Fired Up by Mary Connealy

from that, but he wasn’t sure he should.
    Among these coarse men, no one was other than polite and proper. More notable, no one said a word of complaint. In fact, their thanks were generous and delivered at length. They ate so slowly that Dare knew it couldn’t be blamed on the food—which a man had to eat slowly if he wanted to retain possession of his teeth. No, they just wanted to be in Glynna’s presence for as long as possible.
    Finally, with the longest noon break ever taken in Broken Wheel over, the crowd thinned out.
    Dare noted that the cost of two bits for the meal had been paid by everyone. Of course, each man chose his moment and then paid Glynna personally; no one just left money on the table. She graced them each with a smile and a few words, a few seconds of her time and attention. That alone was worth the money, regardless of the food’s quality. She also gave them the good news that she was going to be open for breakfast and lunch starting tomorrow.
    God have mercy on them all.
    Glynna’s pockets were heavy with coins. Her restaurant, at least on day one, was a rousing success. Dare knew good and well every one of those varmints would be back tomorrow. Twice.
    He sure would be.
    He might eat before he got here, but he’d come. And he’d wear a coat with big pockets. He sure hoped she didn’t serve stew. Although, considering today’s meal, maybe her stew would be hard enough that it wouldn’t make much of a mess in his pocket.
    When at long last the diner was nearly empty of patrons, Glynna came out and looked at Dare, Luke, and Vince—the last ones remaining.
    â€œIt went well, don’t you think?” She apologized for the food again. “Do any of you want more coffee?”
    Luke had his back to the kitchen, so Glynna couldn’t see his face when he closed his eyes in what looked like pain. “No, thank you, Mrs. . . . uh, what’s your new name again?”
    â€œSevier.”
    â€œSev Yay, got it. I’ll try and remember. Mrs. Sev Yay, can you sit down for a few minutes?”
    â€œJust call me Glynna, for heaven’s sake.” Glynna sat beside Luke at the end of the bench, straight across from Dare. Vince was on Dare’s left, across from Luke.
    â€œI’ve got a few things to work out with you about your land.”
    â€œI told you, I won’t take a cent from you.”
    â€œYou told me, all right, about fifteen times. I don’t like it, but I understand how you feel. But that leaves me in chargeof a bunch of land that’s no more mine than it was Greer’s. I’m not takin’ nuthin’ from that polecat.” Luke pulled a stack of letters from his pocket. The chunk of . . . food rolled out and bounced on the floor with a loud crack . It reminded Dare of the avalanche just because that was the last rock he’d seen rolling until now. Vince caught the thing on the bounce and stuffed it in his own pocket. Glynna didn’t seem to notice.
    â€œI’m writing to everyone who lost land because of your husband.” Luke ignored Vince, or maybe he was trying to keep Glynna’s attention. He laid the letters on the table in front of her. “I’ve found who I can, and I thank you for your help with names and such. There were men in town who knew more names and where those folks ended up. I’m going to give back every bit of land that isn’t mine. That leaves us with a stretch of land that belonged to Greer before he started with his stealing. What I can find tells me he owned it legally, so that makes it yours.”
    â€œI won’t take it.”
    Luke sighed. “So you’ve said, ma’am, but it’s still yours. It has to be dealt with, and no one but you can do it. Even if you want to give it away, it has to be done right and proper.”
    Glynna got a stubborn look on her pretty face. Luke didn’t argue with her. He just