From the Start by Melissa Tagg Read Free Book Online Page B

slighter than she remembered. What . . . why?
    “Dad?”

    Colton had thought the downed trees and flattened fields they’d passed on the way from Case Walker’s house into town were bad. But this?
    His gaze hurtled around the kitchen of The Red Door, the restaurant Logan’s cousin had opened in the historical bank building that swallowed up one corner of Maple Valley’s downtown. Storm-tossed debris littered the space—chunks of wood and brick, layers of dust covering the long metal counter in the middle of the room and the black-and-white-checkered floor. A late summer wind, heavy with humidity, crackled through the plastic tarp partially covering the hole in the back wall.
    And a tree trunk—gouged through the wall.
    “Whoa.” The word slipped out on the heels of Logan’s gasp.
    Seth Walker nudged broken glass out of the way with his foot and perched against the tiled counter top that lined the wall opposite the wreckage. His hair was lighter than Logan’s, and he stood an inch or two shorter, but the Walker resemblance was there. “It looks bad, I know, but trust me, it could’ve been so much worse. Not twenty minutes before the twister hit, I was sitting at that desk.”
    The one at the back of the room now split in half by the tree.
    Logan picked up an overturned chair. “Thank God you and everyone got to the basement.”
    Seth nodded. “It’s a miracle no one in town was seriously injured.”
    The image of Case Walker slipped in then. The shock on Kate’s face when she’d seen her father walk into the kitchen an hour ago, all bruised and wearing that sling. No one had told her the man had dislocated a shoulder in the storm? She’d gone white as that whipped cream she’d just made.
    And he’d had the uncanny urge to reach out for her—just to make sure she stayed steady on her feet. Which was funny, really. From his two brief exchanges with her, Kate Walker didn’t seem like the fainting type. Plucky and strong willed, yes. Feeble, no.
    Still . . . he hadn’t missed the dismay rimming her shock.
    “So the main goal today is to get the tree out of here,” Seth said, pulling off his Maple Valley Mavericks ball cap and stuffing it in his back pocket. “Problem is, pretty much every piece of equipment in town is in use, since everyone’s in storm-repair mode. Cleanup crews are focusing on residences and public buildings first. I could wait, but I’d really like to get the place reopened sooner rather than later.”
    Logan walked over to the tree. “If it wasn’t such a beast of a tree, we could just lift it.”
    Odd to see Logan like this—dressed in old jeans and a faded T-shirt. Had he ever seen his friend in anything other than a suit?
    “If we had a chainsaw, we could cut it up and get it out in pieces. Case already loaned his out, though, and the two stores in town that sell them are sold out.” Seth eyed his cousin, then Colton. “But, uh, I did find a couple axes in Case’s shed. I know chopping wood probably wasn’t what you expected when you offered to help.”
    Logan was already moving his shoulders, as if loosening up in preparation for the manual labor. “I don’t mind. You?” He tossed the question to Colton.
    After the week he’d had, swinging a sharp tool at an inanimate object sounded awesome. He’d just have to be careful of his bad shoulder. “Put me to work.”
    “All right, then—the axes are out in the truck. But let me show you the rest of the place first.”
    They followed Seth through a swinging door into the restaurant’s main eating area and Colton gasped for a second time—only this time out of appreciation.
    It had the perfect inviting atmosphere—soft lighting and a fireplace in the corner, redwood ceiling that reached down to amber-colored walls. Unique touches like the cubed shelves displaying coffee mugs on one wall and the cobblestone base of the order counter.
    “Oh man. This place is incredible.” The impressed tone of Logan’s voice