Page 26 of Suddenly Single
When she and Brooke ended the call, she stared at the wall for a few moments. Vanessa was a beast of competency. If she found Jenny a job it was probably a decent one. She ought to take it and be grateful for it.Maybe she would.And then again...
She sat up and looked out the window.It was overcast.Maybe she’d take a hike into the hills and think about it.At least think about something other than how well Edan kissed.
When she was dressed, she made her way to the dining room. The door to the kitchen was open, and she could hear the banging of pots and pans.“Hello?”
A woman in thick-soled shoes with unnaturally bright hair piled atop her head emerged, carrying a tray full of salt and pepper sets.Jenny liked the look of her—she had a tattoo curling up her wrist.She stopped when she saw Jenny, clearly surprised.“Good morning,” she said.
“Hi,” Jenny returned.
The woman’s gaze traveled down Jenny’s body, taking in her tank top and jacket, her cargo shorts and her boots, the two long tails of hair that hung down her chest.She put down her tray of salt and pepper sets. “May I help you, then?”
“Is the restaurant open?”
“Well—” She wiped her hands on her apron and glanced over her shoulder.“I guess it could be, aye.”
“I’m a guest,” Jenny said.“And I’d love some breakfast.”
“You’re a guest...here?”
“Room 215. Is it okay if I sit down?”
“Aye, yeah, of course,” the woman said. “I didna think we had any guests until the weekend.” She took a step back, retrieving a menu from a stand and placed that in front of Jenny. “Coffee?”
“Please.”
The woman pivoted about and went back into the kitchen. Jenny could hear her speaking loudly to someone else.That was followed by more banging of dishes and pots and doors.She reappeared a few minutes later with the coffee and an order pad.Jenny ordered eggs and ham, and the woman disappeared once more into the kitchen.
Jenny had drunk half her coffee when the woman returned with a plate of eggs, ham, and a caddy of dry toast.She set it all down on the table, wiped her hands on the towel she’d used to carry it out and said, “Plate is hot, mind.”
“Thank you.” Jenny picked up her fork and took a bite of eggs. She glanced up; the woman hadn’t left.
“Do you mind if I ask—did you just check in?” the woman asked. “The inn’s closing and we’ve only a pair of bookings left. I didna see one for today.”
“I arrived Sunday night,” Jenny said. “Long story, but I didn’t know the inn was closed, and I showed up too late to go anywhere else.So Edan let me stay.”
The woman blinked.“Edan?”
“Mr. Mackenzie.”
“Oh aye, I know who he is. I’m Rosalyn, by the way.”
“Oh!” Jenny said through a mouth full of egg.“You’re the wedding! I’m Jenny.”
“He told you about my wedding?”
“Sort of.I noticed he was wearing a kilt.I’d heard that in Scotland, men only wore kilts to formal occasions.So while he was making me a sandwich, I asked.”
“He made you asandwich!” It was not a question; it was a statement of utter disbelief.
It seemed like everyone around Lake Haven thought Edan incapable of making a sandwich. “Right in there, in the kitchen,” Jenny said, pointing.
Rosalyn gaped at Jenny, her expressive brown eyes practically spinning with her thoughts.“I’ve never seen Edan make a sandwich for anyone.No’ even himself.But I’m happy to hear he made it home in one piece.I worried—he’d had a wee bit to drink, aye? Freddie Montoya brung him home.”
“Really?” Jenny said, thinking back to that night. “He seemed perfectly fine to me.He didn’t really say much.”
“Ach,well, he never says much,” Rosalyn said. “Good on him, then,” she said with an adamant nod of her head.“I worry about my old chum. No’ that there’s anything wrong with him, mind you, but he seems to be a wee bit too much in his own head, if you know what I mean.”
“I do,” Jenny agreed. “I noticed it last night at dinner.”
