Stephenie Banks walked up, a menu in one head, and a glass of sweet tea in the other. “Hey, Girl. Do you need this today, or do you want your usual?” she asked with a bright smile, sitting the glass down.
“Thank you so much,” Mary Ellen said, taking a big swig before continuing. “My usual, please,” she said with a big grin back. “Heavy on the onions. Just in case that big idiot tries to call me back in. I can breathe in his face.”
The owner turned waitress chuckled, shaking her head. “What’s Brock done, now?”
“You don’t want to know,” she said in a growl, shaking her own head. “I may not forgive him this time. I’m actually considering quitting a job I really love doing.”
Stephenie glanced over at Jenny. She shook her head. “I don’t know. She hasn’t told me yet,” she replied with a confused expression. “It has to be bad if she’s considering quitting. Your guess is as good as mine.”
“I doubt either one of you could guess this one,” Mary Ellen said with a grimace.
“Okay,” Stephenie nodded her head. “Considering the stories that I have heard, I won’t press. I’ll let Travis know, one club sandwich, heavy on the onions, and an order of cheesy fries,” she said before walking off.
“I thought you two were going to space them out. Gavin’s only six months old,” Mary Ellen said before Jenny could ask about Brock.
“Seven months. And that is spaced out,” Jenny said without making eye contact.
“Really? Did Mark swallow that one?”
“Oh, alright. It wasn’t planned. I just tend to forget my birth control.”
“How long did you forget?”
“The last three months,” Jenny answered, her cheeks glowing.
“Jenny Townsend! Excuse me. Harris. How could you have forgotten your birth control for three months?”
“Yeah, I know,” she said, her cheeks glowing even brighter. “That’s what Mark asked. Only not quite as loudly. He was actually laughing his butt off.”
“You didn’t forget on purpose, did you?” she asked, giving her a critical eye.
“No, it really was an accident.”
“He wasn’t upset, was he?”
“Mark? Of course not,” Jenny said, shaking her head. “It was more my idea we space them out. As far as he’s concerned, we can have them as quickly as I want. I wanted recuperation time between each baby. The only thing he is concerned about, is my health.”
“Sounds good,” she sighed, dropping her face in her hands.
“Spill it,” Jenny said, taking another bite of pie mixed with cobbler.
“That idiot I work for wants me to find him a wife. By next Monday,” she answered dryly, looking her friend straight in the eye.
Jenny snorted, nearly choking. “What?”
“You heard me right.”
“Why don’t you just tell the man you’re in love with him, and volunteer to fill the position. That’s probably what he’s wanting anyway.”
Mary Ellen raised an eyebrow with a smirk. “That statement could almost be considered dirty.”
The other woman snorted, rolling her eyes at her. “You know what I mean. Besides, you can make it as dirty as you want, after you’re married.”
She just shook her head, suddenly having a very hard time hiding the pain. “If he had any interest in me, he would have said something already.”
“Are you sure about that. It can be very difficult for people to see things clearly when they’re in love.”
She looked at her friend, doing some eye rolling of her own this time. “I’m telling you, ever since you and Mark got married, you’ve been seeing little hearts and flowers everywhere.”
“I told you Brock was in love with you three years ago when you started working for him.”
She just snorted, shaking her head in denial. “Whatever.”
“He may be suffering from the same doubts you are.”
She snorted again. “That idiot doesn’t doubt himself on anything. He’s not smart enough to.”
Jenny waited to continue while Stephenie, who had already returned, sat a plate of food down.
“Boy, that was quick,” Mary Ellen grinned, plucking a fry off the plate before it touched the table.
“Travis saw you drive onto the parking lot. He already had fries dropped in the vat to start with, being that it’s lunch time, and all. By the time I got back there, all he had to do was add the extra onions.”
“I’m becoming too predictable,” she sighed. “I’m going to have to make sure and order something completely different next time. Maybe a cheeseburger and a small salad.”
“Apparently, it had something to do with the look on your face. He could tell you were having an exasperating day and would want your usual. Those were his words, no less.”
“Wow! There really are intelligent male life forms out there,” Mary Ellen said, throwing her hands up. “Is there one left for me?”
“Get this,” Stephenie smirked. “He even asked me what Brock had done this time.”
Jenny snorted, just barely managing not to spew tea everywhere. “It’s a doozy, and I haven’t even got all the details yet.”
