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But her mind wouldn’t let her do that. She got up and rinsed off in the tiny bathroom somewhat attached to the bedroom. The swag suite, as Connor had called it, at least had running water.
When she came out of the bathroom, she heard masculine laughter out on the old dock between the boathouse and the restaurant. Josie went to one of the wide windows and squinted through the hot-pink blossoms of a bougainvillea vine.
Connor. Fishing? Could he really be that relaxed after last night? She took her time studying him, interested in spite of her better judgment.
He looked young and carefree, his hair tousled and windblown, his beard just over a five-o’clock shadow. He wore a blue chambray shirt and old worn jeans. And he was barefoot.
Adorable. And so different from the man she’d studied and condemned as shallow and unsavory. He didn’t look unsavory or shallow right now. He looked good. Too good for a woman who hadn’t had any caffeine.
No. Not adorable. Not attractive. Not intriguing.
She needed to get her head together. So she threw on the lavender-scented clothes that had mysteriously appeared on the high-backed chair by the door and went looking for food and drink.
The flared jersey skirt was old but clean, and the softly faded T-shirt had a butterfly printed on the front. Someone with flower-child tendencies must have owned these clothes once. Since she had no idea where her other clothes had landed, Josie was glad her gun was still lying on the old dresser by the bed.
She went to put it on and realized her shoulder holster had gone missing. Leaving the gun on the dresser, she hurried out to the restaurant. The smell of bacon frying and coffee perking made her mouth water.
But the way Connor turned and smiled at her through the veil of Spanish moss hanging from the old cypress trees made her insides turn as mushy as the dirt bank down near the swamp water. Telling herself she had a case to work, Josie gave herself a strict and silent talking-to.
“How ya doing this fine morning?” Mama Joe asked after Josie entered through the back screen door. The restaurant was more of an old family home with a big kitchen and dining area. Mama Joe apparently lived in the back rooms.
“I’m...uh...good, all things considered,” Josie replied. Last night this place had seemed like a dump. But in the bright light of midday, it wasn’t half-bad. Quaint and colorful in a folksy way, the restaurant looked a lot like the tiny four-room boathouse. Old road signs and license plates lined the planked walls right along with colorful paintings and signs printed with sage bits of advice. Some people had even left hand-printed messages on the walls.
A crudely scrawled verse from Proverbs, Chapter Four, caught Josie’s attention:
Keep thy heart with all diligence: for out of it are the issues of life.
Mama Joe watched as Josie silently read the sign. “Are you a heart girl?”
“Excuse me?” Josie asked as she took the mug of coffee the older woman offered.
“Your eyes, they speak of the heart,” Mama Joe said, bangles and beads rattling against her wrist. She grinned and twirled a strand of bright gold hair that matched her one gold tooth. “But your head, it tells you to guard your heart, oui?”
“Maybe,” Josie retorted. “I guess I’m more of a head girl. I use my brain to guard my heart.” She couldn’t stop herself from glancing out the window toward the dock.
“You might consider letting go that notion,” Mama Joe said in her singsong part Creole, part Caribbean accent. She dressed with the same vivid colors as her decor, all scarves and fabric, like a patchwork personality.
Josie stared out the window at Connor. “I can’t do that.” She got up and grabbed a golden biscuit stuffed with ham off the stove. The crusty bread tasted buttery and the ham was tender-sweet. “Put this on his tab, please.”
Mama Joe chuckled and shuffled back behind the counter.
Josie bit into the fat biscuit and chewed the buttery dough before stopping in midstep to take a long sip of the coffee.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” Connor called, motioning for her to join him on the dock. “Save me a bite of that, will you?”
“I’m eating all of it,” Josie replied. She glanced at the chipped mug in her hand. A grinning red crawfish wearing a straw hat greeted her and made her smile. She really shouldn’t feel in such a carefree, vacation kind of mood.
