Page 14 of Sweet Home Louisiana

“The office?”Kennedy called out.“I just got my fries!”

“Thepartnermeeting,” Sawyer said.

“Oh, come on!”Leo protested.“We want to hear.”

“This is about Boys of the Bayou,” Sawyer said.

“We let you hear about all the plans for this place,” Ellie said.

“You haveplansfor this place?”Josh asked, looking around.

“We put a new roof on.”

“Because there was water pouring in on top of the back tables every time it rained,” Josh said with a laugh.

“Still.”Ellie shrugged.“You got to hear all about it.”

“We couldn’t really help it,” Sawyer said.“Bill was the roofer and he was in here for lunch when you were talking about it.”

“Still.”

That was how it went with Ellie.Maddie felt a tug at the corner of her mouth.She remembered Ellie’s stubbornness.

“Well, Maddie can’t make it to the partner meeting if it’s not here,” Cora announced.“She hasn’t had lunch yet.”

“Oh,” Maddie started.“I’m not—”

“I’ve got shrimp and cheesy grits.”

Damn.It wasn’t pecan pie, but it would take a much stronger woman than Maddie was to turn down Cora’s cheesy grits.

She wouldnotbe worn down by grits.She had to be tougher than that.

Bugs.Heat.Humidity.No spa or gym for forty miles.Theheat.

“She’d better eat something.”Owen was suddenly beside her again.“She had a few snorts of Kenny’s whiskey in the office.Could definitely use some grits to soak that up.”

Maddie opened her mouth to say that she was only feeling mildly buzzed—which, in a previous life, would have been something to brag about.Kenny’s moonshine was strong stuff.But Sawyer frowned at them before she could reply.

“You two were drinkin’ in the office before you came in here?”

Owen suddenly looked like he’d been caught taking candy before dinner.He looked at Maddie.Blew out a breath.Then nodded.“Yeah.But only for—”

“She kiss you?”Leo asked.

Maddie opened her mouth to protest but she was again interrupted.She was maybe a little slow because of the booze.Or maybe because she was out of practice interacting with the people who all talked at once, talked over one another, and said whatever was on their minds.

“No.”Owen glared at his grandfather.

“Youkissher?”Leo asked.

“No.Knock it off,” Owen told him.

“Anything on fire anywhere?”Ellie asked with a smirk.

“Hilarious,” Owen told her dryly.“You’re all really hilarious.”

Maddie felt her cheeks burning.Yeah, so maybe she’d set a couple of things on fire.But that was twelve years ago.And one had been an accident.Geez.She wasn’t going to burn things down just because Owen kissed her.

---