page6 (1/2)
“I’ve got this,” he said
“Make sure you leave a big tip,” Wilma told him
“Yes, ma’am”
The old lady grinned, then ruffled his hair “You’re not bad, kid You can come back”
When she left, Clay leaned toward Charlie “Does she really get a say in that?”
“This is Fool’s Gold There are very strange rules in play”
He’d left a couple of twenties for what she knew to be a twenty-five-dollar tab, then stood “Thanks for lunch,” he said
“Thank you With a tip like that, Wil you personal invitations to return”
“The food was good”
She rose “If you want, I’ll go over the application paperith you Tois correct”
“I’d appreciate that” He pulled out his cell “Want to give me your number?”
She nodded and rattled it off, knowing the hostess would be spitting nails if she knew The difference was, Charlie wasn’t interested in dating Clay But then maybe the hostess didn’t want to date, either
They walked to the front of the restaurant, then out onto the sidewalk Her truck was parked in front
“That’s
“Okay I’ll finish the application tonight and then call you”
She started to say that was fine, but before she could form the words, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek
“Thanks,” he murmured and walked away
She stood there, on the sidewalk, her cheek all tingly and her insides doing some kind of fertility dance Even soe She was attracted to Clay Sexually attracted Based on how quickly she was thawing, after a few roupie
It was just her luck that after literally a decade of not having a single erotic thought, she found herself attracted to possibly the best-looking man on the planet
A COUPLE OF days later, Annabelle Weiss slipped into the booth at Jo’s Bar and smiled at Charlie “I invited Patience McGraw to join us Do you know her?”
Charlie watched the pretty brunette walk through the door and pause for a second before heading to them
“Sure,” Charlie told her friend “Sometimes she cuts lance at her short hair Charlie rolled her eyes “Stop it Yes, I do get my hair cut professionally”
“And it looks adorable”
Charlie knew that adorable wasn’t a word that could ever be applied to her, but she accepted the comment in the spirit in which her friend meant it
Patience approached their table “Hi, Charlie,” she said, sliding into the booth
Patience had grown up in Fool’s Gold She had a daughter, Lillie, and was divorced
“Hi, yourself,” Charlie said “How’s it going?”
“Good” Patience had big brown eyes and a sweet s?”
“I just got here,” Annabelle said “Charlie is always hungry, so she was early”
“I’ry,” Charlie muttered
Patience laughed “I was dawdling, I’m sorry to say There’s this retail space I have my eye on”
Annabelle drew in a breath “You’re going to open your own salon? Does Julia know?”
Patience worked for Julia Gionni, one of the two feuding Gionni sisters Neither wo out on her own
Patience laughed “Don’t panic I’ my own place Sorry I didn’t ” She leaned forward “I would love to open ht in December At the rate I’m able to save money, I’ll be a hundred and seventeen by the tih”
“I think a coffeehouse is a great idea,” Annabelle told her “Soather”
“Exactly” Patience smiled “I have all these ideas Do you know Trisha Wynn?”
“She helped o,” Annabelle said
“I dated her son,” Charlie announced
Just then Jo ca a new salad It’s seasonal, with apples and fried chicken You can get it with grilled chicken, but then I’ll pretty ”
“Can I get garlic bread on the side?” Charlie asked
“My kind of girl Of course you can”
Annabelle sighed “I want to be tall like Charlie Then I could eat what I wanted”
“I work out a lot, too,” Charlie reminded her
“Yeah, I’m less interested in that part,” Annabelle admitted
They placed their drink orders and Jo left
Patience turned to Charlie “I didn’t know Trisha had a son Things didn’t work out?”
Charlie hadn’t meant to blurt out the infor far too ured out ere better off as friends, but Trisha was bugging hi soreat” So much so that Trisha had been devastated when Charlie had finally come clean and admitted there wasn’t any spark
What she hadn’t told Trisha was the lack of spark had cos to the next level,” Charlie had frozen Panicked would be a better word, but why go there? Unfortunately for Evan, the next level had included kissing
Noas married to souilty As if her and Trisha getting along so as a problem for the
neife
“How is Trisha helping with your coffeehouse drea about her sad dating past
“She taught a class at the adult education center It was on how to open your own business I took it and came up with my plan All that stands between me and coffeehouse heaven is start-up money”
“You’ll find it,” Annabelle told her
Patience nodded “I’ lottery tickets”
“Hey, that can work,” Charlie said “That’s how Heidi got the money for the down payment on the ranch”