The snow had been cleared from the sidewalks, but every roofline was covered in white. It only made the afternoon brighter.
It was hard to be grumpy in downtown Quincy.
A kid’s squeal of laughter caught my ear. I followed the sound to a familiar face.
It was the man I’d seen at the hospital when I’d come to search for Talia. He’d been in the lobby with a pregnant woman, probably his wife.
He carried a little boy with rosy cheeks. Both were wearing matching black beanies.
The boy had on a pair of boots, snow pants and a bright green coat. He squirmed to be set down, and the moment those boots hit the pavement, he was off, running for the same destination as mine.
Eden Coffee.
I’d run out of coffee at the gym, and after yawning for the tenth time in a row, I’d decided to swing into town. But instead of the grocery store, I’d come here. Talia’s sister had a hell of a display case of pastries and my stomach growled.
The man smiled at his kid, opening the door so they could both walk inside.
Who was he? There was more familiar about him than just the run-in at the hospital.
I strode toward the green building.
Eden Coffee was written in gold letters on the shop’s door. There was a bit of frost and fog around the edges of the black-paned windows. A chalkboard sandwich sign was out front and someone had written the daily specials—snickerdoodle latte and a cranberry bagel—in white block letters.
Aromatic coffee and sweet vanilla greeted me when I went inside, a bell jingling over my head.
The first time I’d come here, while I’d been staying at The Eloise, I’d expected something Western. Rustic. But the walls were painted the same green as the outside of the building. It had a trendy and modern vibe, not unlike a hip cafe you’d find in a city. Wooden tables and chairs lined the walls, a few occupied this afternoon.
The man and the little boy were at the counter. The kid was pressed against the glass display case, his mittens keeping him from leaving fingerprints as the beanie was plucked off his head, revealing a static mess of blond hair.
Cute kid.
“Hey.” Lyla rushed out from around the back, rounding the corner. She wore a green apron with a dusting of flour on the front. The same flour was on her nose.
Even though they were twins, any fool could tell her and Talia apart.
Or maybe I’d just been a fool over Talia for far too long.
“How’s my little Drake today?” Lyla picked up the kid and kissed his cheek. “Want Auntie to make you something special?”
Wait. Auntie? So that man had to be—
Hell. How could I have missed it? That had to be Talia’s brother. Griffin or Knox. I’d never met either of them before, but Talia had shown me pictures ages ago. Except he hadn’t had a beard in the photos. They’d all been younger.
But he had the same dark brown hair as Talia. And as he smiled at his son, the same bright blue eyes crinkled. He resembled Harrison too.
Maybe I should have hit the grocery store. I wasn’t sure I had the energy to deal with an angry older brother.
Except it would happen eventually, so I squared my shoulders and moved away from the door. Last time I’d been in, Lyla had been busy. I’d only spoken to the guy for a short minute at the hospital.
Guess I had to consider myself lucky that he hadn’t interrogated me that day. Or punched me in the face. For what I’d done to Talia, I deserved two black eyes.
But this was inevitable. I wanted her, and I’d have to prove to everyone I was worthy. That this time was different. And since the past three days had sucked, I might as well add this on.
My mood couldn’t get a lot worse.
My boots thudded on the floor, drawing attention from the Edens.
Lyla smiled and handed the boy—Drake—to his dad. “Hi. Welcome in. What can I get for you?”
There was nothing but an honest question in her gaze. No glare or contempt. Nothing that said she’d be spitting in my coffee.
Okay. “Americano, please. Double.”
“For here or to go?”
I gave her a sideways glance. That was it? She’d just take my order? “Uh . . . to go.”
“You got it.” She nodded and rounded the counter, immediately getting to work.
“You’re Foster Madden.” The man shifted the kid to one side so he could hold out a hand. “I saw you at the hospital the other day.”
“Yeah.” I braced as I shook his hand. Here we go.
“Knox Eden. Nice to meet you. I’m a fan.”
A fan? “Oh, um, thanks?”
“Watched your fight last summer.” Knox chuckled. “Was pretty glad when you won. Couldn’t stand the other guy.”
The fight where I’d knocked out my opponent, a loudmouth asshole from LA, in the first round. “Yeah, he’s something.”
“Didn’t seem to teach him much. I saw him in an interview a while back, still running his mouth about a rematch.”
He wanted to talk about the fight? Seriously?
“What brings you to Quincy?” he asked. “You’re at the old gym on Lower Clark Fork Road, right?”
Wait. What was happening?
“Sorry.” Knox mistook my confusion. “Small-town gossip. Someone new moves to town, everyone talks about it. You were looking for my sister. Talia.”
Okay. Now we were getting into it. “Yes, I was.”
“Didn’t realize you knew each other.”
What. The. Fuck?
He’d heard about me through gossip? Not Talia. Small-town gossip. He didn’t realize I knew his sister? Yeah, I knew his sister. She was the love of my goddamn life.
My head spun like I’d been the one blindsided with a right cross. Knox, her brother, had no idea who I was other than a professional MMA fighter.
“College,” I said, summoning every ounce of calm to keep from seething.
“Here’s your coffee.” Lyla set a paper cup with a jacket on the counter. “Anything else?”
“No, thanks.” I pulled my wallet from my pocket and handed her a twenty.
How could Talia not have told her family about me? We’d been together for over a year. She’d been the most important person in my life. Everyone in my life had known about Talia. Friends. My parents. Arlo.
But she hadn’t told her brother? Her twin sister?
They weren’t playing dumb, were they?
Talia had pissed me off the other night. She’d made me so damn mad after that kiss. But this? This was fury. This fucking hurt.
Had I really meant so little to her that she’d kept me a secret from her siblings?
“Here you go.” Lyla held out my change.
The door jingled behind me as I took the bills. I needed to get the fuck out of this shop. Get the fuck away from anyone with the last name Eden.
Not trusting myself to speak, I dropped a couple bucks into her tip jar. Then I picked up my coffee, raising it to Knox as a farewell.
“See ya around,” he said.
I turned, ready to escape, when a beautiful face stopped me in my tracks.
Talia stared, those blue eyes wide, as they darted between me, her brother and her sister. No scrubs today. She was in jeans and a gray coat with a trimming of fur at the hood. Her boots hit at the ankle and she had a pair of thick cream socks bunched above them.