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bully. But you're going to own those stores one day--"
    "I don't want to own them." The terse tone of his words snapped her eyes open and she saw him facing her, his face drawn and angry. "I don't want anything to do with it. I'd rather be a beggar on the street than give him another day of my life. I'm sick of him pitting Cal and I against each other for bonuses and promotions--that rarely come through, need I remind you. I'm tired of him trying to hijack my life. For the love of God, Andee, he wants to take our vacation home money and use it on a hunting cabin. That alone should piss you off."
    "We had a plan," she yelled. "Now, suddenly that's no longer good for you? I don't know who--"
    "You're so focused on your ten-year plan that you can't see what's going on around you." He met her volume and took it a notch higher.
    Andee gasped. "You come home drunk, tell me you've been fired, and now you're telling me that you're not going back? What else are you gonna surprise me with?"
    Buck pulled out his phone and shut it off. He tossed it on the counter. "Do you not see how unhealthy this relationship is?"
    Andee paled and wrung her hands. Had he been avoiding his issues with her just like he was avoiding his father's calls? Could he really think they were unhealthy or was he talking about his father? A cacophony of thoughts, most heavy with fear, crowded her mind ma king logical reasoning impossible, "Is that him that keeps calling? Aren't you going to tell him your plans?"
    "I'd like to tell you first, but if you don't care--" He stood with one hand on his hip and the other pointing at her.
    "I never said I didn't care, but it's kinda rude to let him hang like that--" Andee folded her arms around her, squeezing her arms tightly, hoping to hold herself together. If he could treat his own father with such careless disregard, how would he treat her?
    "He fired me!" He stepped toward her and shouted, "Do you not hear what I'm saying? Are you unable to hear me?"
    "But have you even told him what your--"
    "He. Fired. Me." Buck yelled again. "I don't owe him anything."
    "What about me? Do you owe me anything because you've made all these changes without so much as a hint as to what is on your mind-" She hollered.
    "I'm trying-"
    Their voices escalated as they continued to talk over the other, not listening, instead trying to get the other to see their side. A years worth of stress, confusion and its mounting strain spilled out through their words and in the pitch of their voices.
    "You can't even tell your father you're done-" she said over him.
    "I told him yesterday-"
    A shrill whistle made the argument come to an abrupt stop. Lorelei stepped between them.
    "Now. There's nothing I want more than for y'all to work this out and put it behind you. But I reckon you might not want to do it here, with everyone out in the diner privy to the conversation."
    "Jesus," Buck said and stepped away.
    "Was it bad?" Andee asked Lorelei.
    She nodded. "Everyone out there is tuned in. I'm sure the gossips have phoned their counterparts and word is spreading as we speak."
    Andee slumped against the counter, her head resting in the palms of her hands.
    "We'll just work this out at home," Buck said and started to move away, but Lorelei snagged him by the elbow and pulled him back.
    "No. I've known the two of you my entire life, and I've never seen you all like this. From what I can gather this fight is two different conversations. Neither of you can see that. My folks are in town and my dad's doing a marriage retreat of sorts at the church this weekend. It starts in a few minutes. I called him and he's expecting you."
    "I don't think so, Lorelei." Buck shook his head.
    Lorelei stepped closer, and though she lowered her voice, Andee heard her say, "Yeah, Bucky. You're going. Do you know that Andee thinks you don't find her attractive anymore?"
    Part of her hated that her friend had outed her but another part felt relief. She'd been too afraid to say the