“No. Is that why your eggs taste so good?”
“Of course. Nothing like it.” Virginia whisked the eggs with some milk and poured them into the skillet. The sizzle nearly drowned her next words. “There’s orange juice in the fridge, if you want any.”
She’d get it in a minute. Maggie wanted to catch her breath first.
Virginia plated two omelets and brought them over to the table. Maggie took her cue to get them each a glass of juice while her hostess pulled out silverware. She sighed in happiness over her breakfast.
“Oh, I meant to tell you, you had a delivery this morning.”
“A delivery?” She hadn’t ordered anything. What could it be?
“Yes, the flowers were addressed to you.”
“Flowers?”
The old woman looked over her glasses at Maggie and wagged her eyebrows. “Two dozen red roses, addressed to ‘Maggie’ arrived this morning,” she tittered. “I think someone has an admirer.”
Red roses? Maggie wrinkled her nose. They were so overdone. And with her bright red hair, she shied away from anything red. Maybe it was her mother’s obsession with not clashing.
“Who are they from?”
Virginia shrugged. “I didn’t open the card. Why don’t you go look?”
Her curiosity got the better of her appetite and Maggie walked back out to the reception desk. Virginia followed. Sure enough, the bouquet she’d passed earlier had a card with her name on it. She pulled it out of the plastic fork holding it up and turned it over. “No name. That’s strange.”
Virginia bounced up and down, acting like a girl a tenth of her age. “Ooh, asecretadmirer! Howexciting!”
“I doubt it. Well…” Could it be Luke, trying to apologize for the accident? It seemed like an awful lot of money and a strange thing to send for someone whose arm you accidentally burned. “I might have an idea but I think somehow the florist got their wires crossed. Let me ask when I go to work today.”
Virginia tilted her head. “Work? Someone at the diner?”
Maggie nervously tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and hurried back to the kitchen while her breakfast was still warm. “There was an accident the other day, and I got injured. I wasn’t feeling well, so I came home early.” Luke hadn’t been at work during her shift the following day, so maybe he hadn’t known she was back? Either way, this was overkill and she was going to inform him as such.
Chapter 7
“Orderup!”Lukecalledto Katya as he put the plates up on the window. The insanity had slowed down, now that the rumor mill had done its job and all of Hawthorn Hills knew what had happened to Mom. People he hadn’t seen since high school were still stopping him on the street, saying how good it was to see him, and asking after her.
It was nice that they cared, but he was sick of discussing it.
After the lunch rush was over, Maggie walked in. Right on time.
“Maggie!” Good thing he didn’t have any orders to fill right now. He hurried over to the punch clock. He’d had to take Mom to the hospital over in State College for a follow-up appointment so he hadn’t seen her since the oil spill. “How’s your arm?”
“It’s fine. I brought the burn cream back.” She pulled the white tube out of her purse.
“Keep it, I already replaced it.” Instead of going straight back to The Busy Bee, Luke had swung by the pharmacy first. He held his breath as she pulled her coat off, revealing an arm free of the speckled blisters he’d treated. The tightness in his chest eased.
“I’m so glad. That could have been really bad.”
“Thanks for your help.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “The flowers were a bit much, though.”
“Flowers?” What was she talking about?
Maggie’s delicate red brow lifted on her forehead. “The ones you had sent to the B&B this morning? It’s sweet but very unnecessary.”
Well, shit. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Or, maybe it was good he hadn’t, based on what she was telling her. “I, uh—”
“Hey, Luke, how are those fries coming?” Katya called from the door just as the timer for the fryer went off.
