Page 37 of The Ruse of Romancing
Sadie is right; your whole reason for going to Oregon was to WRITE. [face palm emoji]
I rolled my eyes, shuffling forward in line as I typed.
Dani:
I’ll have you know, I was up all night writing! I have several solid chapters now with plans to write even more today.
And yes, there might be a guy. But it’s only a might right now. [winky face emoji]
“What has you grinning so wide?” Joane asked, making me jump. I’d reached the front of the line and hadn’t even realized it. I should have been more focused on my breakfast order than on updating my cousins on my dating life.
“Oh, nothing,” I said, tucking my phone into the pocket of my joggers as I perused the menu, quickly selecting the first item to catch my attention. “I’ll have the lemon-berry stuffed sourdough French toast please. Oh, and coffee. Lots of coffee.”
Joane peered at me from behind the counter, clearly seeing straight through my claims that it was “nothing.” She arched an inquisitive eyebrow as she entered in my order.
“You forget, I’m a mother. I know what that look means.” She waved accusingly at my face, and I attempted to wipe away whatever expression she was referencing. “You’ve met someone, and I want to hear all about it!”
The clearing of a throat behind me cut me off before I could protest further.
“Just as soon as the rush is over. We’ll talk later.” Joane probably meant the words as a promise, but they felt more like a threat as I paid for my food and settled at the table in the corner that I was quickly coming to think of as “mine.”
My phone vibrated with thoughts from the cousin crew on my last message.
Poppy:
You’ve been wearing the bracelet I gave you, haven’t you? I knew those stones would help! But I won’t say I told you so. [Two winky face emojis]
Thinking of Allen’s fascination with said bracelet had me biting my lip and considering never taking the bracelet off again.
Avery:
What?!?
Poppy:
I should have mixed you some oils too. It would seal the deal! What’s your address? I’ll overnight deliver them to you!
Deciding the cousins could live with a bit of suspense, I switched my phone to “do not disturb,” stuck in an earbud, and got to work crafting Petros’s and Hypatia’s adventure as I waited for my food to be ready.
An hour later, the very loud huff of someone settling into the seat across from me pulled me from my manuscript, and I blinked to focus on Joane, who was grinning at me like the cat who’d eaten the canary. Her hair was once again pulled up, and she was wearing her customary apron over a bright pink floral shirt that I was fairly certain I’d seen the sister of in a thrift store yesterday.
“The breakfast rush just ended, and I have about thirty minutes before I need to work on lunch prep. Spill!”
I leaned back, trying for nonchalance, even as my insides danced and skipped with excitement.
“There’s not much to tell. I met a guy at the bookstore the other day and ran into him again on the beach yesterday. We spent the day together and it was... nice.” I finished lamely,not sure how else to summarize my day with Allen without it sounding ridiculous.
“‘Nice’ doesn’t put that shade of pink into your cheeks,” Joane said, nodding at me. “You’ve got to give me more than that! What’s his name?” Her face scrunched in concern. “Please tell me it’s not Mason.”
“Why would Mason have been at the beach?” I asked, confused by her concern.
She looked guilty. “He’d asked where you were headed yesterday, something about your garage door opener.”
My forehead furrowed as I tried to make sense of what Joane was saying. “There’s nothing wrong with my garage door opener. Are you sure it didn’t have anything to do with my internet? That’s supposed to get fixed today, thank goodness! I need to be able to research when I’m working.”
There were several comments in my working document noting places I needed to come back to once I had completed a bit of research. But I’d been too fired up by ideas to let the holes stop me.
Joane shook her head slowly. “No, I’m pretty sure he said garage door opener. Though maybe it was a typo or something.”
