“Oh, I don’t know. It might be the romantic in me, but I think they make a cute couple.”
At that moment Jasper frowned at Mimi.
“Ms.McAllister always makes sure to stop by to say hello to Mr.Mathis if he’s sitting alone.”
“He doesn’t seem all that happy to see her,” Riley said.
“I think he’s hiding his true feelings.” Anita sighed. “Wouldn’t it be adorable if they got together?”
“No,” Riley blurted. “My grandmother hasn’t been interested in anyone since Poppy died thirty years ago.”
“Are you sure?”
“She would tell me.” Riley was positive her grandmother wouldn’t keep a secret like this from her.Or would she?
Anita nodded. “Like I said, I’m just overly romantic.” She glanced over her shoulder again as Tanner walked out from the kitchen to the counter where the cash register was, a white kitchen towel slung over his shoulder, his long hair pulled back and secured in a hair net. He crouched and disappeared behind the counter for a second, then stood back up, having retrieved a large silver baking tray, and went back into the kitchen.
Riley would have sworn she heard Anita sigh again.
Mimi was heading back to the table, and Anita stepped aside to let her in her spot across from Riley. “What a delightful man,” Mimi said, her words dripping with sarcasm. “All I did was tell him hello, and you would have thought I’d asked him to solve world peace while standing on his head and juggling beach balls.”
Mimi took a sip of tea. “Perfect as always, Anita.”
“I do my best.”
Riley and Mimi gave her their orders—a grilled cheese for Riley and a patty melt for Mimi. As soon as Anita left, Riley whispered, “What’s going on between you and Jasper?”
Mimi’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about? I just went over there to say hello.”
“He was frowning at you.”
“I know. He finds me irritating, although I have no idea why.” She moved the tea glass over an inch. “Me and Jasper... Hoo boy. Oh well, never mind.” She looked at Riley, her expression sobering. “There was only one man for me, Riley. No one can replace your Poppy.”
Riley nodded. She never knew her grandfather, since he passed away from cancer before Riley was born. But Mimi had made sure Riley knew about him. When she was little, they would pore over photo albums, and Riley would listen to endless stories about Maple Falls back in the fifties and sixties and how Mimi and Poppy had been friends since they were children. The night of their senior prom, Poppy asked her to marry him. Although Riley wasn’t big on romance, she had to admit her grandparents’ relationship was a romantic one.
While waiting for their food, Riley and Mimi continued discussing the renovations of the house, and Riley mentioned she’d given a budget to Hayden already. “He reminded me that he would give us a discount on supplies if we bought them from Price’s,” Riley said.
“How nice. And unsurprising. The Prices are good people.”
Especially Hayden.The unbidden thought popped into her mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about him for more than five minutes, apparently.
Anita soon returned with their lunch, then hurried back to the kitchen. Mimi took a bite of the patty melt and her eyes lit up with delight.
“That Tanner is a good cook,” she said around a mouthful. After swallowing, she asked, “When do you want to start work on the house?”
“As soon as possible. You’ll have to pick out paint colors—”
“You can do that.”
“Okay. Hayden said last night that you need to choose what kind of roof shingles you’d like too.”
“Last night?” Mimi’s eyebrows shot up faster than a lightning bolt.
Uh-oh.“We, um, kind of had dinner last night. So we could talk about the renovation. Just as friends. I mean, business friends. Business acquaintances.” The longer she talked the less convincing she sounded, and she steeled herself for Mimi’s inevitable onslaught of questions.
But all she said was, “I’ll go with whatever you two recommend.”
Riley was surprised, but she wasn’t about to ask why she wasn’t being nosy.Just be grateful.
