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Sammie’s nose wrinkled. She folded her arms over her chest. “Really?”
“Yep.” I left it at that. No reason to explain that I’d decided it was impossible to meet anyone when your heart already belonged to someone else. The women could sense it too, as if I reeked of unrequited love sweat. They saw right through me. Only last week, one of the women I’d had a coffee date with me had called me out on it. She’d asked point-blank if I was getting over someone and looking for a rebound.
I’d vehemently denied it, which wasn’t technically a lie. I couldn’t “get over” a woman I’d never had in the first place. Regardless, she hadn’t texted me after the date.
Sammie switched the gas burner on the cooktop to Off and scooped a pile of eggs onto a plate. “Chloe, sit at the table, please. It’s time for you to eat.”
Chloe climbed up to her booster seat and asked if she could have toast too.
“You may, but only after you eat your eggs and fruit.” Sammie placed a small plastic plate in front of her daughter. “You need protein for your brain to grow, and you’ll fill up with toast and have no room left.”
“How come?” Chloe asked.
“I’m not sure. You’d have to ask Uncle Rafferty.” Sammie winked at me. “He knows all about how the body works.”
“He’s a doctor,” Chloe said, sounding pleased with herself. “I went to him, right, Mama?”
“That’s correct,” Sammie said. “Now eat up. You have a big day.”
Before I could stop her, Sammie had set a plate of eggs and berries in front of me.
“I thought we talked about this.” I chose a fork from the glass in the middle of the table and grabbed a napkin.
“Don’t worry about it.” Sammie set a plate piled with eggs in front of Soren. “You have to eat, and it’s no trouble to scramble up some eggs and wash a few berries.”
“I don’t like you waiting on us,” I said. “You have enough work without adding Soren and me.”
“It’s the least I can do for looking after Chloe on Friday nights.” She pointed a fork at me. “It’s a huge sacrifice.”
I glanced over at Chloe, who had finished her eggs and was now popping berries into her mouth one after the other. “Don’t forget to chew, Miss Chloe.”
“I won’t,” Chloe said, mouth full.
“This looks great, Sammie. Thank you.” Soren snapped his computer closed and grabbed three pieces of toast doused in butter. The guy could put away food. Given the physical nature of his job, it was not a mystery why. “Where are the lovebirds this morning?”
“Still in bed, I think.” Sammie sat down at the end of the table with a plate of her own but didn’t eat. Instead, she twisted a napkin around her finger “Your mother asked if I’d come by the office this afternoon for a meeting. Do you know why?”
“I do.” I grinned, excited to share our idea with her.
“I’m not in trouble?”
“Why would you be in trouble?”
“I don’t know,” Sammie mumbled. “I thought I might be getting fired.”
“Caspian would never fire you. He says you’re his best server.”
“Really? That’s nice.”
Why was it so hard for her to believe? The answer was hidden somewhere in her past. Whoever had driven her to run away had also destroyed her self-confidence. I felt certain of it. “In fact, we have an idea—something we’d like your help with.”
I’d not said anything to Sammie as of yet, wanting to work out the details with Mama and Finley first, but I might as well tell her now, so she didn’t worry all morning. Sammie had done such an excellent job decorating for Atticus and Annie’s wedding that it had given Mama an idea. “Mama thinks we should offer a wedding package to our guests. She wants you to launch it.”
Sammie stared at me, her light blue eyes a mixture of fear and anticipation. “Me?”
“We were all impressed with how fast you threw together Annie’s reception. Especially with the rain and everything.”
Soren lifted his head from his attentive breakfast eating. “Yeah, Sam, it looked really nice. Even I thought so, and I’m not really the bows-and-flowers type.”
