less from you. Love you.” He quickly hung up before his cousin heard the despair in his voice.
One thing Sherman hadn’t been lying about was his mom. She was getting up there in age, having him late in life, and he worried about her health. She’d had a cough for days that seemed to be getting worse, but whenever he tried to talk her into going to the doctor, she waved away his concern saying that she’d been sick before and all she needed was rest and chicken soup.
His father hadn’t made the situation any better. For as far back as Sherman could remember, his parents had made an Olympic sport out of arguing. It was as if they’d gotten off on it. When Sherman was in his teens, they’d divorced, but they still talked to each other.
More like argued with each other.
His dad had called yesterday and, when he’d heard her coughing, had asked Sherman how long she’d been sick. It wasn’t that they didn’t care about each other. They just couldn’t be in the same room for five minutes without disagreeing on something, and then the fireworks began.
When Sherman told his dad how long, his father had driven over there to convince her to go to the doctor. An hour-long argument had ensued. Normally Sherman’s dad was in the same room with his ex-wife only for Christmas, so his father showing up meant his mom’s cough was worse than she was letting on.
Sherman grabbed the can if deicer and sprayed his windshield. Then he got into his freezing car and worked the wipers, hoping to get as much frost off as possible so he could drive to town. He’d heard Bent Spoon was hiring, and Sherman needed the job.
His parents hadn’t lived in Fever’s Edge that long, so Sherman wasn’t familiar with the people or businesses. He’d heard about the job opening when he’d been at the gas station. The clerk had been talking to some young guy, telling him about it, and Sherman knew he had to apply.
Damn it. He should have used the bathroom before he left. Now his bladder was full. He found a place to park, jumped out, and ran into Bent Spoon.
“Sit anywhere you like,” the guy standing by a table called out.
Sherman looked around, damn near doing the pee dance before he saw the sign for the restrooms. He dashed that way and was sighing in relief in a matter of minutes.
When he exited, Sherman looked around. The diner was quaint, and…wow. Sherman looked at a table filled with buff men. One in particular caught his eye. Dark hair, low-trimmed beard, and muscles on top of muscles. And the stranger was smiling, showing off a set of pearly whites.
God how Sherman loved bears. Not the actual animal but men who were built like a brick shithouse. And the guy he was eyeballing fit that bill to a T.
Sherman noticed that everyone at the table had on dark blue shirts with FEFD. Firemen? Sherman was not going to think about firemen porn with that hottie as the lead star. Nope. He was kicking that thought right out of his head.
Sherman slipped into the booth behind them, his back to Hottie’s back. He should have sat across the room so he could drool over the guy.
Stay focused. Sherman hadn’t come to town to find a hookup. He was here for a job, and instead of talking to someone in charge, he was drooling over the guy behind him. Fuck, he needed to get laid. His brain was short-circuiting.
“Are you kidding?” one of the guys at the table behind Sherman said. “He called the fire department to get his pet raccoon out of a tree? Man, see this is why I shouldn’t take a day off. I always miss the excitement.”
“Nothing exciting about it,” the hottie said, and Sherman was in love with his deep, masculine voice. “I still don’t understand anyone who wants a raccoon as a pet, but we got him down, and Elijah was so thankful he baked us some cookies.”
“And you greedy bastards ate them all,” the first guy groused.
Hottie’s laugh had Sherman’s cock twitching.
“What can I get you?”
Sherman blinked several times. He hadn’t seen the waiter approach his table. He’d been too busy stalking his man of interest.
“Um, is the manager or owner around?”
The waiter—a short, skinny guy with pretty green eyes and blond hair that fell in waves around his handsome face—pursed his lips. “Are you asking about the opening we have?”
“Yes.” Sherman picked up the menu on his table just to have something in his hands. He wasn’t sure he wanted to start over in a new town, but his mom needed him, and Sherman also needed time away from the town where he’d nearly died.
Still, starting over was never easy in a place you knew nothing about.
“I’ll get you an application,” the waiter said. “Although you could have filled one out online.”
Why hadn’t Sherman thought of that? Everything was digital these days, but he hadn’t thought a small-town diner would be that progressive.
“Yeah, I guess I could have done that, but I also heard how wonderful the food is here and I had to try it for myself.” He was so full of shit. His mom had cooked breakfast, even though Sherman had insisted he could cook for himself, so he was still full.
“We’re open twenty-four hours, but we’re famous for our breakfast food.” The waiter smiled. “Can I bring you something to drink?”
“Coffee.” Sherman returned the smile, wishing he’d heard the rest of the conversation behind him. He wanted to know more about a pet raccoon and to hear Hottie’s voice.