Gabe stood up with a big smile. “What are we waiting for? We have a fight to break up.”
* * * *
Tom looked up in surprise when he saw Logan and Gabe walking in the front door. “That was quick. These two bozos here just won’t give up. Rex broke them up twice already and they still keep going at each other.”
Rex, the bouncer, held one man down on a chair who was still yelling obscenities at the other man. The second man had calmed down and was sitting quietly with a bloody nose. Karissa came running up to them and gave the man a clean towel. “I think your nose is broken, Danny.”
Danny grabbed the towel from Karissa and winked at her, no longer concerned about his nose. “Won’t be the first time, sweetness. Ready to go out with me yet?”
Karissa laughed and patted him on the back in a friendly gesture. “I told you
, Danny, I don’t date troublemakers and this is the third fight you’ve been in this month. One more and Tom won’t even let you in the door anymore.”
“I’ll change my ways right now, darling, if you say yes.” He put one hand over his heart and held the towel to his nose, making Tom laugh and Gabe glare hard at him.
“Give it up, Danny, trouble is your middle name,” Karissa told him with a friendly smile then looked at Gabe and Logan. “Hey, officers.”
Gabe smiled at her, feeling like a tongue-tied school boy. “Hey, Karissa. You doing okay?”
She shrugged, looking at the two men who had been fighting. “Just a typical night here at Funville. Better get back to work. See you guys around.”
Logan and Gabe put the two men in the car and Gabe went back inside to get Tom to sign the complaint statement. Karissa was wiping the bar down and Gabe walked up to her, feeling more nervous than he had in a long time.
“Want to have lunch one day this week and catch up?” he asked, trying to sound casual and not too eager. “You said we could be friends and I am interested in what you’ve been doing these last years. We always had a good friendship going, didn’t we?”
Karissa gave him a thoughtful look as if trying to decide how to answer. They used to spend hours on their camping trips discussing everything from family views to world views. “As friends only?”
“Of course.” He lied with what he hoped was a believable smile. All was fair in love and war, at least he thought he had read that somewhere before. Oh well, it sounded good to him. He’d do whatever he could to get into Karissa’s good graces once again and slowly try to win her back. This time he knew what he wanted and he wouldn’t give up so easily.
“Okay.” She surprised him with a yes. “Call me at Casey’s.” She gave him the number and walked away to finish her work.
Gabe walked back to the car calmly but he wanted to yell and shout all the way. Logan gave him a high five when he told him Karissa said yes, and he swore Danny in the backseat muttered, “Lucky bastard.”
* * * *
Karissa walked into Ally’s diner the next afternoon, looking around at the fifties décor and smiled. She was glad Ally hadn’t changed the look of the place. She had always loved the fifties look of the diner, the black and white tiled floor and red booths. She had to grab something to eat before going in to work. Jonathon had finally gone to sleep after a fussy morning and Casey had been resting and Karissa didn’t want to disturb them. She looked around the almost-empty diner and spotted Gabe and Ryan sitting at a table talking to Lacy. Neither man was in uniform and she couldn’t help but notice how Gabe’s muscular shoulders looked good encased in his gray T-shirt and how he still kept his black hair long and in a ponytail. She had always loved his long hair, teasing him and calling him her pirate man. She shook her lustful thought away. The man wants to be friends only, Karissa, she stated firmly to herself. And the last thing you need is another broken heart.
Lacy spotted her and smiled and waved her over to the table where Gabe and Ryan sat talking, so she walked toward them.
“Karissa, it’s good to see you.” Lacy gave her a welcoming smile. “Here for lunch?”
Karissa nodded. “I have to work tonight but I wanted to eat first. It smells so good in here, this brings back so many memories. Does your mom still make those homemade famous strawberry milkshakes, Ryan?”
Gabe scooted over and patted the chair next to him with a smile and she had no choice but to sit down next to him or appear rude.
“That is my mom’s homemade bacon cheeseburger you smell,” Ryan said, rubbing his full stomach and leaning back in his chair lazily. “I just had one and they are good. And yeah she still makes those shakes, too.”
“I’ll have a burger but no fries,” Karissa told Lacy. “Otherwise I’ll be too full to work.”
Lacy went to the kitchen to place the order and the other waitress came to the table and smiled at her in a greeting. “Hi, Karissa. I heard you were back, stranger.” She was tall and slim with short black hair and a friendly smile.
“Hi, Stella. It’s been a while.” Karissa’s smile was friendly. She and Stella had gone all through high school together and had hung out often. “Casey told me you and Stanley have a little girl now. I can’t wait to meet her. Congratulations, this town is having a baby boom. Tell me the truth, is it in the water?”
Stella laughed happily. “The water is safe, I promise. Lily is my little angel. Stanley and I are so excited and now my friend Liz is expecting, too.”
Karissa nodded and told Stella she had met Liz at the barbeque a few days ago and had promised to check out her store on her next day off.
Lacy came back and joined the conversation. “It’s such a nice summer day. I’m sorry you have to spend it at work, Karissa. Ryan is taking me camping tonight and it’s my first time so I’m a little nervous yet excited.”