Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 66642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Her envy of her female customer had vanished before she could get three steps away from the couple. The woman had accused him of staring at her as if just looking at her would make him come. Her legs had nearly buckled under her when she’d heard that shattering tidbit because. If his girlfriend had been aware that her body had reacted the same way, the only tip she would have gotten was to run.
Sophie had noticed the woman’s stiletto-shaped bloodred nails. She didn’t want those things anywhere near her face. Having to psych herself to go back to take their order hadn’t been easy, and she couldn’t have done so at a worse moment.
Whatever the relationship the woman had thought she was having with the man wasn’t the same as he wanted. From her expression, the woman had been crushed.
Sophie would bet a hundred bucks the guy waited until he had scored before hitting the end button.
Why did men have to be such rat bastards? The guy seemed comfortable smashing the woman’s heart, too comfortable from her point of view. In her opinion, way too indifferent.
Her mind played back the woman’s heartbreak, and she unintentionally glared down at the customer whose order she was taking.
Other than the woman’s nails, she had seemed nice. Sophie could even see them become friends in the future. They could compare skid marks where their lousy exes had run over them.
Returning her glare, the customer lowered his menu back to the table. “You the new owner?”
“Yes.” Belatedly, she realized she had made the customer the recipient of her frustration for the male species.
“I heard you’re Marty’s daughter.”
“Yes.”
The customer looked at his friend. “That apple didn’t fall from the tree, did it?”
Sophie hadn’t seen her father for the last years of his life but knew she didn’t resemble Marty. She didn’t have to take a wild guess that her customer wasn’t talking about the physical similarities she shared with her father.
Within five minutes of her arriving in town, she had discovered the town’s hatred for him. She couldn’t blame them; Marty’s only redeemable part was his ability to fry a damn good burger.
“I apologize for my rudeness. I had something else on my mind. I didn’t mean to take it out on you,” she apologized.
Both men stared at her in shock.
“Marty would have let the restaurant burn down before he apologized.” The man held out his hand. “Moon.” He then gestured to the man across the table. “This is Train.”
“Sophie. It’s nice to meet you both,” she introduced herself with a lopsided grin. “I heard my father didn’t have the best customer service skills.”
“Nonexistent would be closer to the mark.”
She took their order and retreated from their table.
Placing the ticket in kitchen window, she peeked through the opening to see what George was doing.
“George!” she said loudly. “Wake up.”
The old man jerked. “Fuck. You trying to scare me to death?”
“No. I was trying to keep you from taking a nosedive onto the grill,” she told him sharply.
“I wasn’t sleeping,” he denied.
Sophie wasn’t going to argue over the fact he was. Next time, she would just let him fry himself.
“I put up an order.”
Turning away from the window, she promised herself that, before the end of the day, she was going to run another ad. Customers already didn’t want to eat here because of Sophie’s father’s reputation of being a foul-mouthed, hateful son-of-bitch. The last she needed was to have to deal with the cook’s inept skills. The way she was going, she’d put the restaurant out of business during the same week it opened.
Thinking about the restaurant going bust had her worried. Every dime of her savings had gone into stocking the restaurant, turning the utilities back on, and renting an apartment. She didn’t have a safety margin.
Her parents had already given their notice and were packing to move to Treepoint. If she failed, they would be left high and dry.
Cut it out, Sophie, she scolded herself. You’re going to make it. She needed confidence right now, not doom and gloom.
“Order up!” George yelled out.
Sophie returned to the window to stare at the food George had put there.
God help her, everything was going to hell in a handbasket.
Chapter Five
Parking his truck in the driveway, Jody walked to where Silas and Fynn were standing.
“What’s going on?” he asked his eldest brother. “Why isn’t Fynn getting ready for school?”
Silas’ craggy face turned toward him. At his expression, Jody knew he was in trouble, though he didn’t know what he’d done when he hadn’t even been home.
“What’d I do?”
“Fynn, go get ready for school.”
Fynn gave him a sympathetic glance as he headed for the main house.
“I wasn’t supposed to be here for another thirty minutes—”
“Where were you last night?” Silas’ solemn voice cut him off.
“I’m not a kid anymore, Silas. Where I spent the night isn’t any of your business.”