Page 21 of Fallen Flame

“Yes, sir.”

I swung my leg over the back and stepped onto the pavement. Oliver waited until I was steady before he moved, which I filed away with the growing list of things he did without drawing attention to them.

He checked.

He watched.

He made sure everyone around him was okay while pretending he wasn’t doing anything at all.

I pulled off the helmet and shook my head. My hair fell around my face in a tangled mess, but I didn’t bother trying to fix it beyond pushing it out of my eyes.

“How bad do you think it is?” I asked.

Oliver looked toward the building. “We won’t know until we get inside. I don’t think it should be too horrible.”

Ever stood beside Jude’s bike with her purse pressed against her side and a notepad in one hand. She stared at the Dairy Bar without saying a word.

The sight of her made something squeeze in my chest.

The Dairy Bar belonged to her parents, but Ever was the one who kept it alive. She ordered the food, worked the schedules, covered shifts, handled customers, and knew exactly how much chocolate syrup we went through on a Saturday afternoon.

This place wasn’t just a job to her. It was hers.

I walked over and bumped my shoulder gently against hers. “We’ve got this.”

Ever let out a slow breath. “Yeah, I’m really not worried about cleaning up. It’s more spinning the ‘everything is fine’ to my parents.”

I nodded. “Yeah, well, I’m sure you’ll think of something.” What that would be, I had no idea, but I knew Ever would handle it. “Just keep up with whatever it is that you told them for them to head down here.”

She grimaced and her eyes bugged out. “I fear I might have already messed up.”

Jude took the keys from her hand and headed toward the door before she could explain more. Oliver followed, but his eyes moved over the parking lot and the road instead of the building.

He was always looking.

A delivery van drove past. An older guy pushed a lawnmower down the sidewalk two buildings away. Nothing seemed strange to me, but Oliver watched everything like he was waiting for the world to give him a reason not to trust it.

Jude unlocked the door, and the bell above it gave a weak little jingle.

The place wasn’t destroyed. Junior had been tasked to take care of… Jester. I did not want to know what all that meant, and I was more than okay going the rest of my life not knowing.

Things were a bit askew and just needed a good scrub because of what had happened, but getting the Dairy Bar back open wouldn’t take much.

Jude moved close to Ever and rested his hand at the back of her neck. “This isn’t too bad,” he said.

Ever nodded, though she was still staring at the floor. “No. It could’ve been a lot worse.”

Ever’s phone rang, and she checked the screen. “My mom.”

Jude straightened so quickly that I almost laughed.

His expression barely changed, but his whole body went stiff.

I smiled at him. “Here we go.”

He gave me a warning look.

Ever answered. “Hi, Mom.”