Sidecar Crush

“What are all y’all doing here?” I asked.

Bowie shrugged. “It’s lunch time.”

Oh my god. Was my entire family going to show up?

“Oh hey, y’all!”

I closed my eyes and shook my head, hearing Scarlett’s voice. Of course she would be here, too.

“Well, isn’t this fun,” Scarlett said. She walked over, arm in arm with Devlin. “It’s like a reunion  .”

“Hi again, Scarlett. Everyone, this is Kelvin Graham.” Leah Mae tried to gesture at Kelvin, but he’d hopped his way down the sidewalk, trying to get away from the relentless pecking of Mona Lisa McNugget. “Kelvin, what are you doing?”

“This fucking chicken won’t leave me alone,” he said.

“We’ll go get a table,” Bowie said. He nodded at Kelvin. “Nice to meet you, Kevin.”

Kelvin stopped. “It’s Kelvin. Ow, what the hell?”

“Don’t hurt her,” Leah Mae said.

I was having a very hard time not laughing, but I kept quiet. Gibson, Scarlett, and Devlin followed Bowie inside Moonshine, ignoring the chicken attack occurring on the sidewalk.

“Do you want to come in and have lunch?” Leah Mae asked Kelvin. “Or go back to the cabin and get some work done?”

Kelvin took a few quick steps toward us, leaving Mona Lisa McNugget distracted by something on the sidewalk. “Jesus, this place is crazy. I’m not eating here. I’ll go back to the cabin.”

Leah Mae glanced at me and gave me the tiniest of winks. “Okay, if you’re sure.”

Kelvin eyed the chicken. “Yeah, positive. You’re just having lunch?”

“Yes, I already told you that,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “And you didn’t have to come into town. I could have driven myself.”

He leveled me with a hard stare. I met his gaze, keeping my face blank. He had nothing to fear from me as far as Leah Mae was concerned. I wasn’t the sort to mess around with another man’s girl. But he didn’t know that, and I saw no need to clarify. If he didn’t trust Leah Mae, that was his problem, not mine.

“Call me when you’re done,” he said. “I’ll come pick you up.”

“Okay,” she said.

He grabbed her by the waist and planted a kiss on her forehead. Maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed like she stiffened. With another glance at me, he turned for his car. Mona Lisa McNugget went after his ankle again, so he hurried across the street. He got in his car, and the chicken strutted on down the road.

“Does Mona Lisa McNugget always do that?” Leah Mae asked.

“Nah, she’s usually a real sweetheart,” I said. Leah Mae laughed, and I glanced inside Moonshine. My siblings were sitting in a booth, drinks already on the table. “Do you want to grab something to go from the Pop In? We could take it down to the lake and avoid… all that.” I gestured to the table full of Bodines. And Devlin, but he was one of us now, even if he wouldn’t ever have our last name. Of course, Scarlett might just make him take her name eventually.

“I was hoping you might suggest that,” she said.

With a fair bit of relief, I led Leah Mae up the street to the Pop In. I bought us sandwiches and drinks. It wasn’t a date, but I still insisted on paying. Then we walked down to the lake and found an open picnic table.

“It’s amazing how familiar this place is,” she said, settling down on the other side of the table. “Some things are a little different, but it’s still Bootleg Springs. Does that even make sense?”

“Sure it does,” I said. “I guess that’s part of its charm.”

“I miss it.” She unwrapped her sandwich. “I heard your dad passed away. I’m really sorry.”

“Thanks,” I said. “It wasn’t unexpected.”

“Still, must be hard.”

I nodded. Didn’t much want to bring up Callie, but I wanted Leah Mae to hear it from me first if she didn’t already know. “Yeah. I don’t know if you’ve heard the talk, but there’s some evidence that suggests my dad could have had something to do with Callie Kendall going missing all those years ago.”