AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Oh?"
"I haven't known you two very long, but I do know women, and Piper was not a happy camper this morning." She offered me a sympathetic smile.
I returned it. "Is she ever?"
Giggling like a schoolgirl, Madeline covered her mouth with her hand and ducked her head. "I suppose not."
Nodding my head in thanks, I started for the door before pausing. "Did you happen to see which way she went?"
Leaning on her elbow and beaming up at me, she shrugged a shoulder. "The only place in town you can brood before ten o'clock."
"Of course, my thanks." Stepping out the door, I turned to the left toward the only decent place to get a cup of coffee in a fifty-mile radius.
Piper went on and on about how there wasn't a decent commercialized place for coffee in this Podunk town, as she called it. She made me go all over town with her until we found a cup of coffee worth the bean it was made from.
That place ended up being Just A Cup. A little mom and pop cafe that had an apple pie that could rival even Gretchen's.
It didn't take me long to get to the cafe. Unfortunately, a second after stepping in the door, I knew Piper wasn't there. Trudy was, though.
She turned from her current customer to smile in my direction. Her plump form cocked to one side as she waved a hand toward the bar chair. "You already missed her, gorgeous. Why don't you sit on down and I'll get you a cup and a piece of pie."
A genuine smile touched my lips. "You are wasted here, Trudy. I'm half tempted to have my employers give you an offer you can't refuse." I unbuttoned my jacket and sat in the offered chair and waited for her to finish with her customer.
When Trudy could turn her attention entirely to me, she slid a plate of pie in front of me with a large scoop of ice cream on top. The only place I knew that had no problem serving me pie before lunch. I'd have to make sure it was something that I kept up when we returned home.
"Now, sugar," Trudy poured steaming liquid into my cup and stood back, watching me, "What's going on with you and your old lady."
I smirked against my coffee cup. "She's not my wife."
Shrugging, Trudy sat the coffee pot down nearby. "Married or not. You might as well be with the way you two have been carrying on lately."
I arched a brow. "Whether or not that is true, she's promised to another."
"Your employer," Trudy stated instead of asking. "Yeah, I heard about this so-called employer who sent his girl away with a catch like you and hasn't bothered to check in. Sounds like he doesn't much care for either of you."
My jaw tightened as I drank from my cup. "I assure you that is not the case."
"Whatever you say, dearie." She refilled my cup with a motherly smile. "Whatever you say."
