Page 16 of Spiritwarrior

“Don’t feel bad about firing him. A cook has to know how to make toast.”

The waitress’ face went back to red. “The toast was my fault. George told me the toaster was getting stuck. I didn’t want to spend the money to buy a new one.”

“Oh … um …” Jody tried to think of something else to say.

“It’s okay.” She must have seen the dilemma on his face. “I know the toast was my fault. The pancakes, which got him fired, were his. Can I get you something else?”

“No, I’m good.”

Nodding, she went to sit down at one of the booths to do something on her cell phone.

As he drank his coffee, Jody tried to think of something to say that would start a conversation between them.

“How do you like living in Treepoint so far?”

“Fine.”

How had he ever gotten laid with his conversation skills?

Taking another sip of his coffee, he hoped someone would come in to get her out of the booth. It was hard talking to someone who was ignoring him.

“I’m sorry for the loss of your father.”

“Don’t be.”

His shoulders sank. Obviously, her father was no great loss to her.

“Treepoint will grow on you.” Deciding to talk to her as if she did want to talk to him, he barreled ahead. “There’re a lot of fun things to do here.”

“Like what?”

Why in the hell had he just shot himself in the foot? There wasn’t jackshit to do in Treepoint. The point was to make her want to stay, not to convince her to leave.

“There’s a nice movie theater and really nice steak restaurant across the str …” His voice dropped off as he realized what he was saying. Using another restaurant as an enticement to stay might not have been the best route to take. From the way she looked at him, as if he was slow on the uptake, he couldn’t blame her. Why was he having such a hard time talking to her? He’d never had this problem before.

The stars might say they are soul mates, but she wasn’t the woman he had imagined since he had found out about her existence.

She was a brunette instead of a blonde, nor was she particularly pretty. If not for the effect she had on his body whenever she came near him, he would have passed her off as uninteresting. There was nothing eye-catching about her. She hadn’t made the effort to put on any makeup, and her hair was pulled back into a tight bun.

Unless he was wrong, which wasn’t likely, her breasts were a thirty-two double A. He had noticed she had a nice smile when she had smiled at Baylin.

“Would you like a refill?”

“Thanks.” Jody lifted the cup as she got up out of the booth, taking a long drink and nearly burning his tongue off.

Scooting the cup forward, he gave her another one of his practiced smiles. “I would be happy to drive you around town when you get off and show you everything.”

As she poured the coffee, she lifted her eyes from the cup. “I’ve already become familiar with Treepoint. There wasn’t much to see. There are two apartment complexes here, one of which I rent from; a school; a courthouse; three dine-in restaurants, including this one; two convenience stores; two department stores, a shoe store, and four office buildings.”

“You missed the hotel,” he joked. “You have trouble finding a place to live? Housing is in short supply here. I could help you find a place—”

“No, thanks. Like I said, I already found an apartment, at the Omni.”

Jody felt a lump form in his throat. Baylin lived at the Omni.

“It’s close to here. I’m on the third floor.”

Baylin’s apartment was on the third floor.

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