Page 77 of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe
Oops. Apparently, she hadn’t talked to Ben in a few days, but she’d been so busy interviewing people to replace Norman and working any hours that Crystal and Joe couldn’t fill in. Things had been so crazy that Hazel and Annie had each taken shifts, which was so nice and made Jeanie almost cry any time she thought about how she had real friends now.
She shot off a few quick texts to confirm she was in fact not chopped up in a field.
I’m alive.
Sorry!
Super busy.
Love you.
She waited for a response as she ate one more cookie, wiping the crumbs on her apron. Her phone pinged.
Phew! Call me later. I want updates on the thriving business.
Jeanie smiled. Thriving? Maybe. She certainly had enough customers. She’d solved the mystery of who was causing all the problems; or rather, the mystery had anticlimactically solved itself. Now if she could just find some responsible college students to hire, she’d be all set.
Oh, and she probably needed to find a new produce source for her smoothies because she had no desire to see Logan ever again.
He could stay on that damn farm and hide away forever for all she cared. He could just go—
‘Where’s Jeanie?’ A voice boomed from the café and Jeanie froze where she stood in the breakroom, her mouth still stuffed with cookies. Did she somehow summon him with her thoughts?!
‘She’s on her break.’Good job, Joe,Jeanie thought, chewing frantically.
‘I need to see her.’ Logan’s voice was loud enough that the entire breakfast rush must be able to hear every word. Especially since the bustling café had gone quiet as soon as he came in. She hadn’t told anyone what had happened between them, but the fact that they’d traipsed around the festival together and then Logan had completely disappeared from town for a week, had been enough to crank out some very strange rumors from the mill.
Last Jeanie heard he was riding a llama and meditating.
‘She ... uh...’
Oh, no, Joe was faltering.Stay strong, Joe! Don’t let the giant farmer intimidate you!
‘Jeanie.’ Logan’s voice was louder, like he had bypassed talking to Joe and was now just calling her name and was going to keep doing it until she came out of the breakroom. She glanced up at the one, small window but didn’t think she could fit through.Damn it.
‘Jeanie, please. I need to talk to you and if you don’t come out here, I’m going to say everything I need to say in front of every one of these nosy people out here.’
There were a few murmurs from the crowd – some disagreement about being nosy –until the dissenters were shushed by everyone else trying to hear what would happen next.
She hesitated.
‘Okay, I guess that’s my answer,’ Logan went on. ‘Jeanie, I’ve been a real ass.’
Someone in the crowd let out a little cheer at that.
Oh, my God, what is he doing?
She couldn’t let him do this. Not in front of everyone. Not with everything she knew about him. She wasn’t a monster.
She burst out of the break room. ‘Don’t!’ Logan’s gaze locked on hers.Shit. She forgot the way those blue eyes sucked her right in, like a damn magnet. ‘Just come here, for God’s sake.’ She came around the counter, grabbed him by his soft, flannel sleeve and pulled him into the break room to the great dismay of the crowd.
There were actual ‘boos’ as they left the room. These people really needed to get a hobby.
Getting away from the prying eyes of what felt like the entire town had seemed like a good idea until Jeanie was alone with Logan in the tiny break room. Why was he so big? And why did he smell so damn good?
His blue gaze roved over her like he was drinking her in after the drought of not seeing her for a week. She hated that she felt the same way, taking in every detail – from his trimmed beard to the dark smudges under his eyes. Maybe he hadn’t been sleeping well. Maybe he’d been thinking about her as much as she’d been thinking about him.
No, Jeanie. No. You will not fall prey to the sexy farmer again.He’d been a complete jerk. He’d slept with her and then had the audacity to tell her what she wanted, that she’d be better off leaving altogether! And then ... and then! He’d disappeared for a week while she was left here to solve mysteries and run a café by herself!
