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‘Fun. Ha. They run this town.’ Logan’s ominous tone was completely at odds with the laughing, smiling group in front of them. Especially when the black-bobbed woman turned and gave him a big wave.
Logan groaned and waved back.
The rest of the group turned, and Jeanie could practically see their eyes light up, the whole group clearly pleased to see him.
‘Logan! What a rare treat,’ the older woman called.
‘Hey, Nancy.’
‘We miss you at our meetings,’ the younger man said with a wink. A wink?
Logan grumbled. ‘I never came to your meetings.’
The man laughed. ‘Well, maybe not on purpose, but we liked roping you in. Especially when we read Passion in the Fields – The Farmer and the Milkmaid.’ The man was talking so loudly that the entire room could hear. Several people giggled and turned to look at Logan.
‘Oh, that was such a good one.’ The woman with the baby clapped a hand to her chest and mimed a swoon in her chair.
Logan’s face, when Jeanie sneaked a peek, was bright red above his beard. She bit down on a smile.
‘Are you the new café owner?’ The black-haired woman asked her. ‘I’m Kaori.’
‘Jeanie. And, yes, I’m the new owner.’
‘Get that place up and ru
Kaori playfully smacked the woman’s shoulder. ‘Ignore Isabel. And welcome to Dream Harbor.’
The book club ladies then returned to talking amongst themselves.
‘Passion in the Fields, huh?’ Jeanie asked, unable to resist.
Logan cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, the chair creaking loudly in protest. ‘I didn’t read it.’
‘Too bad. Sounds like a good one.’ She stifled a laugh at the thought of Logan reading a book about a farmer and a milkmaid, and forced herself to stop casting herself in the role of said ‘milkmaid’.
‘I guess I need to get things opened up again. I don’t want to anger the book club.’ She’d meant it as a joke but even she could hear the uncertainty in her voice, the stress of not being ready to open creeping in.
‘Don’t worry about them. They’re just looking for a place to peddle their pornography.’
Jeanie looked up just in time to catch the small smile on his face. Another joke.
‘Well, we wouldn’t want that. And we certainly wouldn’t want to objectify farmers.’
Logan’s smile hitched higher. Oh, damn, she might need to go check this book out later. Satisfy her new appreciation for farmers in a safe way.
‘Did I miss anything?’ A woman with curly brown hair dropped into the seat on the other side of Logan.
‘Nope.’
‘Actually, you missed a pretty interesting literary conversation,’ Jeanie chimed in, reminding Logan of her presence.
‘It was not interesting. Jeanie, this is Hazel. Hazel, Jeanie.’
Hazel extended her hand across Logan’s lap and Jeanie took it. Hazel’s fingers stuck out of her fingerless mittens, and they were cold in Jeanie’s hand.
‘Nice to meet you.’
Hazel’s gaze flicked from Jeanie to Logan and back again. ‘Nice to meet you, too. I run the bookstore next to your café.’
Jeanie’s smile grew. ‘Oh, it’s so cute!’
Hazel’s cheeks colored. ‘Thanks.’
Jeanie was busy wondering if Hazel kept any farmer romances stocked and nearly missed the woman’s next question.
‘And how do you two know each other?’ she asked.
‘Oh, the usual way,’ Jeanie said. ‘I nearly knocked his head off with a baseball bat because I thought he was an intruder on his way to murder me, but he was actually just dropping off adorable little pumpkins . . . er . . . gourds. And then I mentioned the café might be haunted so he suggested I come here for some . . . uh . . . help.’
Hazel’s eyes widened behind her glasses. ‘Uh . . . wow.’
Jeanie tried for a smile that made her seem slightly less unhinged, but she didn’t think it landed. Hazel sat back in her seat with a small smile of her own. She whispered something to Logan, which made Logan give a fierce shake of his head. Jeanie didn’t have time to overthink that before another woman landed in a chair in the row ahead of them.
‘Do you see him over there? He’s clearly plotting something,’ she said, launching straight into a conversation Jeanie didn’t know they were having.
‘He looks like he’s just talking,’ mumbled Logan, and the new woman narrowed her eyes at him.
‘Yeah, talking to the mayor. He’s probably got more crazy plans to ruin this town.’
‘It’s just a trivia night, A
‘A trivia night on the same night as my Baking for Begi
‘You act as though we haven’t known Mac since kindergarten,’ said Logan.
A
Logan let out a low laugh, a soft puff of air. ‘I’m over it.’
A
She finally glanced in Jeanie’s direction, who smiled and gave a small wave.
‘Oh, my gosh! You must be the mysterious new café owner! I’m A
‘Am I mysterious?’ Jeanie asked, sneaking a glance at Logan. His face was grim, but he didn’t offer up an answer. ‘Nice to meet you, too. Your bakery smells delicious every morning.’
‘Then, come by! Oh, and also, I usually deliver scones to the café on weekend mornings. Spare me the greeting you gave Logan.’
Jeanie’s cheeks heated in embarrassment, but A
‘It really wasn’t personal––’ she started to explain, but A
‘If I saw this big oaf skulking around the back alley and I didn’t know him since birth, I’d probably try to hit him on the head, too.’
‘I don’t skulk.’
‘You were a little skulk-y,’ Jeanie added.
A
‘When is this damn meeting going to start?’ Logan’s voice was an adorable mix of exasperation and despair.
Hazel patted his knee with her still-mittened hand. ‘You know Mayor Kelly never starts on time.’
‘Why do you call him that? Just call him Dad.’
Hazel shrugged. ‘He’s at work. I’m trying to be respectful.’
Logan rolled his eyes, but Jeanie couldn’t help the smile on her face. She liked these people already. She liked this town. She liked this grumpy farmer. Was it too much to wish that she could fit in here? That A
The pressure to make things at the café work was building. But if Jeanie had made sure Marvin was ready for his weekly meetings with billion-dollar investors, then surely she could run a small café. Right?