Broken Trust by Leigh Bale

afternoon, okay?”
    “Okay, honey. I’ll plan something
for dinner.”
    “No! Don’t do that. You just have a
good time with Aunt Holly and Aunt Chris. I’ll stop by and pick you up at
Holly’s house.”
    Planning dinner would require
grocery shopping and taking food home to be put away in the refrigerator. Toni
didn’t want Grams at their house alone.
    “Okay, I’ll see you tonight,”
Grandma agreed. “But you be careful.”
    “I will. And Grams?”
    “Yes, honey.”
    “I love you.”
    “I love you, too, dear.”
    Toni hung up the phone, feeling
like a three ton elephant had just hopped off her back.
    “Everything okay?” Mac asked as he
slid his crutch across the floor of the truck, then pulled himself into the cab
and snapped on his seat belt.
    “Yes.” She told him about her
conversation.
    “Great! I really think there’s
nothing to worry about. Until we’re sure, maybe you, Bernice and Cara could
stay at your Aunt Holly’s house.”
    “Grams hates Aunt Holly’s beds.”
    “You could all stay over at my
folk’s house in Vegas. We’ve got enough bedrooms.”
    “Thanks, but I don’t think that
will be necessary.”
    He turned on the ignition, but
didn’t put the truck in gear. He sat there, looking out the windshield, his big
hands resting on the steering wheel.
    “Just say it, Mac.”
    “What?”
    “Whatever’s bothering you. I can
tell you’ve got something on your mind. Just tell me.”
    He glanced at her, his eyes clouded
with emotion she couldn’t discern. “It’s nothing, really. I’m just thinking about
Eric’s letter.”
    He reached over and squeezed her
arm. She tensed, remembering they weren’t a couple any more.
    “Did the gas attendant know
anything about a stranger in town?” she asked.
    “Nope. He said he hasn’t seen
anyone but locals. Right now, are you hungry?”
    It’d been several hours since
they’d had breakfast. “Yes, I am.”
    “Done.” He put the truck in gear
and pulled onto the two-lane Center Street and drove three blocks to the Hidden
Lodge Diner.
    “Can we get it to go? I’m anxious
to get home,” she urged.
    “Sure, but I want to ask Miriam and
Tate if they’ve served food to any visitors. Nothing gets by them and they can
tell us if someone came through town recently.”
    Inside the restaurant, Toni scanned
the booths and counter, noticing almost every table filled with people. She
found herself being hugged by almost everyone there as they expressed sadness
over Eric’s death.
    Miriam, the waitress, lifted a
deep-dish apple pie from beneath a glass cover. “I’ll be sure to slip a couple
pieces of this pie in with your burgers and fries. Eric always ordered a double
cheeseburger and Tate’s apple pie when he came to visit us.”
    Tate winked at her from behind the
grill. A big, burly man with a shiny bald head, he wore a white apron tied
around his enormous waist. “You come in for my apple pie anytime, girl.”
    Tears burned Toni’s eyes. “A burger
made with Swiss cheese.”
    “Of course,” Miriam nodded. “It had
to be Swiss for Eric.”
    Somehow, Toni felt closer to her
brother knowing he loved Tate’s apple pie and Miriam served him Swiss cheese on
his burgers. Over the years, Eric had spent a lot of time here with Mac and
Hank, working as a guide. In high school, after she and Mac had realized they
were in love, she’d spent time here also. She couldn’t help feeling like she belonged.
Strange she didn’t feel that way in Vegas, inside her own house. Yet here, a
place she only visited occasionally during the summer months, she felt as
though she’d come home.
    Looking across the counter at Mac,
she noticed him staring intently at her face.
    “You okay?” he asked.
    “I’m fine.”
    He gave her a quirked smile that
tripped her heart into double-time. She felt conscious of him as a man. When he
reached out and clasped her hand, she flinched. She felt comfortable with him,
as though she belonged in his arms, and