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He points out Jo, the owner of Sunny Side, and Cecil, the owner of the grocery store of the same name.
“Oh, two of my favorite people. Let’s start with Cecil since he’s closest.”
We walk in the older man’s direction and he hollers my name when he sees me, pulling me in for a big bear hug.
“I haven’t seen you in ages,” he says.
“You’re hiding every time I come in to shop. You’re not keeping secrets from me, are you, Cecil?”
His round belly lifts as he rares back and laughs.
“I should hope so,” he says.
He sobers when he sees Jamison standing behind me.
“I was real disappointed to hear the lodge wasn’t going to you, Scarlett,” he says, his tone completely different.
“Well, this is the new owner, Jamison Ledger, and he wanted to make sure he met you. Jamison, Cecil owns Cecil’s and it’s a one-stop shop. You’ll find things you didn’t even know you needed at his grocery store.”
Cecil chuckles and then scowls at Jamison.
Jamison reaches out his hand and they shake, but then Cecil’s hands land on his hips afterward. Uh-oh. When Cecil’s hands are on his hips, there’s some old man sass about to drop.
“It’s nice to meet you, Cecil,” Jamison says, obviously used to winning people over with his smile. “I shopped at Cecil’s yesterday, and Scarlett’s right—I left with a lot of things I didn’t know I needed. Like hand warmers and a really nice shaving brush and razor stand…”
“You doing right by this one?” Cecil cuts in, tilting his head toward me.
“Doing my best,” Jamison says. “But you’ll have to ask her.”
Jamison looks at me, but Cecil is just getting warmed up.
“This girl is as good as it gets,” he says. “I remember when her grandpa said she’d talked him into adding this room we’re standing in right now, and John Henry wondered if the space would be useful…”
Cecil shakes his head and scowls.
“Sometimes that old coot was too stuck in the old ways to see what a gift he had right under his nose.” He points at me.
I put my hand on his arm and squeeze. “Thanks, Cecil.
Jamison clears his throat. “I think you’re absolutely right about Scarlett, and I wish I’d known Mr. Landmark personally to have a word or two with him about it.”
Cecil mutters something under his breath, not ready to let Jamison off the hook so easily.
“Well, now Jamison’s just trying to get on my good side.” I try to make light of it, suddenly desperate to get the attention off of me. “I’ll come in to see you soon, Cecil.” I lean in to kiss his cheek and then turn to Jamison. “Should we catch Jo before she heads out? She isn’t planning to stay for the whole event.”
“That would be great. Again, it was a pleasure to meet you, Cecil.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Cecil grumbles.
Maybe a smidge more conciliatory than before, but there’s a ways to go before he’ll be won over by the newbie.
Who knew Cecil would show more loyalty than Grinny?
We catch Jo as she’s putting a wonton in her mouth. She holds up her hands, face flushed as she looks at the man next to me. Once she’s done chewing, she reaches out and squeezes me.
“Hey, girl. Been missing you,” she says. “I heard you’ve got some dogs—any takers yet?”
“No, not a single word. And I miss you too. I’ll try to swing by sometime next week.” I hold my hand toward Jamison. “I wanted to make sure you met Jamison before you left tonight. Jamison, this is Jo, she’s the owner of Sunny Side. Makes the best…”
