The bell rang, and the aroma of warm chocolate floated through to the back room. Jorja took a sip of coffee and led the way to the front part of the shop, with Taryn right behind her. When she was a little girl, she’d called it the “pretty part” of the shop. The back had always been strewn with bits of ribbon and flower stems, and that drove Jorja crazy with her desire to keep things neat and in place. But the display room had always looked like it came out of a fancy magazine.
Diana, Elaine, and Mallory all stood in front of the counter with food in their hands and anger written all over their faces. Three foolish women, who had once been such close friends that they all wore matchingBFFnecklaces, had let a man turn them into enemies. And they were standing right there, in front of Taryn and Jorja. They all lookeddifferent—a brunette, a blonde, and a platinum blonde—but had the same fury in their expressions.
“Good morning,” Jorja said cheerfully. “No one told me there was a bake sale here today. Where is it, and do they have any more of those chocolate pies?”
“There’s not a bake sale anywhere!” Diana barked. “I brought this chocolate sheet cake for Clinton. Where is he?”
“He’s not here,” Anna Rose said as she rounded the end of the counter and stood beside Jorja. “What can I help you ladies with today? We don’t have a lot of fresh flowers until our delivery arrives around noon, but I could rustle up some daisies or mums if you want a bouquet.”
Elaine eyed both Jorja and Anna Rose like horns had suddenly sprouted from the tops of their heads. “I’m not interested in flowers of any kind. I brought this chocolate pie to Clinton. He loves his chocolate and his Mexican food. You can tell him that my pie is homemade, and these other two brought things they either bought or had someone make for them.”
Diana turned on the woman standing beside her and hissed, “You bitch!”
Are you still bored?Jorja’s inner voice asked.
No,she answered.Things are getting kind of interesting, and I hope they don’t have a food fight with all that good stuff they’ve brought in.
Taryn stepped between the two of them. “We have a policy that says if you break it, you buy it, so you might take your fighting out on the sidewalk. Or if you don’t want anyone to see you trying to snatch each other bald, you can leave by the back door and have it out in the parking lot. I can’t guarantee that Anna Rose won’t take pictures and post them on Instagram, but it’s your choice to make. And one more thing before push comes to shove—Elaine, you can bring that Mexican casserole once a week. We had it for lunch just yesterday. And, Mallory, your cherry pie was really good, too.”
Elaine whipped around and looked down her nose at Taryn. “That casserole wasn’t for you. That was for Clinton.”
Jorja wondered which one would win if they did decide to duke it out, and she secretly wished she could figure out a way to get them all mad at Kaitlin—or even better, sic them on Ford.
“When you gave it to him, did you tell him not to share?” Anna Rose asked.
Elaine set her pie down on the counter and popped her hands on her hips. “I didn’t have to tell him that before you three moved in on my territory. He knows that whatever I bring him is made with love just for him.”
“Then I guess he had better fall in love with the Mexican restaurant down the street, because I found their sticker on the bottom of the fancy dish you brought the other day.” Jorja was amazed at the words that came out of her mouth.
Mallory pointed a finger at Elaine. “I knew you couldn’t boil water without burning down the house.” Then she turned back to the three cousins, who were now lined up behind the counter. “He told me that he likes brownies better than pie or cake, so I just took these out of the oven five minutes ago so they would be warm for him—and you can tell him that I made them myself.”
“Why are the three of you bringing him more food than one man can eat?” Taryn asked.
Elaine glared at all three cousins with such heat that Jorja wondered how they weren’t melting into a pile of bones and fat right there behind the counter. “I’m doing it because I intend to win this contest and make him love me,” she said, with enough venom in her voice to kill a person graveyard dead.
Jorja glanced out the window to see if lightning bolts could be coming from a clear blue sky. But then, who needed a flash of fire when Elaine could zap a person even quicker with words? Jorja shifted her gaze back to the three women and decided that they were all thedevil’s minions. No self-respecting Christian woman would be so rude and unkind.
“I can learn to cook, if that’s what it takes. Besides, I’ve already picked out my wedding dress, and Mama is looking at venues.” Elaine gave her a fake smile.
“Hmmph!” Mallory snorted. “You just want him for his money. I want to marry him because I love him. He’s a hero, don’t you know? And,honey”—she shook her finger at Elaine—“don’t buy that dress yet. Not until he makes up his mind which one of us he wants.”
Diana set her cake on the counter. “Neither of you have a chance when I’m in the running.”
“All of you have rocks for brains,” Jorja said in a voice so icy that she didn’t even recognize it, but she was determined to be more like her cousins and tell people exactly what she thought. “A man does not like to be chased down like a feral hog. The way you are acting, you might as well load up a shotgun and force him to pick among the three of you. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Diana sucked in a lungful of air and let it out slowly. “Everyone knows that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and I intend to show him that I can cook.”
“A man’s heart is his to give to a woman he loves.” Jorja liked the feeling of being bluntly honest with people other than her two cousins. “Whether she can cook or not doesn’t really matter. There are restaurants everywhere—and Clinton can cook for himself, so he won’t be getting married just to have a chef in the kitchen.”
Anna Rose finally spoke up. “And, ladies, this is a place of business, not a delivery drop-off for baked goods. I agree with Jorja. If you want to fight over him like he’s a plate of nachos and you are starving, then get on out of our shop.”
Elaine picked up her pie and gave the cousins one last dirty look. “I’ll take my pie to him tonight in his apartment. Believe me when I tell you that I will find a way to win this contest.”
“He’ll share it with us tomorrow,” Anna Rose called out. “I’ve always loved the pies from the bakery in town, and chocolate is my favorite.”
Mallory grabbed her brownies. “I’ll feed these to the birds before I let you eat a one of them.”
“Anna Rose knows a cat that might like them better than a bunch of birds, so if you’ve got a mind to throw them out, please put them on the trailer porch,” Jorja said. She heard her cousins’ smarty-pants words coming from her mouth and wasn’t sure she liked the sound, but she couldn’t stop the tone or what she was saying.
