Fury filled his eyes. “I’m tryin’ to keep you safe, Carly. Maybe if you weren’t acting like a child, you would put aside your hurt feelin’s and see that.”

My mouth dropped open, but I decided not to blast him, however much I wanted to stab him with my words. I inhaled deep, refocusing my energy. “What did you say to that mother seating in the booth in the corner?”

He darted a glance in that direction, and a sheepish look washed over his face. “Let’s just say you weren’t my favorite person when she asked to speak to you.”

Max stepped over, eyeing us like we were a pair of skittish horses. “Is havin’ you two in the same place gonna be a problem?”

Wyatt grunted “no” as I said “yes.”

Max put his hands on his hips and pushed out a sigh. “Funnily enough, when I pictured myself becomin’ a daddy, I didn’t see myself disciplinin’ a couple of grown adults, and I sure as hell didn’t expect for one of them to be my older brother.”

Wyatt gave Max a look that should have brought him to his knees.

“I don’t have time for this nonsense,” I said. “I only came over to tell you that I’m helpin’ a little boy with his math homework.”

Max did a double take. “Say what?”

“He didn’t understand how to do it, so I showed him and his mother.” I made a face. “Actually, I helped a little girl the night before, and the mother of the little boy caught wind of it and brought her son in for dinner last night to see if I could help him. They didn’t quite get it, so I’m showing them this afternoon while we’re not busy.”

“Let me get this straight,” Max said, resting his hand on the counter. “You’re helping a kindergartner with his math homework.”

“Not a kindergartner,” I said in exasperation. “A third grader, and it’s the new math, which is totally confusing when you don’t know how to do it, but once you get it, it makes higher math easier, which is why it’s so important for the parents to understand so they can help their children.”

Max stared at me like I’d started speaking Russian. “Where did you learn how to do this new math?”

I shrugged, the neurons in my brain scrambling to come up with an acceptable answer. “I tutored in Atlanta as a side job. Retail doesn’t pay much.”

“Huh,” he said, shifting his weight and casting his gaze to the booth.

“Sounds like several of the kids don’t know how to do it,” Wyatt said, turning his head sideways to look at his brother. “Maybe you could have Carly host a tutoring session in the afternoons, after school. The kids and their parents would likely order food while they’re here, and it’s a dead time anyway. Great opportunity to give back to the community but make some money too.”

Wyatt turned to me, his expression softer, and part of me wanted to push him off his barstool. He knew I’d been a schoolteacher, and I’d confessed how much I missed teaching. Just when I was sure I hated him, he went and did something nice.

My eyes burned and I had to look away.

“You know,” Max said, sounding excited. “That’s actually a good idea.” He turned to look at me. “Can you help with other subjects besides math?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I can help with it all.”

“We could call it Max’s Homework Club,” Max said. “We could host it a couple days a week from three thirty to five, which would clear them out before the dinner crowd.”

“The families just might stay for dinner,” Wyatt suggested. “And maybe we should name it something else since Carly’s gonna be helpin’ with the homework and not you.”

Max rubbed his chin. “Yeah, maybe so.”

Annette glanced over at me with a look of panic.

“Excuse me,” I said, heading around the corner of the bar. “Duty calls.”

I spent the next ten minutes helping Eric work a few problems before they left. Some customers came in with the dinner crowd, and I kept glancing at the door, watching for Marco. I hadn’t spoken to him since I’d left my long, rambling message. I was eager to tell him about my encounter with Emily, but that would have to wait until later. The last thing I wanted was for either of the Drummond boys to overhear me.

Ruth was at the food counter when I headed back there to pick up the plates for table three. Neither of our orders were up, so I leaned against the counter and glanced toward the front.

“What are you watchin’ for?” she asked. “Or should I ask who?”

Not much got past her. “Marco.”

“I heard he was guarding the construction site.”

I nodded. “He was until they gave it the all clear. The construction guys must still be out there.”

“Max says they got a late start, so they’ll probably be out there for a while yet. Bart’s gonna push them to get a full day’s work in to make up for the lost time.”

That stood to reason, but it also meant there’d likely be a late dinner rush.

“Say, Ruth, I know you and Heather weren’t friends, but do you happen to know who went to her going-away party?”

She looked uncomfortable. “That was a long time ago.”

“Not really. Not like decades. You were working here. Surely you heard rumors.”

“I was older than her and her friends,” she said, curling her upper lip. “And they were trouble with a capital T.”

“Abby and Mitzi?” I asked in surprise.

A grin stretched her mouth as she turned to face me. “Someone’s been doin’ her homework. Should I start calling you Veronica Mars or Nancy Drew?”

“Neither,” I said, rolling my eyes as I laughed. “But if you know anything, I’d really appreciate hearing it.”

She was silent for a moment, her gaze drifting to the dining room, and I realized she was watching Wyatt behind the bar, but this time without her usual animosity. “I didn’t know Heather well. I mostly just knew of her, but not until she came back after high school. She moved in with her aunt. My mom knew Hilde. Heather had given her grief in high school, and it didn’t sound like Hilde was too happy she was back. I don’t know much, because my mom and I weren’t seein’ eye to eye back then. She was hooking up with a particularly disgusting guy and hittin’ the bottle pretty hard.”

My face softened. “Ruth, I’m sorry.”

Her mouth was all smirk, but I could see the pain in her eyes. “What are you sayin’ sorry about? None of that is your fault.”

No, but she rarely talked about her mother. I knew she’d died from a drug overdose a few years ago, although she hadn’t been a drug addict all that long in the scheme of things. Based on what Ruth had told me before, her mother’s vices of choice had been alcohol and men who were bad for her.

“Do you remember anything else?”

Her mouth twisted to the side as she scanned the counter to see what was holding up her order. “I heard Dick Stinnett was at that party. He dated Molly’s sister, May, after Heather left. May was there too.”

“Do you know where Dick lives or where I might find him?”

Her brow lifted. “You want to talk to him?”