“You want a gold medallion, right?”
“It’s your house…” she countered warily, and he held up a hand, wishing they were sitting a little closer to each other at that moment.
“It’s my house – yes – however, we’re dating. If we are dating, then that means we’re checking to see how we get along or that we could possibly put up with each other long enough to build a future together. I’m a guy, have no taste, and we just had cereal for dinner…”
“Cinnamon Life,” she tossed in, nodding in approval.
“And I’m seriously giving this my all, because I trust you – I trust in whatever this is between us,” he finished quietly. “If things don’t work out, then I still have a friend with excellent ideas in décor… right?”
“I don’t know about ‘excellent’…” she hedged, and he shook his head.
“No, you had it spot on – and that paint is ‘hussy pink’ indeed.”
They grinned at each other before bursting out laughing wildly in a shared joke. It felt so good to be here, spending time with her like this, and he really appreciated how easy this felt between them. He could see them laughing like this decades from now… and that medallion was going to be the next thing worked on in his house – period.
It would beglisteningbefore the Jamboree.
Fourteen
HEIDI
Nervousdid not beginto touch on what Heidi was feeling inside. Her hands were trembling. She’d woken up at the crack of dawn to do a practice run at the café… and it was almost ‘Go’ time with one massive problem.
She wasn’t sure she could handle this.
It was one thing to clean, another to bake or wait on customers, but it was really hammering it home that she was only one person… taking on more than three jobs. Sure, she could ask Mimi for a little help, but the woman was frail and had given up the café because it was too much physically. How in the world was Heidi going to be open for business seven days a week, from seven in the morning until four in the afternoon… and still get here early enough to bake, stay after hours to clean, stock, do the books, and then do it all over again the next morning?
Cooking? Yes.
Dealing with customers? Yes.
Logistics? – That was a ‘hard No’ obviously.
“Okay, okay,” Heidi whispered aloud to herself,trying to calculate just how early she was going to have to arrive in order to start frying up ‘Grandma Inez’s Donuts’– the special of the café… and it wasn’t pretty. They had to be mixed, rise, cut and fried –and that was one batch. “If I start a batch every hour – on the hour – then I should have about…”
Her thoughts were interrupted by a chime at the door causing her to look up – and hesitate. Jack was walking in with a curvy, gorgeous blonde beside him, who made her see red.
“We’re closed!” Heidi snapped hotly. “Get out – especially with her!” and then paused, looking at the blonde’s shocked expression. “No offense, lady, but you should really take a good long look at your buddy, because he’smyman and…”
“Sweetheart?” Jack interrupted her tirade, holding up both hands in surrender and smiling proudly. “It’s not what you think and…”
“You don’t knowwhatI’m thinking… you… you…”
“Turd?” he volunteered, and the blonde woman beside him grinned in delight.
“Pretty sure we both know whatyou’rethinking – and it’s wrong. No offense, but Jack used to put bubble gum in my hair.”
“That’s sweet,” Heidi shot back sarcastically, interrupting her. “Fan-freakin’-adorable, I tell ya’. Sharing is caring, huh?”
“Annnd,” the woman continued smoothly, crossing her arms under her ample bosom, “I wouldn’t date Jack if he were the last man on earth. It feels almost incestuous. He’s like a brother and… well,ick. Sorry, Jack.”
“Don’t apologize, Becky Sue,” Jack retorted bluntly. “Ain’t no way – ain’t no how.”
Heidi’s mouth dropped open as comprehension clicked –and she pointed. “That’sthe infamous Becky Sue that I keep hearing about?”
Becky Sue’s face darkened as she unfurled her arms, putting one hand on her hip, letting it stick out in her tight blue jeans. “Look, lady, Jack said you were nice and wouldn’t judge – but this comes off as awfully ‘judgey’ to me. If I wanted someone to look down their beak at me, I’d shake what my mama gave me down the middle of town. I need a job, but I refuse to beg anyone for anything ever again. I might be a single mom, which makes half of the town folk get the vapors when I walk into a room, but Idohave an iota of dignity - and a child to feed. What’s it gonna be?”
Heidi’s eyes darted to Jack’s, saw his slow nod, and she looked back at Becky Sue – immediately grasping at this unexpected gift of help when she’d been panicking moments ago. “You’re right,” Heidi said quickly, dusting her hands off on her apron. “I was just surprised because, well, I know what it’s like to start over and I was…”
