Chapter 9

Hal leapt to his feet as Lex, Mysti, and Lucas entered the diner, waving his cell phone in the air. “Hey-hey! You didn’t text me, Nancy!”

Lucas shot an inquisitive look at Mysti but said nothing.

Mysti stammered. “Mr. Hart asked me to show him the bridge, Uncle Hal. What did you really want me to do, tell him no.”

“Why, I—” Hal looked Lucas over. His wet pant leg and mud-covered shirt alarmed Hal. “You all right, Son?”

“Just lost my footing, Mr. Glad—Hal.” Lucas brushed at drying clumps of mud. “No blood, no foul.”

Hal slapped him on the back. “Well, let’s get some lunch in you and I’ll run you back up to the B&B so you can change. You sure you’re not hurt none.”

“I’m fine.” Lucas flushed a slight red under his bronzed tan. “And actually, I invited Lex and Mysti here on my dime. I’m still interviewing, sir.”

“Oh-oh, of course. I wasn’t thinking. Well, let me get you the best seat in the house.” He snapped his fingers at Ellie, a waitress in her mid-fifties who had worked in this diner since her last child left home, and motioned for her to bring menus for the three. He spoke out of the side of his mouth, “Put this on my tab.” Then he winked at her. The gestures were so overt it was comical.

Ellie glared at Hal but plastered a practiced smile for Mysti and Pastor Cayden. “Come with me, folks.”

Hal followed them with his eyes until they were seated in a booth, then moved back to his usual seat at booth number twelve where two of his cohorts waited patiently for him to return.

He leaned back in his seat but strained his hearing to pick up any piece of conversation from Lucas and his niece. Don’t blow this, little girl. He willed his desires for Nancy to impress Lucas with the Phantom stories. His entire plan could quite possibly hinge heavily on Nancy’s ability to convince Hart she had psychic vibes sensing the horse and rider, plus her eye-witnessing Grandpa Harold twenty years ago. Everybody had seen the glowing apparition, that night, even Hal. As gut-wrenching as it was, that very event is what he relied on now, to convince Hart there was enough evidence to do a show.

Hal leaned farther out of his booth. Absently responding to his buddies, intently listening to Nancy’s booth. His right leg angled out so far, he looked like a tri-legged chair.

Lex placed his arm on the back of the booth as he slid in beside Mysti, then let his arm rest on her shoulders. The closeness to her made his stomach tighten. Lucas sat across from them.

Once they were settled and Ellie’s back faced Hal, she said through clenched teeth, “I swear, if your uncle snaps his fingers at me one more time, I’m going to dump a pitcher of iced tea over his fat head! I’ve been doing this a looong time, and he’s not going to treat me like one of his hound dogs.”

Mysti giggled. “You’re a better woman than me, Ellie. I’d make it a scalding pot of coffee.”

Ellie snickered and nodded as if she were considering it. “What can I get you folks to drink?”

They each gave her their order and she scurried off.

Lex smiled at Mysti and give her a squeeze. He wanted to kiss her again, but he couldn’t in public like this. They weren’t teenagers. Lex mused at the idea of Lucas sitting there ignoring the amorous couple making out in the booth. Lex scooped a lock of red hair from her brow. She’d faced one of her greatest fears and entered the bridge. Her fear for their safety over road her childhood fear of the phantom.

Mysti’s eyes met his. She smiled and shrugged. He knew she knew he was rather proud of her.

“Mysti!” a voice hollered from the kitchen window.

Lucas, Lex and she looked up. Leanne Gladstone, her redhead wrapped with a black bandana in a dew-rag fashion, peeked past the revolving ticket holder. Perspiration moistened her face and accentuated her freckles. A huge smile exposed perfectly straightened teeth. She said something to Ellie and the waitress pointed the clicker-end of her pen at Hal. Leanne vehemently responded to whatever Ellie had said, and Ellie nodded. Leanne shoved a thumb toward herself and hollered. “Lunch is on me!”

Leanne glared at Hal, whose eyes darted her way but returned to his constituents.

Lucas stared at the cook and shook his head. “It’s really hard to buy a person a meal in this town.” They laughed.

“That’s Leanne Gladstone. She’s my cousin, so...”

“Oh, Mr. Gladstone’s daughter?” Lucas strained to see Leanne through the small window. She had returned to her grill and no longer looked up. “She’s the cook here, right?”

Mysti chuckled. “No. She’s a Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts triple degreed Chef. Uncle Hal talked her into coming home and running his diner. I’ve never really understood it. She left a primo position in New Orleans, Louisiana, but I’m sure she had her reasons.”

Lucas nodded, still gazing at the Chef through the window. “ Huh?”

Mysti leaned toward Lucas. “Truth be told, and you didn’t hear them from me.” Mysti licked her lips. “She and her brother, Harry, are planning an expansion of the B&B. Hopefully, by Christmas, the construction will be finished. It’ll include a high-end restaurant on the east side and” —Mysti lowered her voice even more— “Leanne will quit here to run it. She’ll be Head Chef and co-owner. You see, we all received a decent inheritance from our grandmother Diana Gladstone. It’s what gives us autonomy from Hal. I honestly think Grandma left us the money for that very reason. She knew how overbearing her son could be.”