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But then I saw a bright flash of red hair through one of the windows—and she was sitting across from... Bennett Smith. Smiling.
Something in me raged at the sight of him getting one of her smiles. At the plain-ass smile he sent back to her. He should have fucking heart eyes coming out of his face.
Something irrational and reckless and most of all, fucking dumb.
I didn’t date, especially not people intertwined with my family. This was none of my business. So why was I having a hard time believing myself?
I grit my teeth together and walked around the side of the diner to go in and sit with my dad and brothers.
I found them at Dad’s usual booth, Knox and Fletch sitting on one side, leaving space for me by Dad. The only problem was that from this angle, I had a great view of Della and Bennett.
The amount of self-control it took to say hi to Dad, Knox, and Fletcher before I glanced her way deserved an award. My gaze was met by pretty soft-green eyes. She quickly glanced down, and I smirked.
She was looking at me while she was talking to him.
Suddenly, the ache in my chest eased, if only a little bit.
“Hayes,” Fletcher said like it wasn’t the first time he tried to get my attention.
“Yeah?” I turned my attention to him, gently biting down on my lip ring.
“Maya’s class is doing a line dancing performance at the spring festival, and she asked me to ‘confirm your participation’,” Fletcher said.
“No.” I reached over and plucked a menu from the rack, even though I always ordered the same thing. Maybe just so I had something to look at other than the redhead across the diner.
But Knox grabbed the menu and eyed me with that no-nonsense cop look. “He wasn’t asking. We’re all doing it.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Why?”
Knox shook his head at me. “Because our niece wants us to?”
“And?” I asked.
Fletcher eyed me. “You try telling her no.”
“Fair point.” I sighed. “When and where?”
Dad snickered next to me, and I said, “Why are you laughing? You’re dancing too.”
“Oh no,” Dad said. “That’s for you young guns. I’m a little old for that.”
“True,” Knox said, a smirk lighting his blue eyes. “He needs to get his doctor’s approval for physical activity.”
We all swiveled our gazes to look at Fletch, the family doctor. He was grinning as he pulled a pen from his pocket and wrote on a napkin. Grayson Madigan is hereby cleared for line dancing activities.
We were all laughing as Dad shook his head at us and ripped the napkin in half. “Oh, grow up,” he muttered, an amused look in his eyes.
I had to wipe my watering eyes, but when I looked over, I saw Bennett and Della walking toward the register. And the future flashed before my eyes. Bennett and Della in this restaurant every week. Seeing them together as a couple. Him, putting his hand on her waist, comfortable with her in a way I’d never be.
“What did that napkin do to you?” Dad muttered, nudging my side.
I realized I had a death grip on my napkin and loosened up. “Guess I’m saving it from you,” I popped off.
He rolled his eyes at me and then joined back in on the conversation with Knox and Fletcher about some new machine Fletcher was getting at Madigan Medical. But all the while, I could hear Della and Bennett talking over the restaurant’s chatter.
Della said, “I better get this back to Edna before the lettuce gets soggy. Thanks again for paying. You really didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to,” Bennett said. “In fact, I’d like to do it again sometime. Maybe Friday night?”