Page 28 of Honeycombs & Homecomings
She blinked rapidly.
He continued. “You’ll love it. The food is top-notch, the atmosphere is one of a kind, and if we’re lucky, there might be a birthday so you can hear the server’s yodel. It’s something else.” He hoped they still yodeled. He’d loved that as a teen.
Cynthia laughed and clapped her hands together. “They yodel? That’s hilarious.”
Cash pointed at them, gathering every ounce of charm he could muster. “What it is is impressive.”
Ryan stood and reached for Cash’s hand. Cash took it, squeezing it not so hard as to make the man suspicious, but enough to ease pent up irritation.
“Glad to finally meet you, Tony,” Ryan said.
“The pleasure is all mine.” He squeezed Jo tighter in his grasp, feeling her body tensing as she was finally coming out of her shock. “You’re going to be so impressed withSticky and Sweet. I know I was when I started here.”
Cynthia stood and smiled at him. “What’s your favorite honey?”
“The Hot Habanero Raw is delectable, but the mango is equally as good, just different.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Honestly, picking a favorite would be like picking a favorite star in the sky. It just can’t be done.” So, he’d only tried the four he’d purchased Tuesday night, but each of them had been outstanding.
Cynthia rubbed her hands together. “I can’t wait to try them!”
Allie went stiff as a board in his grasp. If she didn’t say something soon, this was all going to be for not.
Almost as if she’d read his mind, she let out a low breath. “I promise to give you samples.”
Now it was Cash’s turn to let out a breath. “Shall we?” He signaled to the stairs, and the Warners preceded them down.
“Cash Stanley Evans,” Jo said, making him cringe. He hadn’t heard, much less thought his middle name in years, and for good reason. He hated it. “When this is all over,” she said, “You’re getting an earful.”
“Yes, dear,” he said, earning him a quick kick in the shin.
Warmth flowed through his chest he hadn’t felt in years. Let alone with his ex-fiancée.
This was going to be fun.
Chapter 10
Jo tried to listen to Cash as he told yet another joke over dinner that had the Warners laughing out loud—something about an oyster and a crab, the guy loved his food jokes and metaphors—but her mind was a jumble of thoughts and worries. Her body a mess of feelings she really didn’t want to have to deal with right now. It was too much. There was too much. As the Warners and Cash devoured their food with mmm noises and yummy sounds, she shuffled her food around her plate. She couldn’t do this.
“This place is so quaint,” Cynthia glanced around at the Swedish décor, and the employees in lederhosen and dirndl dresses. They’d also been lucky enough to hear a birthday yodel that the Warners had loved. Jo pretended the singing didn’t wear on her like nails on a chalkboard, but it’d been hard. She blamed Cash and Allie for insisting they get a birthday yodel for the twin’s 16th birthday. Allie had gotten up on a chair, clapping along, and Cash had been, well, Cash. Jo had wanted to die and had never been fond of the singing since.
“Right, sweetheart?” Cash turned to her, the arm he had rested across the back of her chair slipping down and around her shoulder.
If her mind hadn’t already gone blank, it would’ve right then. “Uh . . .” Sweetheart?
The Warners chuckled, giving her and Cash warm looks.
Cash chuckled. “Where’d you go?”
“Sorry, I was in lost in thought.” Where’d she go? She was waiting for the shoe to drop, that’s where. She’d been keeping an eye on the crowd throughout dinner, becoming increasingly more agitated as time went on and the gravity of the situation sank in.
Someone was bound to recognize Cash; he was a town celebrity, after all. He seemed to be in theHarvest Ranch Timesat least once monthly. And, even if by some miracle no one recognized him, they’d know he wasn’t Tony. For one, they looked nothing alike. Tony had shoulder length black hair, dark eyes, and a slender build, and Cash was blond, hazel-eyed, and while he had lean muscles, he was a big guy—an inch or two over six feet. Tony was swarthy, and Cash was an All-American easy-going guy. And the worst of it all, Cash wasn’t Portuguese.
She could strangle Tony for always telling people he was Portuguese. Normally it didn’t bother her, but if he was going to jump town and leave her to come up with a fake fiancé to play him, it would’ve been nice if he’d kept his heritage to himself!
She glanced around. Aside from a couple funny looks from servers, they were okay, so far. Few locals bothered going out to dinner at the café during the festival, especially in the last week, when the town got one last influx of tourists.
And the consequences didn’t just lie in the Warners finding out she’d been lying, but in the entire town thinking she and Cash were together. The door opened. She groaned and sunk in her seat. A couple came in, but she didn’t recognize them.
Cash slid his hand down to her side and leaned into her. “Babe?”
