Page 32 of Meant for Me
Zoey held the diner menu in front of her face, despite having the entire thing memorized—and despite the fact she didn’t need to spend a penny on any of the items listed—and twisted side to side on the bar stool at the counter.
Linc and Amelia had still been asleep when she snuck out of the house a half hour ago, hoping to nab one of yesterday’s discounted muffins from Elisa. She hadn’t caught Elisa up yet on—well, anything, really, except a brief highlight of yesterday’s events. Her friend’s response last night had only read “eight a.m.” with a string of exclamation points and shocked face emojis—which was only fair. Zoey winced as she ran her gaze over the laminated breakfast options listed in Times New Roman. It was time to face the music in the form of a short blonde in an apron. The plus side was it would give Zoey the chance to see how fast the Magnolia Bay gossip waters had started churning. The last thing Amelia—or Linc—needed was to blindly walk into a rumor mill.
Unfortunately, it seemed like word had traveled faster than Zoey’s mini-SUV.
“I heard the girl is as blonde as a Barbie.” Two middle-aged women sitting on the far end of the counter bent their heads together, but forgot to lower their voices.
Ha. False.
“Well, I heard she’s goth.” The brunette with curtain bangs shook the ice in her cup. “With tattoos!”
Definitely false. Zoey scrunched her nose, considering Amelia. On second thought…maybe give her a few years.
“Maybe she’s a vampire.” The second woman with tight curls projected spooky into her voice.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” The ice rattled again. “We’re much too far south for vampires.”
Oh, brother.
“Regardless, poor girl.” The brunette slurped from her cup. “Imagine having to come stay with your father for the first time—and that father isLinc.”
Zoey narrowed her eyes. What was that supposed to mean?
“Yeah, he’s hardly Mr. Rogers.” The curly-haired woman laughed. “He’ll probably have her doing pushups for punishment.”
From the booth nearest the counter, Mrs. Peters, the local librarian, sniffed loudly where she sat with her assistant, Harper, and the Second Story bookshop owner, Sadie. “Well, I’ve never. All this gossip is very unladylike.”
Zoey mentally agreed.
The older woman cleared her throat. “So what have you two heard?”
“Mrs. Peters!” Harper scolded with a chuckle. “I haven’t heard anything, personally—probably because of all your no-talking signs posted around the library.”
Sadie piped up, her voice holding genuine surprise. “It’s just shocking.Linc, with a kid. No one has ever even seen him date.”
“Seriously. Much less parent.” Trish, her long red hair tied in a low ponytail, stopped by their table, topped off their coffees. “I’ve only seen him make kids cry.”
“He’s just intimidating.” Sadie shrugged. “It’s not really his fault.”
Trish giggled. “Well, intimidating or not—I’d co-parent with him in a heartbeat, if you know what I mean.”
Grr. Zoey narrowed her eyes. She was this close to standing up and?—
A plate clattered in front of Zoey. She lowered her menu to find a steaming waffle, complete with a pat of butter and a side cup of syrup.
Elisa.
Zoey grinned. “And I was just hoping for a muffin. Let me guess. Bribe?” Normally she’d turn down pity food she couldn’t afford, but she had to admit, this smelled amazing.
“You’ll tell me all the details anyway.” Elisa leaned forward and rested her folded arms against the high counter, her shoulders hunched in her apron. “Your text last night was cryptic, to say the least.”
Zoey reached for a fork. “It was late. I was tired.”
“Obviously.” Elisa pulled her phone from her pocket and read out loud.
Zoey
Magnolia General has a sale on desk lamps.
