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Keller turns theBack in Forty-five Minutessign over and locks the door to the studio behind us, and we walk the block and a half to the Snow Bird.
“Good morning, fellas. Whoa, what happened to you?” Joe Walsh, the owner of the café, asks as we enter.
“He got in an argument with a woman,” Keller answers as we take a seat at one of the booths.
Joe makes his way from behind the counter, carrying a coffeepot. He turns the clean mugs that are sitting in front of us over and fills them with the steaming liquid.
“Boy, don’t you know better? You never pick a fight with a woman. You can’t win,” Joe says.
“Where were you with the sage advice yesterday?” I mumble.
“Right here. Dispensing wisdom, as always. You young bucks just refuse to listen.”
“I think he learned his lesson,” Keller teases.
Joe’s eyes come to me as he grins and shakes his head. “Doubt it. He’ll wrestle with that gator again,” he says before walking off.
“Hey, you didn’t take our order,” I call after him.
“Two orders of German pancakes with a side of bacon coming right up,” he yells.
“Don’t act like you know me,” I shout.
He turns and glances at me over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.
“I want sausage links instead of bacon,” I grumble.
He ignores me and greets the next customer entering the front door.
I point across the table with my good hand. “Quit telling people a girl did this to me.”
“I’m just telling the truth,” Keller replies as he adds sugar and cream to his mug.
“Yeah, well, you drink your coffee like a girl. Light and sweet,” I say as I pick up my cup and take a huge gulp.
He watches as I wince.
“You want me to help you add sugar and cream to yours, ma’am?” he asks.
I don’t answer. I just turn my head as I slide my mug toward him.
He laughs and doctors my java.
“What’s your cousin’s story anyway?” I ask.
“What do you mean?”
“You know, her story. Why is she here? For how long? Is her man joining her?”
He grins. “She’s here to spend Christmas with us, and she’ll be here until the end of the month. And she’s single.”
“Oh, really?”
“Don’t get any ideas there, Romeo. Don’t forget the golden rule: no dating the holiday guests,” he states.
“Who said anything about dating?”
He gives me a knowing look. “What? None of the single ladies in town want to live that tree house life?”
