Angela Bahus 

Chapter One: Bethany

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The diner is busier than I've seen it in weeks. The schools are closed for fall break, and the town's annual Halloween party is soon, so of course, everyone in town chooses now to come in for warm drinks and sweet treats.

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Normally, I wouldn't complain about the increase in business. This is my livelihood now, but today I'm shorthanded. My best friend-slash-assistant had to be sent home. Samantha, bless her heart, is seven months pregnant and today, Green Junior is making Mama feel especially rough. I've sent Sam home to rest and called her younger sister, Rebecca in to help, but until she gets here, I'm rushed off my feet. 

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"Bethany, dear, can I get another cup of coffee?" Mrs. Elkins calls, and I grab the pot and make my way over to her. Mrs. Elkins is well-known, and well-loved, at church and it wouldn't do to keep her waiting. If I do, soon it will be all over town. I pour her a new mug of coffee and smile politely as she asks how me and my parents are.

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"Oh, you know, enjoying their retirement," I say.

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Mrs. Elkins puts a generous spoon of sugar in her coffee, then stirs in so much cream the dark liquid turns pale. She'd be better off ordering warm milk. "They're lucky to have a good girl like you to take over the diner. Now they can retire in peace, knowing the business will be taken care of."

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"That's me, a good girl," I reply, not voicing my dark thoughts about how I didn't have much choice. I love the diner now and want it to succeed, but when I was younger, my dreams never included taking over from my parents. 

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The sound of mug breaking, then a toddler screaming, draws my attention away from Mrs. Elkins, and I rush back to the counter to grab a broom and a cookie to appease young Chloe. As I hurry over to where Chloe is sitting in her highchair with her mom, Hannah trying to calm the distraught child, I catch a glimpse of a face I haven't seen in ten years.

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No, it can't be, I think, assuming I conjured an image of him, sitting there in his usual booth - where he used to sit every day of my eighteenth year, with an easy smile and flirty comments - from my memories, because I'd just been thinking about how different my life turned out. 

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But then Chance Jackson is rising from his seat and taking the broom from me, while I give the cookie to Chloe. 

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"Good to see you, Bethany," he says, tipping his cowboy hat to me, his stormy grey eyes shimmering in the light.

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For a moment, all I can do is stare at him, openmouthed, thinking how?

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Chance chuckles as he sweeps up the pieces of broken mug and puts them in the trash, then he turns to me and says, "You seem rushed off your feet. Let me help."

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For the next fifteen minutes, until Rebecca arrives to take over from her sister, Chance waits tables, while I keep a distance, staying in the kitchen, and cooking up all the orders. I'm glad of the excuse, because I don't know if I was any closer to Chance if I could keep my composure. Just the sight of him has memories flooding my mind. 

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Daily visits, flirty comments, a rose left in his booth at closing time. A few days later, a note asking if I'd like to have dinner with him. 

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What's he doing back in town?

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When Rebecca arrives, she starts apologizing for taking so long, and then the words freeze in her mouth, as she takes in Chance, her eyes wide. 

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"Chance Jackson, is that you?" she asks, crossing the diner to stand before him, staring up at Chance like he's a rare specimen in the museum.

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"Yes, Rebecca Clark, it's me," Chance says smoothly. Though he doesn't chuckle like he did when he took the broom from me. He seems vaguely frustrated. 

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And as I look out at the diner, from the doorway to the kitchen, I can see why. Until now, Chance had gone relatively unnoticed. Even as he served customers, they didn't really take in who was serving them. But now Rebecca has called out his name for everyone to hear. Curious eyes are watching Chance. 

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Mrs. Elkins is practically craning her neck to see out of her booth, her eyes dancing between me and Chance, as though she expects me to run into his arms and press my lips to his. 

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"What are you doing here?" Rebecca blurts, drawing everyone's attention back to her and Chance, and I'm grateful for small mercies.

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"I'm back in town," is all Chance says, then he turns to me and tips his hat. "I'll be seeing you, Bethany." 

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Without another word, Chance leaves the diner, and I see him get into a truck in the parking lot. I watch as he drives away. Everyone watches as he drives away, and then the diner is filled with whispers.

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I try my best to ignore them and go back into the kitchen. I keep myself busy cooking, hoping this sends the message: I don't know why Chance is back either, and I won't want to talk about it. 

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As I cook fries and flip burgers, I can't get the image of Chance out of my head. He looks older now, of course, with a few more lines and wrinkles. But his hair is still black, and curls around his collar like it always did. And he's still so handsome it takes my breath away.

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Images from ten years ago play in my mind, making my heartache. Chance's distraught face as I told him we couldn't keep seeing each other, and my tears when he told me he was leaving town to serve in the army. I thought I was over this. I thought I was over him. But seeing Chance again makes me realize, it might have been ten years since he left Winter Creek, but my feelings for him are as intense as ever.  

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