I’m cringing, and only partially because I suspect doom while Daphne’s still smiling. “He broke up with her?”
“Ding ding ding! He dumped her like a week after signing the papers on the building, and then he took the name her dad was going to use and totally bastardized it,andshe’d moved in with him, so she needed a place to stay, which was nice in a way because I got to pay her back for when she took me in when I needed a place to—why are you smiling?”
I sip my water again. “Your storytelling skills remain unmatched. Please continue.”
Her eyes narrow. “So I was protesting his restaurant last week.”
“Was it working?”
That smile pops out again, the rainbow after the storm. “Oh, hell yeah.”
“Did you get arrested?”
“Bea’s ex’s brother is a local cop who’s a total terror, and he would’ve loved to arrest me, but I think he has very direct orders from the chief not to. Everyone’s afraid I’ll call in a favor from some bigshot attorney in the city and sue the town all to hell if they piss me off. I still might, since he arrested Bea a few weeks back for absolutely no good reason.”
That has my brows lifting. “Your best friend and roommate is also a jailbird? Why did I picture her as the opposite of you?”
“She is—and was—innocent, Oliver. Keep up. When Jake dumped her, she bought a bus and converted it to a food truck to prove she could be more successful than him when she didn’t even have a real building, and Simon—” She drops her voice and leans closer, not directly cutting a glance at the other couple, but I can sense that’s what she’s worried about.
“Simon?” I prompt.
“You know Simon Luckwood?” she whispers.
I scan my memory banks and shake my head. “The name is unfamiliar.”
“He’s an actor inIn the Weeds—that horrible TV show?”
I suddenly realize I haven’t asked where she’s living. And that feels vitally important to figure out quickly.
Someone will notice she’s gone. Possibly someone regularly stalked by the media. Which means maybe the media will notice she’s gone.
But didn’t she say her friend didn’t have any money? I’m confused. “You’re hanging out with actors?”
Her nose wrinkles. “Not like that. He has twin boys, and their mom is from my hometown. My town. The town where I live. The one I claim now as my home. Anyway, Simon’s ex, his boys’ mom, had to move home to take care ofhermom this summer, so he got a house there to be close to the boys and help out too, and his boys—they’re thirteen—booked Bea’s bus for a party without telling him, so when she rolled up to the estate and got through the gate with a code the grown-ups didn’t think she was supposed to have, security freaked out and had her arrested for trespassing. Even though she was supposed to be there.”
My lips part, but I don’t have a quick response this time.
Daph grins again. “Bea made Simon take her on a date to apologize.”
“Because he’s her favorite actor?”
“No, she hates the show he’s famous for. Her ex, Jake, loved it so much that he made her watch it all the time, and it truly is kind of awful. I think that’s why it’s popular. The train wreck effect. But anyway—Bea made Simon take her on a date where they crashed Jake’s restaurant’s grand opening. And it. Was. So. Epic. Like, waaaay better than I could’ve expected. Simon’s lactose intolerant, and the whole tasting menu was basicallycheese, and then Bea got stuck in the bathroom and Simon broke the door down and carried her out, and?—”
She sighs happily. “It was so romantic. And Simon got a crush on Bea and spent the whole summer talking her into dating him. And kind of talking himself into it too. He’s the most unexpected celebrity you’d ever meet, and the two of them together are perfect.”
“Is this another one of your stories like the one about being put in third-grade jail?”
“Excuse you,that story is real.”
Our server appears with an overflowing tray and deposits eight plates on the table while we watch. Good thing too, because I’m enjoying Daphne’s stories entirely too much now, and I need a little distraction to get myself back on even ground.
Wait.
Did I say eight plates?
Make that five plates and three bowls, plus smaller bowls with dipping sauces.
“Fried okra, french fries, cheese grits, chitlins, coleslaw, collard greens, and two tater tots,” the older lady says. Then she adds dryly, “Save room for dessert.”