“Okay,” the waitress said with a shake of her head. “I’ll let you get back to your vent session.”
Jenny waited till she moved on to a nearby table where a couple had just sat down before continuing on. “Okay, maybe he’s afraid you’ll press sexual harassment charges if he says anything.”
“As-if. He knows me better than that.”
“Fine,” Jenny said, throwing her hands up in frustrated surrender. “What are you going to do?”
“Find him a wife,” she said with a glint in her eye.
“What? Now I really do think my hearing is failing me.”
“I’m going to find him the most hateful gold digger I can find.”
“Now, Mary Ellen, you’re going to get yourself in trouble. He’s not going to marry someone like that.”
“He won’t have a choice. He wants three choices to pick from by Monday. Apparently, he intends to be married within the next few weeks. Maybe he’s trying to beat the Christmas rush at the Chapel-O-Love in Vegas.”
Jenny nearly snorted tea out her nose. “Been watching ‘Back to the Future’, have you?”
“Hey, Michael J. Fox rules.”
“You’ve lost your mind. You’ve simply worked with him too long, and you’ve finally lost it.”
“Have I?”
Jenny gave her a skeptical look, then nodded. “Okay, I’ll play along. Do you know who you intend to present him with?”
“Yep. And I’m fairly certain it won’t take much to get them to go along with this crazy idea.”
“Well, who?” Jenny asked, throwing her hands up in exasperation.
“Ashley Mullins, for starters.”
“Good one. She tried to rip Amanda’s hair out when she heard she and Zane were getting married.”
“I heard about that. Only an idiot would not stop to realize Zane would have showed her how to defend herself by then.”
“I know what you mean, but he had Jeff Campbell teach her and Hannah some more advanced stuff. The whole town knows Zane made sure my sisters and I could defend ourselves. With everything Amanda has gone through, I would have thought it would have been obvious.”
“From what I heard, she had a couple black eyes for two weeks.”
“She did. I saw her,” Jenny said on a chuckle. “I don’t know just how much of a gold digger she is, but she’s definitely a hateful one.”
“Oh, she’s a gold digger, alright. I heard her talking about the inheritance you all got from your grandfather. I don’t know who she heard about it from, but she was wanting to get her mitts on Zane’s part of all that. Remember, she had already made a play for Phillip before she turned her attentions on Zane.”
“Yeah,” Jenny nodded. “That was just as useless as going after Zane. Even if he doesn’t want to admit it, Phillip wants Christy.”
/>
She just nodded in agreement and continued. “She never really even liked either one of them. I’ve heard her say as much. Even though she didn’t know I was standing close enough to hear at the time.”
“Well, your eavesdropping aside, I knew she was somewhat like that, but I thought she at least liked Zane. Regardless, I could have told her a long time ago, Zane would never have married her. Even if he and Amanda hadn’t finally gotten together. When it came to marriage, it was either Amanda or no one for him. Who else do you have in mind?”
“Melanie Sharp,” she answered, then waited to see if Jenny would throw something at the mention of the name.
“Yeah,” Jenny snorted. “Talk about gold digger. She still hits on Mark, and I’m about to break her face.”
“One should not engage in fist fights while pregnant,” Mary Ellen said in a contrived serious tone. “You must consider the health of the unborn child,” she added before giving into her humor.
“Shut it, Princess,” Jenny said with a glare.
“What’s wrong, Barbie Doll? Feeling a little hormonal?” she asked with a grin. “And last, but not least, Teresa Chance.”
“Okay, while not as bad as the other two, I can see that working. How she turned out the way she did, I don’t know. The rest of her family is great, and I don’t really remember her being that way in high school,” Jenny stated with a frown. “Of course, we were a little ahead of her and didn’t know her that well. So, how do you plan to do this?”
She chuckled. “Just tell them what he wants. They’re all so stuck on themselves they would never realize I’m setting them up.”
“For sure with the first two,” Jenny nodded in agreement. “I’m going to reserve judgment on Teresa Chance. Somehow, she’s different than the other two. I’ve always sensed there’s something else behind her attitude. And what do you mean, setting them up?”
“Well, I figure you’re right,” she conceded after calming down a little bit. It was amazing what a little venting could do for one’s disposition. “He won’t choose one of them, but maybe he’ll realize he shouldn’t ask me to find him a wife.”
Jenny shook her head in disagreement. “I doubt it. I think he’s up to something. He’ll ask you to try again.”
