Strays

Chapter 8

"Good morning," Dean greeted as Lindley crawled groggily into the kitchen. When she had gotten to Dean's the night before, only Dean and Nate, a boy who had been on the football team with Dean, were sitting out by the fire pit. She sat with them for a bit before Nate had to go, and Dean suggested they head inside. Lindley got the feeling he wanted to stay up and watch a movie or something, but she kept getting distracted by her own thoughts, and eventually, Dean just offered her his brother's old room. Dean's older brother Callum turned down a football scholarship to marry his pregnant girlfriend right out of high school, and now they lived in a nice three bedroom on a half-acre just off Main Street. Overall, the best possible ending in this town.

"Morning," Lindley greeted, accepting the glass of orange juice Dean started pouring her.

"Hungry?" Dean asked. He was chewing on a dry piece of toast, which made Lindley's stomach growl.

"Yeah, kind of." She stretched. She was in a set of Dean's sweat pants and her t-shirt from the day before.

"Let's go to the diner," he said casually, tossing the rest of his toast in the trash, wiping the crumbs from his hands. Lindley told him "sure" and the two set off walking to town. Dean's home was much better situated than Lindley's. Hers was roughly a fifteen-minute walk to the diner, but Dean's was closer to five. The farther you get from the town center, the seedier the houses became.

As they passed the coffee shop, Lindley spotted a herd of hungover, black-clad loiterers carrying to go cups. She tried to get in step with Dean so he could block her from view.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked her, confused as to why she was cowering behind him.

"I kind of know those people, and I'd rather not have to say 'hi'," Lindley confessed, swiftly pulling the door open to Big Mama's and scurrying in. Dean laughed, lingering in the doorway to turn and evaluate the crowd obviously. "Come on!" She yanked him in and sat at the bar.

As Dean settled in, Mama Lacey, a thin, pretty woman in her forties with a delicate voice and a sweet smile, came to greet them. "What are you two up to?" Her laugh sounded like a spoon gently knocking on a teacup while stirring in sugar.

"Working up an appetite," Dean answered with a golden-boy grin. Dean's dad was the mayor of the town, and Dean had been the quarterback of the football team. He took ranch management classes as he needed to through WTCU, but he never saw a need to finish the degree, because he was being groomed to take over his dad's farm—the largest in town—and eventually become mayor, if his older brother didn't choose that route instead. Nate never seemed very interested in the family businesses, but the Herschell's are even harder to leave than this town. "You look beautiful today, Mama Lacey."

"Compliments won't get you a free slice of pie," she scolded him with a wink. Mama Lacey owned Big Mama's—taking it over from her husband's mother. It had been passed down through three generations, and every owner earned the honorary title of Mama. Mama Lacey was never able to have her own kids, breaking the heart of everyone in town, but every kid who grew up coming up to the counter with a shiny quarter to buy a donut was her honorary kiddo.

"Something smells incredible," Lindley sighed after taking in a big breath of fresh cooking bacon and baked goods.

"I've got something for you two to try," Mama Lacey told them eagerly, with a conspiratorial grin on her face. She turned to the kitchen and asked for two stacks of Santas. Dean looked over inquisitively at Lindley, who shrugged her shoulders. It must be very new, because she hadn't heard of whatever they were trying, and she worked just the other night.

While they were cooking, she brought over a Dr. Pepper for Dean and a Diet Coke for Lindley. "So what can you two tell me about the new guy working over at Old Rick's?"

"I didn't know there was a new guy working over at Old Rick's?" Dean turned on Lindley, suspicious over why this detail had been omitted.

"Why are you guys looking at me like that for?" Lindley asked uncomfortably, raising her hands. "Mama Lacey probably knows about as much as I do about him."

"Oh, Honey," Mama Lacey cooed, pressing her hands onto Lindley's fingers gently. "You're too sweet—I should have known better than to try to get you to gossip with me."

Lindley blushed. "I just really don't know anything to gossip. His name is Wren. He's from out of town. He works at Old Rick's. I haven't asked any of them about him or anything." She sipped her soda and looked pointedly at Dean, who was scrutinizing her face.

"You're such a good girl," Mama Lacey told her. "I could learn something from you—we both could." She shared a conspiratorial giggle with Dean. Mama went over to serve other customers, and Dean placed one arm on the bar and turned on Lindley, his head cocked to the side.

"Why didn't you tell me about the new guy?" He asked her softly.

"I guess I didn't think it was news," she answered, playing with the cloth napkin in front of her. "He seems cool—friendly enough. He's in that group I was trying to avoid in front of the coffee shop. Those are his friends from out of town, and they aren't my cup of tea. I ran into them last night."

Dean nodded, turning toward the window again, but they were gone by now. "Not my cup of tea" from Lindley usually meant they were trouble. Lindley had a heavy vetting process for anyone she let into her life—basically, if they jeopardized her chances of having a career and getting out of this town, she wouldn't give them the time of day. There was an unspoken tension between Lindley and Dean—she knew he wanted their friendship to be something more, but if he tried, he knew Lindley would cut him out of her life completely.

"Well, I'm sure you showed them the way out of town," he laughed mirthlessly, placing his hand on her shoulder for a moment before turning to the "stack of Santa" that was being placed in front of him.

"Peppermint, honey, dark chocolate, and sea salt pancakes," Mama Lacey announced, dropping the plates in front of them. "We mixed little ground up candy canes into the batter to give it a little crunch! Let me know if we should put it on the holiday menu."

"This looks incredible," Lindley said, already licking her lips. Dean tore into his pancakes and stuffed a huge forkful into his mouth. He moaned and looked at Mama Lacey with sincere eyes, pressing his hand to his chest.

"I want these at my wedding," he told her, going in for his second bite.

Lindley laughed, but made affirmative noises as she licked a dab of whipped cream from the side of her hand. "You're going to make me fat, Mama Lacey, and I can't afford new jeans."

Mama Lacey walked off, her cheeks pink, and checked on the next table with an insuppressible smile.

"I feel like this is going to make my breath so minty fresh all day," Dean joked, blowing in Lindley's face.

She giggled and pulled away from him, shoving his shoulder before saying, "I feel like I'm going to regret having so much sugar for breakfast."

They two were still laughing with each other while they walked down Main Street. Dean bumped Lindley playfully with his shoulder, and she looked over at him to stick her tongue out at him.

"Hey, I gotta get back," Dean told her after window shopping in the same old stores for a couple hours. "You want me to walk you home?"

Lindley shook her head smiling up at him. "I think I'm going to explore a little more—take advantage of Mike being out of town."

"Let me know if you want to go out tonight," Dean told her as he started walking the other direction. "To celebrate!"

Lindley smiled, considering actually taking him up on it. She made her way leisurely toward the bookstore, considering whether she would indulge herself.