Page 16 of Legends Luke

She folded her arms across her chest. “Depends. Is this a risk which could give me food poisoning?”

He raised a shoulder in a sort of half-shrug she found oddly sexy. “Do I look like someone who would take that kind of risk?”

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she stared at him thoughtfully. “No, I suppose not. And this gives me a chance to try something new in town. Okay. If you don’t mind the company, I’m willing to give Jed’s a try. Lead the way.”

He waited for her to catch up to him, and instead of leading the way, he fell into step beside her. Their conversation halted, and Melody busied herself with studying the storefronts they passed, wondering how she could have missed the eatery when she was inthis neighborhood practically every day. She had taken three steps ahead of Luke before she realized he stopped in front of a brown metal door which blended in with the siding of the old building. Her eyes darted from the door to him and back, widening a bit more with each pass.

“This is it? There’s no sign or anything.”

Luke pointed at the door. “They used to have letters on the door, but they fell off. Jed never saw a reason to put them back.”

As Melody moved closer to the door, she noticed how the paint differed in color in spots where the paint had been covered by the letters. She could make out the outline of J-E-D before Luke pulled the door open. Stepping inside, she paused a moment to take in the scratched-up tables with mismatched chairs and hardwood floors that lost their shine long ago. The walls were painted the same shade as rust on an old bicycle. The windows were covered in sunshades but had no curtains. Despite the antiquated, rundown appearance, she noticed how clean everything was. The floor contained no speck of dirt on the surface. The tables were cleared except for the ones occupied by a handful of customers.

Melody stood next to the wooden maître’ d stand, which had a metal sign affixed to the front with the words “please wait to be seated”on it. Luke kept walking toward a table in the corner of the dining room.

“What are you doing?”

He shot her a glance over his shoulder. “Everybody seats themselves.”

She swallowed a sigh of frustration and hurried to catch up to his long strides. He waited for her to be seated with her back to the dining room before sitting across from her. He lifted an arm to motion to someone behind her, and she turned to see a waitress appear from the kitchen area with two plates for a table close to them.

“Hey, Luke. I’ll bring your sweet tea over in a minute. What about your friend?”

The waitress stared at her curiously, and Melody smiled in response. “Just water is good,” she raised her voice a bit for the waitress to hear her.

“Thanks, Thea.” He lowered his arm and folded his hands on the table in front of him. His intense eyes studied her until she could no longer resist the urge to squirm in her seat.

“You must come a lot. You know, for the waitress to know you and your drink order.” She barely refrained from wincing at her lame attempt at conversation.

He smirked, and she started to wonder if he had that reaction the same way someone might smile or if he was silently laughing at her awkwardness.

“Sure, but it’s also growing up and living in a small town.”

She smiled. “Everyone knows everyone. Unless you’re like me. Sometimes it feels like I have a neon sign flashing over my head telling everyone I’m a transplant. I’ve gotten curious looks, suspicious looks…you name it. I’m still getting used to it.”

“Well, honey, you stick with Luke and the other boys, and people will learn who you are soon enough.”

Thea made her pronouncement as she neared their table. She sat their drinks in front of them before she placed one hand on her hip and studied Melody thoughtfully. The waitress was tall, her figure curvy under her simple black jeans and colorful top. Her hair was an unnatural red and held in a twist by a clip. Her shrewd gaze gave Melody the impression he could see every thought and feeling Melody had.

“I’ve seen you. You work for the lawyers over by the courthouse. They represented my son when he got into a little bit of trouble. Got him community service and probation. Good folks over there for them to be lawyers.”

“I’m a paralegal at Ladner and Bleekley. They are good people and have been great to work with.”

“Sooooo.” Thea’s southern twang was more pronounced as she drawled out the one word. “Is it just you, or you got family here too?”

Melody had gotten used to people asking prying questions of her, and as long as they weren’t too personal, she didn’t mind answering. “It’s just me. My sister is in school in Shreveport, but I’m hoping she’ll come visit when she’s on break. I’ll have to bring her here, so you can meet her.”

Thea rolled her eyes. “Gurl, you better take her somewhere nicer than here, or she’s gonna think you moved to the middle of nowhere, which you kind of did.”

Luke and Melody chuckled. Suddenly, a loud voice carried over the dining room.

“Thea! Quit yakking and get their orders. They’re working folks.”

Thea rolled her deeply set chocolate brown eyes. “What’s your pick today? We have the meatloaf sandwich on toasted sourdough with fries or chicken pot pie with a side salad. Strawberry shortcake for dessert.”

“Meatloaf and dessert for me,” Luke responded instantly.

“What do you recommend?” Melody asked Thea.

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