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 expression turned relieved. “That’s okay, then. I can take care of you until you get past the talking stage.”
“No. I plan to be faithful to her.”
“Jody Coleman”—Mina giggled, scraping his nerves—“you don’t have a faithful bone in your body.”
“I do now.”
Mina rolled her eyes at him and got out of the booth. She placed her palms on the table, giving him a generous view of her chest. “When you get tired of sweet-talking her, call me—you know my number. I promise you’ll get more out of me than talking.”
Jody wanted to bury his face in his hands as she sashayed out of the restaurant. Thankfully, Ginny and Sophie had gone to the kitchen.
They were still in there when the customers got up to stand by the register.
“Hey, Tate, Dustin; how are you doing?”
Tate nodded his head and lay money down on top of their ticket. “I heard you and Ginny are going to be helping out Sophie. Logan’s going to be working here after school.”
“So I heard,” Jody told the two brothers.
“You hear one of Marty’s buddies stopped by yesterday?”
“Yeah.” Jody lowered his voice. “Greer called Silas last night. We’ll keep an eye out.”
“You won’t be the only one.” Tate’s craggy face was set to no-nonsense. “We’ll do what we can to help her make a go of this place, but if anything happens to Logan, kin or not, blood will be spilled, regardless of who gets in the way.”
Jody didn’t look away from Tate’s gaze. “Understood.” Jody mimicked Tate’s hard gaze. “And so you understand, my happiness isn’t the only one that rides on Sophie staying in town.”
Chapter Twelve
“You’ve made a good start. The kitchen is spotless. It was always a mess when I worked here.”
Sophie stared around the kitchen proudly. “I worked in restaurants most of my life. My mother taught me to keep everything clean. To be honest, I knew if this kitchen wasn’t spotless when she got here, she’d give me hell.”
“I bet you can’t wait for your parents to arrive.”
Sophie nodded. “I’m looking forward to us not being bossed around. That’s why this restaurant means so much to me. My parents have had it rough since Mom’s divorce from Marty. He made their lives a living hell. They’ve had to move from one state to another to get away from him.”
“You moved with them?”
“Yes. I wanted to be close by if they needed me.”
“I understand. I’m close to my family, too.”
“Your family is really nice. If not for the tip they gave me yesterday, I was about to call a realtor. I don’t want my parents moving here only to find themselves jobless.”
“We’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
She tilted her head to watch Ginny’s reaction. “Why?”
“The town has missed having a place to hang out. We’ve missed the food, coming to eat here after church. It’s been depressing to see the diner closed.”
“People aren’t exactly rushing in like they missed it being open.”
“They’re skittish. They’ll slowly come back, and when they do, they’ll stay loyal customers.”
As they talked, they heard the bell ring.
“I should check and see if I have a customer.” She started for the door.
“Don’t worry. If someone came in, Jody would have told you.”
As Sophie showed her the food supply she’d purchased, Ginny took out her cell phone to write a list of the items they would need to prepare the dishes she wanted to teach her. When they were done, Ginny texted her the list.
Sophie stared at it in dismay. “Can we just start with a couple of the dishes? I’m afraid I don’t have enough money to purchase all of them.”
“Let me worry about that. It’s not like you can get away to do any shopping. I’ll send Jody to buy what we need. You can pay me back when the restaurant is making more money.”
Sophie shook her head. “Thank you, but I can’t accept that kind of help. Besides, Jody might have plans for the rest of the day. I’ll go to the store after I close.”
“Jody won’t mind. He’s off today.”
“I’m sure he’d rather be spending time with his new girlfriend.”
Ginny seemed confused. “What new girlfriend? He’s never had a girlfriend.”
Had she unintentionally told Ginny a secret Jody hadn’t wanted to share?
“I must be mistaken.”
Ginny nodded, her frown clearing. “You must be. Jody is waiting for his soul mate. He’s never even been on a date, as far as I know.”
Sophie could only stare at her. Poor woman was disillusioned where Jody was concerned.
“Soul mate?”
“Oh, yes, all my brothers are waiting for theirs. Well, except for Matthew—he found his,” Ginny explained.
“Really?” It was everything Sophie could do not to laugh.
Ginny must have read the laughter in her eyes, though. “You don’t believe me?”
“Jody told you that?”
“All my brothers know they have soul mates.”
“Are they faithful to their soul mates?”