Page 13 of The Bitter Heir and the Beauty

Never mind fires, this guy is so full of himself, he’s going to flood the town.

“Hotshot firefighter,” I say under my breath while wiping the counter.

He turns to me, capturing my eyes. “Let’s talk about how I’m hot.”

My stomach tightens. “Let’s not.”

“You don’t think I’m hot?”

“A cocky, arrogant city slicker is more like,” I mutter, not wanting them to join Team Maddo.

“East side of the Sierra Nevadas—Carson Spur specifically—mountain country.”

Betsy smiles. “I hear everything is bigger out west, fires included.”

He winks. “It’s not the size of the blaze, it’s the power behind the one putting it out.”

Both women’s cheeks flush. I flip on the overhead fan, then take a sip of ice water. Must’ve turned up the grill too high.

Molly says, “I figured you were here for the hunt.”

He nods. “I do hunt. Ducks and waterfowl mainly.”

“I mean the scavenger hunt.”

“It’s a bit early for that,” I say, since it’s barely fall and the scavengers descend in January.

He tilts his head to the side in question, but his gaze travels to me, blanketing me with the kind of hazy heat that radiates from a bonfire even at a distance.

I busy myself with refilling the napkin dispenser even though only three have been used today.

Betsy shakes her head. “According to my sources, who we have here is Mayor Maddo.”

Concerned that she may be experiencing confusion from prolonged exposure to hair-styling product fumes, I ask, “Betsy, can I get you anything to drink? Maybe some sweet tea, coffee, or?—?”

Lexi strides toward us. Where did she come from? I didn’t even hear the door open. I scold myself for being distracted.

My stomach plunges with worry about Leonie as I finish my sentence. “Root beer.”

Lexi waves her hands as if telling me that there’s a venomous snake by my feet. “Honey, I know that look. Not to worry. The lion cub is peacefully slumbering in Uncle JQ’s arms while he rocks her gently. It’s a sight to behold.” She sighs in a way that only a woman in love can at the thought of her man cradling an infant.

Relief washes through me that Leonie is okay, but why is she here?

Lexi says, “Everyone knows the Penny Gamble has the best root beer. No offense.”

“What areyoudoing here?” I ask Lexi, interjecting and giving her a tight-lipped look for trying to poach my customer.

She shrugs. “I had a pancake craving.”

Turning to Maddock, I say, “See? Pancakes.”

Lexi peers through the food delivery window. “Where’s Antoine?”

“I gave him a day off. It was Laramie and Maybelle’s birthday this past weekend and he needed to recover.”

Lexi rubs her stomach. “I cannot imagine having twins.”

Maddock says, “I can attest, the flapjacks were good.”

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