Page 17 of Legends Luke

“That you eat anywhere else but here,” Thea returned without batting an eye.

“Thea!”

The sharp voice sounded closer, and Melody peered over her shoulder to see a tall, portly man standing behind a counter. His head was shaved, his eyebrows bushy and black over tiny eyes. Tattoos covered his forearms left bare by the T-shirt covered with a pristine white apron with “Jed’s” written diagonally across the front in bold black letters.

“I said I was sorry. Now stop being a brat!”

Thea pursed her lips at his insult, and Melody turned wide eyes toward Luke. He looked ready to explode in laughter but managed to speak without giving away his amusement.

“She’ll have the pot pie and dessert. Thanks, Thea.”

“Coming right up.” She flashed Melody a toothy grin and tilted her head toward Luke. “He’s a good one, sweetie. Hang on to him.”

When Thea walked away, Melody could only sit, staring at Luke, stunned. He chuckled, and she felt her laugh bubbling insideher. When she finally let it loose, it shook her body and caused her eyes to water. As she struggled to get herself together, she realized she hadn’t laughed this hard since moving to Fire Creek.

Chapter Eight

Damn.

Melody’s laugh sounded better than the engine of a classic car when it purred to perfection. Her skin tinged red from the depth of her delight, and her eyes sparkled with moisture that waited to run down her gorgeous face.

She grabbed a napkin from the dispenser at the end of the table and wiped her eyes. He almost wished she wouldn’t. He liked the version of Melody who experienced uncontrollable joy. He wanted to say more to keep the laughter coming, but he’d never had luck with words. Mechanics and using his hands were his talents. Conversation was low on the list.

When her laughter subsided, she caught her breath and waded up the napkin. “Okay, there’s a story behind those two. I know you’re a man of few words, but I need to hear it. Are they married?”

Luke choked on his saliva and hastily guzzled his water to ease the tickle in his throat. “No. Not married, though I wouldn’t mind seeing Thea’s reaction if you ask her the same question.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Her smile was still wide, her lips drawinghis eye, making him wonder how they would feel under his. “So, they’re not husband and wife. Do they just work together or what?”

“They’re brother and sister. Big Jed is their dad, and he started the place years ago. He was a cook in the army and decided he liked it enough to keep it going. He taught Jed Jr. and Thea everything he knows, but Jed was the only one to have a knack for it.”

“Brother and sister? Really? So, they always fight like that?”

He nodded. “Big Jed said they were fighting in the womb. He used to tell anybody who’d listen about how much they kicked their mom, especially at night when she tried to sleep.”

“Wait.Theykicked her? Are you trying to tell me they’re twins?”

“Not identical, but yeah. Twins. They may fight, but they’re inseparable.”

Luke glanced over her shoulder to see Thea heading their way with plates of food. She was mumbling to herself, but her voice carried over to them. Luke had a feeling she was well aware she wasn’t quietly keeping her musings to herself. Thea and Jed had no qualms about airing their frustrations loud enough for everyone to hear them.

“I don’t know why I put up with him. He thinks he can run the show around here because he cooks. Well, Daddy put us both in charge, not just him. I should walk out and see how he’d make it without me. The place would fall apart, I tell you that.”

He could see Melody biting back a grin, and he could only imagine her impression of his favorite place to eat and two of hisfavorite people. He had gone to high school with Jed and Thea. Though the twins were a few years older than him, Jed had taken him under his wing when Luke was an eighth grader filling in on the junior varsity football team. He’d not yet grown into his lanky frame, which made him a target for bullies. Jed had put a stop to it, not because he wanted to be Luke’s friend, but because his daddy had raised him not to put up with it.

It hadn’t taken long for the bullies to realize Luke wasn’t an easy target. Living with abusive parents had taught him how to stand up for himself. He didn’t take out his brewing anger on his parents, but he did unleash some of it on the football field and against those bullies as much as he could, depending on how outnumbered he was. But he’d never forgotten how Jed stood up for him. When Jed took over his daddy’s business, Luke became a frequent customer. He would have come several times a week even if the food had been awful, but fortunately, he didn’t have to worry about it.

Thea placed their plates in front of them, and Luke’s mouth instantly watered as the rich aromas tantalized his nose. She pulled bottles from the pocket of her apron and placed on the table the containers of ketchup, Thousand Island dressing, and a clear squeeze bottle of a white sauce with specks of pepper and other spices in it.

“I wasn’t sure what kind of dressing you wanted with the salad, so I brought our two most common – Thousand Island and our house dressing. Jed says it’s a spicy ranch, but it’s not spicy hot. It has enough kick to be really good on a cold salad. You two need anything else?”

“It all looks delicious,” Melody said, and Luke couldn’t tell if she was sincere or just being friendly. To him, the food smelled and looked great, but what did she really think about old-fashioned Southern cooking?

“I think we’re good. Thanks.”

Thea nodded at him and headed to check on the other tables. Luke tried to read Melody’s expression, but she kept her eyes on the plates of food. The salad was larger than a typical side salad, and the pot pie overflowed the ceramic bowl it was in. His sandwich was large enough to have to be cut in half to make it easier to eat. The fries were long, thick, and fried to a golden brown. The meatloaf sandwich was one of his favorites, but he sat back without touching his meal.

“You choose which one you think you might like. I’m good with eating either one.”

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