She shakes her head and starts to walk away. Again this woman has confused me to no end. That’s it? I made her cry for shit’s sake! Where is her fight? The real her that I only see small flashes of?
“That’s not what I want? What do I want then?” I ask as I catch up to her in two strides.
She doesn’t look up as she answers with a shrug, “I hope you figure it out soon.”
“Why, so I’ll leave town? You think me leaving will help your silly cause? It won’t.”
She doesn’t answer, just walks on with her dog. He pulls on the leash terribly but she doesn’t scold him. She should. She should scold me too.
“Harper…” I start, ready to apologize for my outburst. Being dismissed by this tiny pastry chef is making me lose it. I’m not usually so curt with people. Especially after I’ve already won.
But, surprising me once more, she flips me off and goes into her back gate, then slams it shut in my face.
“I still get coffee!” I call, hoping for a reaction. A scoff, a door slam, maybe she’ll open the gate and curse at me.
She doesn’t.
This irks me. But as I walk back to my garage I find myself feeling…relieved, I guess?
Because Stu is Stuart Little.
Herdog.
CHAPTER 12
Harper
“I’m just saying, it seemed like he wanted to help us, he went on and on about sample product strategy but you know how I get, my eyes glazed over,” Steven says as he gets his coffee and muffin.
“No. He’s the worst,” I repeat.
I don’t explain further to my audience, larger and totally captive this morning after yesterday’s drama. Tyrone, Maxine, Mr. Newman, Steven, Shelly and Betty are all here today claiming they want coffee. They want the inside scoop.
They came to the wrong girl.
Yes, he beelined it to my booth to shake my hand. Yes, he had a run in with Stuart. Yes, he may have been sweaty and in tight, dri-fit gym clothes at the time. Yes, he commanded my wayward dog with the deepest, gruffest,not sexy at all,voice, ever.
He also continues to be mean, obnoxious, and…exhausting. He’s exhausting. Everyone always leaves us after a few days, so what is he still doing here?
I shake my head at myself.
Doesn’t matter, he’ll leave eventually.
“He’s trying to keep our town alive,” Shelly starts, then corrects herself, “Well, half of it.”
“He wants to sample the local goods,” her sister murmurs.
Steven laughs, “They always do. Then they bolt. He’s at least got a vested interest in staying around.”
I try not to react to that.
“Shouldn’t take an investment for him to see how great our little town is,” Tyrone argues, looking at me like he’s not talking about our town at all.
I sigh and start to blush, tired of this same old conversation.
“Exactly,” Maxine says, “I can think of two humdingers that aredefinitelythe worst.”
“Yeah,” Shelly adds, all of them being obvious and talking to me about me, “One of which even left you with—”
