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“Geez, I wonder why?” Luke mumbled.
Sonora was too busy whining to hear him, but by the warning look Brent shot him, he had.
Luke had tried to be nice, to be understanding and to look deep inside Sonora for whatever drew Brent to her, but all he’d found was a vapid social climber with no talent and even less compassion. The polar opposite of Brent, who along with his two brothers, ran their family’s hotel empire. Brent was constantly volunteering or donating to one charity or another.
Sonora, oblivious to them, was still lamenting her lack of bridesmaid. “I guess I’ll just have to go through my phone again and see if I can find someone who can fit into Belinda’s dress.”
“Hey there.” A woman in her late forties or early fifties approached, wearing an old-fashioned white apron. Her silver-streaked blond hair was up in a loose bun, and her eyes were lightly lined with crow’s feet behind the clear lenses of her glasses. “You can seat yourselves and I’ll be right there to tell you the specials.”
They found an empty booth at the back of the restaurant, and Luke studied the homey décor as they passed. The red walls were covered in black and white pictures of couples: couples kissing, couples hugging, couples holding hands. Even Luke thought it was a pretty cute setup for a restaurant called the Sweetheart Café.
“God, this place is tacky,” Sonora said loudly.
Of course Sonora the Brat would think so.
Several people turned, their expressions ranging from mildly irritated to downright hostile.
“Babe, knock it off.” Brent’s angry command was so out of character, Sonora stumbled in front of him, and Luke wanted to slap him on the back for finally getting his balls back.
Sonora’s mouth opened to say something, but she must have had second thoughts because she closed it with a snap. She slid into the booth first, clearly sulking, and then Brent slid in. Luke did not want to sit next to Sonora, but since Brent wasn’t moving, he went to the other side and slumped down.
“Here you go.” The server set down three ice waters and three menus. “And today we have our SOS omelet, which is made with jalapeño peppers, bell peppers, onions, pepper jack cheese, and spinach, our ‘hot’ potatoes, and one of our famous biscuits with jalapeño jelly. If spicy isn’t your thing, we have the Sweetheart Hot Cakes, which is a stack of five of our buttermilk and vanilla pancakes, served with your choice of five syrups, whipped cream and chocolate chips, or a helping of our fresh preserves in either peach, strawberry, or blueberry.”
“That sounds good to me. Could I add some bacon and sausage to that?” Luke asked.
His friendly tone seemed to relax her, and he wondered if she’d heard Sonora talking shit about the café. “Oh, a big boy like you needs his protein, so I think you should go with this.” She pointed to an item in a box on the menu.
Luke read the description aloud. “The Tank, huh? This hefty platter is packed with every food group, and will keep you pumped for battle or spending the day wooing your honey.” Luke chuckled. “Well, I don’t have a honey, but that sounds good to me.”
“And how about some coffee, handsome?”
Luke glanced at her name tag with a grin. “Well, Rose, I think I’ll take you up on that. Black is fine.”
She winked at him, her green eyes twinkly. “You got it.”
When she turned towards Sonora and Brent, her demeanor was more formal, but still friendly enough, even when Sonora started asking for a caloric breakdown of several items and a bottle of spring water.
Rose’s expression changed, and she spoke as if Sonora were a child who didn’t want to eat her dinner. “You want spring water, darling, you go to Idaho. Our water is filtered, but if you really want a bottle, there’s the gas station across the street.”
Sonora’s face turned bright red and she looked like she was about to stand up and make a scene.
Brent shoved her back down into her seat, flashing Rose a wide, apologetic smile. “The water is fine. You’ll have to forgive my fiancée . She got some bad news this morning and—”
“You don’t need to make excuses for me,” Sonora snapped.
Then she shoved at Luke’s shoulder. “Let me out. I need to go to the bathroom.”
Luke was tempted to stay put and make her crawl under the table, but they were already the focus of too many curious eyes. He slid out of the booth and let her by.
As Rose gathered up the menus, she gave Brent a dry look. “Nice girl you got there.”
Damn, but he liked Rose.
Brent gave her a small, sheepish smile before she walked away. Luke lost all traces of amusement as he focused on his friend’s face. He looked exhausted.
“Man, I gotta ask again—”
“Don’t.” Brent’s sharp tone came out like a bark and Luke glared at him.
