Nightfall by Evelyn Glass Page A

“Oh! Matt, hi,” she said, as Julian steadied her. “How are you?”
     
    Matt wasn’t even looking at her. His eyes were blazing, staring at the other man. Matt was shorter than Julian, and his frame was smaller, though he was just as well built. He looked, for all the world, like a puppy trying to stare down a hound.
     
    “Matt,” Roxanne said, her tone firmer. She pushed at his chest a little, trying to catch his attention. “This is my friend, Julian Greer. We’re going for a walk.”
     
    Julian’s eyes were bright green, almost glowing, and he met Matt’s gaze without any apparent discomfort. His body was loose, his posture easy, but she had the feeling that he was making a list in his head of ways to incapacitate the man in front of him. She could almost see his eyes twitch as he counted the attack points, feel his fingers move as he practiced the strikes in his mind, almost without noticing. Behind the counter, she saw Betsy stick her head back into the kitchen, saw Joe come out, the solid black man who ran the kitchen, saw him cross his arms and plant his feet.
     
    “Boys,” she said, hearing the desperation in his tone. “We’re blocking the door. If you two need to compare sizes of your trouser snakes, let’s do that outside where we’re not in everyone’s way, all right?”
     
    The tension increased for another minute, and then Matt caved. He forced a smile and stuck a hand out. Julian shook it, wearing a smile no more real than Matt’s. “Not necessary,” he said. “Any friend of Roxanne’s is a friend of mine. Nice to meet you, Julian.”
     
    She saw Matt try to bear down on Julian’s hand, saw the tiny fraction of a response on Julian’s face. With so little effort that she didn’t notice his fingers tightening, he squeeze Matt’s hand so tightly that the bones creaked, and Matt’s smile cracked. “You lie through your teeth. You smell of shit and lies.” He pushed past Matt, fast and hard. For just a second, Roxanne contemplated pulling free and going back to Matt, making sure he was okay. But she realized that there was almost nothing she wanted to do less. She let Julian lead her away from the diner without looking back.
     
    It didn’t stop her from saying quietly, “I am going to pay for that later.”
     
    Julian’s laugh was too loud and too cold. “If he makes you pay for it, he’s no friend of yours. He was out of line.”
     
    “He was. He’s like a Spaniel; the harder I kick, the more stubborn he gets. It’s frustrating. But he’s not a bad man.”
     
    Julian shrugged. “He shouldn’t have tried to intimidate me. I have height, weight, and experience on him. He’s a fool.”
     
    “He’s my friend,” she said, and her tone was sharp. She yanked her hand free. She felt him choose to let her go, which gave her the willies.
     
    He ran his hands through his already artfully tousled hair and sighed. When he spoke again, his voice was the calmer tone she’d heard in the diner, instead of the harsher and more abrupt tone he’d used with Matt or inside the hospital. “I’m sorry. I should have let you handle that. He made me angry.”
     
    She couldn’t help but laugh. “Matt has that effect on people. He just… I used him, and he doesn’t believe that I did. He’s convinced that we could work things out if we just tried. He thinks we’re ‘meant for each other.’”
     
    “You don’t believe in destiny.” It was a statement, not a question.
     
    “I don’t worry about destiny,” she said. “I don’t believe in soul mates. It’s a stupid concept. One person in the world who’s meant to be with you?” She made a gagging sound, and Julian chuckled. “Half the people I know who married their soul mate ended up divorced within five years.”
     
    “So what do you look for in a mate?” He took her hand again, tentatively. She tightened her fingers in his, and they walked together towards the park at the end of Main Street.
     
    “I