Perhaps the look of terror on his face made her see things his way. Whatever. It worked. She slipped her phone back into her pocket. “Okay, but if you have any more symptoms you will tell me. Yes?”
“Yes.”
“And when you get back from lunch, we will both have a candid discussion with Bubba. He’s going to want to hear all the nitty gritty details of this incident.”
“Yes, of course. I promise. As soon as I get back from lunch.” His stomach made a truly tragic sounding howl, seemingly from the depths of the hunger abyss.
“Go get something to eat, for heaven’s sake. But hurry back, okay?”
Max glanced once more at his phone, noting that he only had ten minutes to meet Ruby for lunch.
“I have a date.”
“Really? I didn’t know you were seeing someone.”
“It’s kind of new.”From last night, after two drunk women put a spell on me.
“Okay. We’re in good shape today, staffing wise. Don’t hurry back, but as soon as you return, go to Bubba’s office. I’ll give him theReader’s Digestversion for now.”
“Right. Bubba’s office when I get back. Got it.” He didn’t know what aReader’s Digestwas, but trusted Astrid knew best.
Max left the shop and headed toward Howler’s to meet Ruby. It was one of his favorite places to eat in town. They never looked at him funny when he ordered two big double burgers with everything, a generous family-sized order of fries and ate it all without even having to burp to make room for it all. If anything, they gave him admiring looks that made him feel proud of the accomplishment.
“The usual?” a familiar voice asked once he was seated. Bridget owned the place. Max wanted to say yes, but he should wait for Ruby.
“Actually, I have a date. She should be along any minute now. But could I get a family-sized appetizer sampler platter while I wait?”
“Sure thing. You can pick three of your favorite items and we’ll double the regular order for the family version, or one regular order of all six selections.”
Max said, “One order of all six. Then I’ll have my usual lunch and whatever my date wants when she gets here. Okay?”
“Sure thing.” She made notes on her order pad. “So I have large nachos supreme with beef, a full rack of BBQ spare ribs, tower of onion rings, basket of hot wings, tray of mozzarella sticks and a batch of southwest chicken rolls.”
His stomach growled loud enough for the table next to him to hear. “And I’ll put a rush on that,” Bridget said with a grin. She hurried toward the kitchen behind the bar just as Ruby walked in the front door. She spotted him and crossed to his table.
“Hi,” she said, but didn’t look happy.
“What’s wrong?”
Ruby sat down across from him and took a sip of his water. “Nothing really.”
“Did you go talk to the women who put the spell on me?”
She nodded, but her eyes rolled. “They are both pistols.”
“What does that mean?”
“Unfortunately, while they don’t dispute putting a spell on you, they had been drinking and don’t remember exactly the spells they used. They want more time to think about it…and probably get over their hangovers.”
Max pushed out a sigh. “Does that mean I’m stuck like this?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe. Maybe not.”
Right then. Max’s stomach made such a tormented noise, the guy at the next table offered him some hot wings from his recently delivered basket.
Ruby had never heard a stomach growl with such anguish. “How long has it been since you ate?”
