I flashed her a grin as I handed her my card. “I’ll eat sugar just fine, ma’am, but not this early in the morning. It makes me need to shit, and I don’t really like having to do that in the woods without toilet paper readily available.”
The woman’s mouth twitched. “At least you’re honest.”
I shrugged.
“That’ll be thirty bucks. I gave you the Purdy discount, though.” She chuckled.
“How much would it’ve been if I didn’t have the Purdy discount?” I paused. “What’s the Purdy discount?”
“Fifty. My scones are expensive and will sell out in about ten minutes. I always put some to the side in case Birdee makes it in, but it’s not all that often anymore since she lost her car. We’re too far away for her to ride all the way over here,” she said. “And the ‘Purdy’ discount is for Birdee. Purdy Birdee.”
Purdy Birdee. I liked that a lot.
“How about you keep settin’ them aside, and I’ll pick them up for her,” I suggested.
She studied me. “Who are you to her?”
“A friend,” I admitted.
At least, I was trying to be.
“A friend.” She took in my appearance. “My Purdy could use one of those. She doesn’t have too many of them.”
With that she looked behind me to the next customer, and I knew that I was dismissed.
I liked her, though.
Gathering the coffees and pastries, I headed back out to my work truck.
The cold hit me like a slap in the face, and once again I cursed the weather.
As an Alabama native, I’d never seen temperatures like I did in Northwest Montana.
I mean, sure, I’d heard that the winters were brutal, but until you experienced one firsthand, you wouldn’t have a clue.
I was shivering by the time I got to my truck and started it up.
The drive to Birdee’s place took all of five minutes, and when I got there, it was to find her halfway down the road ready to walk to work.
I pulled over and rolled my window down. “Get in!”
She was wearing head-to-toe black, dressed warmly in a thick North Face jacket and pants. Her boots were solid and thick, and the only thing I could see of her face were her eyes and her nose. Her perfectly red nose.
She tilted her head. “What are you doing here?”
I leaned over and threw the truck door open. “Get in.”
She contemplated it for a few seconds, but then a gust of wind swept past, taking with it a tuft of snow from the road and spraying it into her face.
She wiped it off, then climbed in.
“Thank you,” she said softly once she had the truck door closed.
I waited for her to strip free of some of her layers before saying, “I stopped by the coffee shop, and the owner gave me your order.”
She froze with her gaze on the cup of ‘coffee.’
“Reyelle gave you my order?” I asked.
