Peachy.
Jenna opened the door of her beat-up Toyota Corolla, dropped her purse onto the passenger seat, and shoved the key into the ignition. She turned it—and nothing happened.
“No,” she muttered. “No, no, no. Come on, Lola,” she begged as she turned the key again. There was nothing but a clicking sound. Stupid car. She missed the Nissan Armada SUV she used to drive. So much. But keeping the vehicle, and the car payments, hadn’t been an option when she’d fled Las Vegas five months ago. Fastest way to get found was to leave a trail someone could follow.
“Sounds like you got a dead battery, honey,” someone called.
Jenna looked up to see Mrs. Hanley on the front porch of her trailer, rocking back and forth on a rocker with a cigarette dangling from one hand and a book in the other. She put the book down and stood. Jenna rolled the window down.
“Hi, Mrs. Hanley. Do you have cables? Can you give me a jump?”
She still had twenty minutes before she had to be to work, which was ten minutes away, but every second counted. Allison didn’t appreciate lateness for any reason. And Jenna had already been late twice this month. Once there’d been an accident blocking the road, and the other time Tami had gotten high and “misplaced” Jenna’s keys. Not that she’d been able to tell Allison that.
“Sorry, hon, I ain’t got any.” She nodded her head toward a house nearby. “Mr. Pruitt might have some.”
“Thanks,” Jenna called as she shoved the door open and headed for Mr. Pruitt’s. He did indeed have cables and a truck to give her a jump, but he was at least eighty if he was a day and didn’t move as fast as she might like. She had to wait for him to locate his keys, start the truck, and drive it over to park near Lola, all the while eyeing her phone and worrying about the time.
But he did help and she was grateful when Lola turned over.
“You might need to get a new battery, kiddo,” Mr. Pruitt said as he unhooked the cables. “They wear out, you know.”
Jenna removed the support bar from the hole so she could close the hood. “Yes, thank you, Mr. Pruitt. I’ll check into it.”
“Go to Tiny’s Garage. He’ll do you a turn better than that parts place over there on Main where they’ll try to sell you something you don’t need because you’re a lady.”
“I’ll remember that. Thanks so much.”
Mr. Pruitt waved as she got into Lola and put her in reverse. Ten minutes later, Jenna was walking through the back door of the Early Bird Diner and racing for her time card. She was fifteen minutes late, but Allison wasn’t there which meant she might not notice until she did payroll. Jenna could hope.
“Hey,” Vicki said with a grin as Jenna tied on her apron. “That hunky soldier you like is here. He’s not alone, though. I’ve been waiting on them, but I’m not quite sure what’s going on.”
Jenna’s heart beat a little faster at the mention of Noah Cross. He was a regular, and sometimes he brought other Army guys with him who called him Easy instead of Noah. She’d finally figured out that it was a code name or something, but he’d told her to call him Noah, so she did.
The entire lot of them were attractive in that alpha male warrior way, but Noah was the one who set her pulse skipping. The way he smiled at her… Lord, he was handsome. Too handsome to be interested in her, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t dream.
“What did they order?” she asked.
“Coffee for him. Nothing for the lady. A juice box for the kid.”
“Kid?”
Vicki nodded. “Yep. Cute little thing.”
Jenna peered through the opening between the kitchen and the counter area. Noah was in jeans and a black T-shirt, and the woman wore a suit. The little girl had two short pigtails on her head that bounced every time she moved.
“He was here first, then she came in about fifteen minutes later. He hasn’t smiled at her once. She’s done a lot of the talking so far, and he mostly frowns.”
“You’re late, Jenna.”
Jenna whirled to find Allison with hands on hips and brows drawn low.
“I’m sorry but my car was dead. I had to get a jump.”
“That’s the third time this month. If you can’t get here on time, then I can’t serve my customers the way they deserve to be served. It’s almost time for the dinner rush, and I can’t be short-handed.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I got here as soon as I could.”
“If you can’t do the job, then I need to find someone who can.”
“I can do it, Allison. It’s only fifteen minutes. The rush hasn’t even started yet.”
Allison’s eyes narrowed. “Only fifteen minutes. Said like someone who doesn’t give a shit about other people’s time.”
Jenna was about to say something else when Vicki jabbed an elbow in her back. She swallowed her retort instead.
Allison turned to go back to the small office at the rear of the diner. “We’ll talk about this later,” she threw over her shoulder. “For now, get to work.”
Jenna snatched up her order pad and pen and stuck out her tongue. Vicki was shaking her head. “Girl, no use arguing with her. You won’t win, and she’ll dock your pay even more.”
“I know. Thanks for the jab. I just—I hate that she treats us like we’re the enemy, you know?”
“I know. It was better when her daddy ran the place, but he had to go and retire. Like Florida has better beaches than the Chesapeake or something.”
Jenna snorted a laugh. “Um, I think they probably do.”
Vicki grinned. “I know. I just wanted to make you laugh. You gotta admit that living this close to the bay is nice though. Fresh seafood and a small beach that’s sorta like a real one. Plus all the boats and the tourists. Makes for good tips when it’s high season, which it is.”
Jenna nodded. She liked Mystic Cove. A lot. It was small, picturesque with its view of the water and the sailboats stacked side by side in the marina, and it was affordable. She’d tried a few places since leaving Vegas, and this one was the prettiest. The exact opposite of what she’d come from, which was good. It was also about a three hour drive away from Aunt Maggie in Delaware, but she didn’t want to go to Aunt Maggie and potentially put her in danger, too.
Mystic Cove wasn’t the kind of place the Flanagans would think to send an assassin. If she was lucky, they weren’t even looking for her. The man who’d killed her boss had ended up in prison for a different crime, so it shouldn’t even matter what she’d heard that night. In fact, she didn’t even know if anyone knew she’d heard a thing. She’d assumed they had which was why she’d run. But what if she was wrong?
You willing to risk your life on that, Jenna?
“Welp,” Vicki said, “I better get out there and see if your boyfriend wants anything else. Or would you like to do it?”
Jenna felt a flash of heat in her cheeks. “Stop that, Vic.”
Vicki snorted. “Go on. Go see what they need.” She peered out the service window and then tilted her head as if surprised. “The woman left, but the kid’s still there. You going or am I?”
Jenna cursed beneath her breath as she said, “I’ll go, evil wench. You fill the salt shakers.”