said.
“You eat it that way?”
She didn’t answer but scooped up a tablespoon of plum jam and topped off the bagel with cream cheese spread over the top. She shoved it toward his mouth and he opened it on impulse. “Bite,” she said.
He obeyed.
“Not bad.”
She motioned toward the toaster where his had popped up. “Help yourself.”
Biting into the bagel where his mouth had been caused her insides to go all mushy and a blush to warm up her neck. Sharing anything with him brought on thoughts of sharing more—like her bed.
He smeared cream cheese on two bagel halves, put them on a paper plate from a stack on top of the microwave, and carried it to the table. “Tell me that you aren’t serious about the colors for the house. And when did you have breakfast at the Café de la Paix?”
“Like I said, I read a lot. You ever had breakfast there?”
“Yes, I have. I love Paris. Love the laid-back way you go to the café for coffee and end up sitting at a table on the sidewalk for hours watching the people and talking to the locals,” he said.
She nodded. “Sounds like fun. Someday maybe I’ll have breakfast there. And yes, I am very serious about the colors and the chairs too. I think I’ll leave the table its natural color since it’s still in good shape. But the chairs are all mismatched so they’ll look cute in different colors. I got them at four different garage sales. I made several purchases in surrounding towns when I first bought the house. Found my bed over in Gordon, the dresser in Mineral Wells, and the rocker in Palo Pinto. My dishes are all mismatched. My house is a picture of life. It’s not perfect and it’s all mixed up but stuck together with contentment and love.”
“A philosopher?”
“No, just a hippy born thirty years too late. Want another bagel before we go to work?” she asked.
“No, I believe this will hold me,” he said.
“I got everything all ready on the front porch. Ladders, scrapers, paintbrushes, and pans. Linda loaned them all to me. Bless her heart. Saved me a fortune in buying all that stuff that I’d just have to store in the garden shed later.”
He followed her out the front door. “Didn’t take you long to make friends in Mingus, did it?”
“Never thought about it. Linda lives on the next corner and Betty and Janice are her friends. We just kind of got to know each other. Then I got to know Cathy when I went hunting a martini and some company one night and met the regulars at the Honky Tonk and everything fell into place. Convinced me I was where I needed to be.”
He picked up a ladder and carried it out in the yard. “I’ll do the high places. You can do however high you can reach. And honey, when you get this house painted to look like a Bahama Mama hut, they may run you out of Mingus.”
“Or else folks will stand in line to hire us to paint every house in town like it.” She grinned.
He grimaced. She had about as much finesse as a trailer trash hooker. It must have been that earthy characteristic that had attracted him. Most men liked that kind of woman but only for a night or two and they left the money on the nightstand.
He tried to make sense of his feelings as he scraped peeling paint from two-inch Cape Cod siding. She kept up with him on a lower level, the hot July sun beating down on them with a breeze that felt like it was flowing straight from a bake oven.
“Lord, I could use a gelato from the Daphne Inn,” she mumbled.
“In a plastic cup because they say that a cone interferes with the pureness of the flavor?” he asked.
“You’ve been there too? Just what do you do in Dallas when you are there? Rob banks or are you a famous thief?” She really did crave a gelato in a plastic cup and a long sit on a bench near the fountain. If she’d been living in her previous life and had met Hank when he was a Dallas head honcho, they would have probably gotten along splendidly.
“No, I’m just a businessman whose business
“You eat it that way?”
She didn’t answer but scooped up a tablespoon of plum jam and topped off the bagel with cream cheese spread over the top. She shoved it toward his mouth and he opened it on impulse. “Bite,” she said.
He obeyed.
“Not bad.”
She motioned toward the toaster where his had popped up. “Help yourself.”
Biting into the bagel where his mouth had been caused her insides to go all mushy and a blush to warm up her neck. Sharing anything with him brought on thoughts of sharing more—like her bed.
He smeared cream cheese on two bagel halves, put them on a paper plate from a stack on top of the microwave, and carried it to the table. “Tell me that you aren’t serious about the colors for the house. And when did you have breakfast at the Café de la Paix?”
“Like I said, I read a lot. You ever had breakfast there?”
“Yes, I have. I love Paris. Love the laid-back way you go to the café for coffee and end up sitting at a table on the sidewalk for hours watching the people and talking to the locals,” he said.
She nodded. “Sounds like fun. Someday maybe I’ll have breakfast there. And yes, I am very serious about the colors and the chairs too. I think I’ll leave the table its natural color since it’s still in good shape. But the chairs are all mismatched so they’ll look cute in different colors. I got them at four different garage sales. I made several purchases in surrounding towns when I first bought the house. Found my bed over in Gordon, the dresser in Mineral Wells, and the rocker in Palo Pinto. My dishes are all mismatched. My house is a picture of life. It’s not perfect and it’s all mixed up but stuck together with contentment and love.”
“A philosopher?”
“No, just a hippy born thirty years too late. Want another bagel before we go to work?” she asked.
“No, I believe this will hold me,” he said.
“I got everything all ready on the front porch. Ladders, scrapers, paintbrushes, and pans. Linda loaned them all to me. Bless her heart. Saved me a fortune in buying all that stuff that I’d just have to store in the garden shed later.”
He followed her out the front door. “Didn’t take you long to make friends in Mingus, did it?”
“Never thought about it. Linda lives on the next corner and Betty and Janice are her friends. We just kind of got to know each other. Then I got to know Cathy when I went hunting a martini and some company one night and met the regulars at the Honky Tonk and everything fell into place. Convinced me I was where I needed to be.”
He picked up a ladder and carried it out in the yard. “I’ll do the high places. You can do however high you can reach. And honey, when you get this house painted to look like a Bahama Mama hut, they may run you out of Mingus.”
“Or else folks will stand in line to hire us to paint every house in town like it.” She grinned.
He grimaced. She had about as much finesse as a trailer trash hooker. It must have been that earthy characteristic that had attracted him. Most men liked that kind of woman but only for a night or two and they left the money on the nightstand.
He tried to make sense of his feelings as he scraped peeling paint from two-inch Cape Cod siding. She kept up with him on a lower level, the hot July sun beating down on them with a breeze that felt like it was flowing straight from a bake oven.
“Lord, I could use a gelato from the Daphne Inn,” she mumbled.
“In a plastic cup because they say that a cone interferes with the pureness of the flavor?” he asked.
“You’ve been there too? Just what do you do in Dallas when you are there? Rob banks or are you a famous thief?” She really did crave a gelato in a plastic cup and a long sit on a bench near the fountain. If she’d been living in her previous life and had met Hank when he was a Dallas head honcho, they would have probably gotten along splendidly.
“No, I’m just a businessman whose business
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