“Annoying?”
“Yes, she’s annoying! Thank you!”
“I do what I can. So, food?”
“Alright,” I sighed. “Let me get my bag.” I glanced at my watch, hoping she would be back soon. “I have to make deliveries in a few hours. If she’s not back soon, I’ll have to reschedule everything.”
“She’ll be back,” Ellie May said, ever the optimist, linking her arm through mine. “Besides, maybe it’s a good thing she’s getting out and seeing the town.”
“Maybe. Or maybe everyone else is thinking the same thing I am.”
“That she’s completely nuts? That your brother’s lost his mind? That the town will never survive a woman like her? That wives need to lock up their husbands?”
“Among a few other things.”
“So, the diner?”
“Yeah, let’s stick close by. I’d hate to miss her and have her run off again.”
But going to the diner turned out to be a very bad thing. The moment I walked in, the whispers started. People stared and eyed me like I was crazy. Yet, I wasn’t the one who brought home a cougar.
Cora bustled over, coffeepot in hand, with an excited smile on her face. “Coffee?”
“No, thanks.”
She poured me some anyway and leaned over. “So, this new woman. She’s quite the…looker.”
“She’s something.”
“And that man of yours…you’re making quite a few changes in the household, huh?”
“He’s not my man?—”
“I mean, after spending all that time with him during the snowstorm and now two nights at his house…Do I hear wedding bells in the future?” she grinned.
I glared at Ellie. “This was a horrible idea.”
“Tell me,” Cora said, scooting me over in the booth so she could sit beside me. “Is he good in bed? A man like that can’t possibly be bad. It’s in the hands. I’ve seen it a million times. He’s got those long fingers that are capable of doing such dirty deeds.”
Cringing, I tried to block out her words. “Honestly, Cora, can we not?—”
“And those lips!” She plopped her chin in her hand as she stared off dreamily. “I remember a time when I caught a fella like that. Of course, he was too wild to stick around here. But the things he could do with his hands?—”
“Cora, I beg you not to finish that thought,” I pleaded.
Sighing dramatically, she shuffled out of the booth and pulled the pencil from behind her ear, ready to take our order. “Well, I guess the rest of us just have to be dreamers. So, what’ll it be today? Egg salad sandwich? Roast beef? Corned hash?”
“Cobb salad.”
Sighing, she shook her head. “Every time. One of these days, I’ll get you to try something more interesting.”
“For today, I need something normal.”
“Normal it is. And you?” she asked Ellie.
“Grilled cheese.”
“You’ve been ordering that since you were a child.”
