In Shining Whatever (Three Magic Words Trilogy #2)(69)

"I was scared," she said.

"Rightly so, but you don't have to be. I'm not leaving you for someone else. I happen to be in love with you, have been for a long, long time. You do whatever you want with that information. I'm not rushing you. Just let me into your life."

Tears formed behind her lashes, but she kept them in check.

"Is that asking too much?" he whispered.

"No, it's not asking too much"





But Momma, I just got home and I need to unpack and do a million things. I haven't even talked to Sophie and Fancy yet," Kate said.

"Too bad. You've been gone a week. My other waitress just called in sick, and you are here just in time to take a shift. So get an apron"

"You are as mean as Maw Maw," Kate fussed.

"She let you fish for a week. I'm meaner than she is. Don't ever forget it. She might be more conniving, but I'm here to tell you, I'm the meaner. You are staying right here and working the supper rush, and then you are coming back to work at ten in the morning and helping out through the dinner rush. You thinking about a future with that man, then you'd best be saving up a bunch of money for a wedding," Mary said.

"There might not be a wedding."

Mary laughed and handed her an apron.

Kate sighed. She really thought if she put on a long face, her mother would send her home to unpack.

It didn't work.

Mary handed her an order pad.

She worked all evening and helped close up, then went home to a hot shower and fell into bed, where she dreamed of Hart taking her for a tour of a Snickers factory. She awoke to her mother's call the next morning.

"Hello," she answered, without opening her eyes.

"It's nine thirty. You got to be here at ten to make the tamales, which are the special. You better shake a leg, girl. And pick up a dozen donuts on your way in. Ilene has the coffee ready," Mary said.

"I'll be there," Kate said with a yawn. She pushed back the covers, got out of bed, brushed her teeth, dressed, and called Fancy on the way out the door. It went straight to voice mail. She left a message asking her to call as soon as possible, hung up, and called Sophie. It also went straight to voice mail. So much for her two best friends worrying about her.

She picked up a dozen and a half donuts because she was extra hungry, parked in the back of the cafe, and went inside. Ilene and Mary were sitting at the table in the cooking area with a pot of coffee between them. Kate set the donuts down and grabbed a canvas bibbed apron. She always made a mess when it was her turn to make tamales. When it was tied at the nape of her neck, the waist strings wrapped around her twice and tied in the front, she drew up a chair and joined her mother and aunt.

"Coffee is in the pot," Ilene said.

"I'd rather have milk this morning." Kate stood up, went to the refrigerator, and carried a half-gallon container along with a glass back to the table.

She ate four chocolate-glazed donuts and had two tall glasses of milk. It would be a long time before she had time to eat again-not until after the lunch rush, and sometimes that wasn't over until two o'clock. She had just finished the last of the tamales at eleven thirty when Slim and Bobby came through the front door. She barely had time to say hello to them when Fancy, Sophie, and Aunt Maud arrived.

"What are y'all doing in Breckenridge on a Monday?" she asked.

"You didn't call us, so we came to see if you were alive or if Hart Ducaine had killed you on the way home," Fancy said.

"I did call both of you. Left a message. Have a seat. What can I get you?" Kate talked fast. The place was filling up in a hurry, and she was the only waitress on the job.

"Hey, Kate," Cookie Mannford hollered from a table in the corner where she sat with Allie, the lawyer from across the street.

Kate waved at them and felt a touch on her shoulder.



"Need a little help?" Chrissy, the part-time waitress, asked.

"Thank God you are here. This place is a madhouse today," Kate said.

"Who're those people coming in here now?" Chrissy asked.

"Dear Lord." Kate rolled her eyes. "That would be Patrick and Elisa Ducaine, Hart's parents. What would they be doing over here?"

"Maybe they're meeting Hart for lunch. Your momma said he'd been gone a few days. They might just want to see him," Chrissy offered.

"Okay, you take the right side and I'll do the left," Kate said.

"Will do," Chrissy said.

Kate took half a dozen orders and was on her way back to the kitchen when she noticed Hart parking his big white truck out in front. She was amazed he'd found a vacant spot. So that's why Elisa and Patrick were in town after all. She wished she'd taken the right side of the cafe so she could at least show a little bit of cordiality. But she'd seen Sophie, Fancy, and Aunt Maud on the left and made a hasty decision so she could speak to them for a moment while they ordered.

It was entirely too warm for Hart to be wearing a windbreaker, but she didn't have time to ask him if he was sick or running a fever. She just waved and went on to the kitchen again. That time she found Alma, an older lady who worked part time, coming in the back door.

"I hope you are here to work," Kate said.

"Oh, do you need some help? I just stopped by for takeout, but if you need help I'll stay an hour or two," Alma said and smiled.