“He better not,” she snarled. “I can make some worse choices.”
“Seriously?” Jenny was skeptical. Where is she going to go next? The senior citizen community?
“Yep.”
“How?”
“Well, what about Missy Carr? Ann Winters? And Jane Cole? He asked me to find someone twenty-two or older.”
“Oh,” her friend said with a thoughtful expression. “You’re going to raid the college campus. Not what I was thinking, but it might work, since he has an age requirement.”
“What were you thinking?” she asked, wondering if Jenny’s idea would be better than the college students.
“I thought you might raid the Senior Center.”
Mary Ellen couldn’t help but chuckle. “Talk about obvious. He wants children. I’m pretty sure Mrs. Anderson is past her childbearing years.”
“Maybe so, but our sixth grade English teacher is just as feisty now as she was then.”
“Yeah, she could definitely keep up with him.”
“I wonder if he could keep up with her,” Jenny chuckled. “Can you see her chasing him around his office, trying to get a smooch?”
“You know, if the college students don’t do the trick, I just might see if Mrs. Anderson and a couple of her plucky friends are up for pulling a prank on a certain newspaper owner. Maybe we could get Mrs. Annie May Henderson to join in.”
“You know, you have a very wicked mind? I’m pretty sure Mrs. Annie May Henderson is still a little put out at him,” Jenny laughed. “And I’m sure Mrs. Anderson and her friends would be more than happy to assist in a little prank.”
“Of course, I’m wicked. How else do you think I survived being one of your best friends for so many years?” This started them both laughing, and their laughter was just starting to wind down when Zane walked up.
“What are you two up to? I’m not going to have to arrest you later, am I?” Zane asked with a smirk.
“Hey, I’m married with a baby. I do not get arrested,” Jenny huffed.
“And apparently, with another one on the way.”
“It’s pie and cobbler. It’s not a giant sign that says, I’m pregnant,” she nearly growled.
“It might as well be,” Zane and Mary Ellen said at the same time.
“Whatever,” Jenny said with a pout. “You know, I eat chocolate pie and peach cobbler when I’m not pregnant, don’t you?”
“Sure,” Zane grinned. “But not mixed together. Does Mom know yet?”
“No,” she said, pointing her finger at him. “But you better not tell her. I just took a test this morning. I haven’t had a chance to talk to her. I don’t even know how far along I am.”
He put his hands up in fake surrender. “Hey, I wouldn’t do such a thing,” he said with an all too innocent look.
“Right,” she snorted back.
“Hey, Zane.”
He looked over at the counter where Stephenie Banks stood. “Hey, Steph. How’s it going today?”
“Great. You want your usual for today?”
“Yeah, and add Amanda’s favorite. I’m going to go see her for lunch.”
“Gee, Zane,” Jenny said, batting her eyelashes. “Can’t you wait till after your shift to see her? It’s not like you don’t see her every day.”
He just snorted in return. “Says the woman who works with her husband, and yet we can barely peel him away from her on the weekends. So, does Mom have Gavin today, or is he at the office with his daddy?”
“Office. I’m sure I’ll have a dozen fires to put out when I get back from lunch. Mark is a wonderful father, and an amazing businessman and boss. He just has trouble doing them both at the same time.”
Mary Ellen just snorted. “He’s not a woman.”
“Hey!” Zane huffed, giving her a dirty look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, don’t get your dander up,” she grumbled, eyeing him hard. “Most men just don’t multitask well. I have solid proof of that. I work with Brock. A man who seriously needs to stay out of my file cabinet.”
“Okay,” he chuckled, taking a step back with a shake of his head. He wisely decided against making a crack about the way that last part sounded, no matter how much he wanted to ask her if she really wanted the man to ‘stay out of her file cabinet’. “I’ll give you that one. We don’t.”
“Speaking of men,” she said with force. “Can you arrest one for just being an idiot?”
“Well, it probably wouldn’t stick, but I could try,” he smirked. “What has Brock done now?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she huffed.
He raised an eyebrow and looked at Jenny. “That bad?”
“Oh, I’d say this has been his stupidest stunt so far.”
He just whistled and shook his head. “Well, my lunch is probably about ready, so I’m going to leave you to whatever you were doing. Try to stay out of trouble.”
“He has no faith in us,” Mary Ellen said as she watched him walk away.
“I figure it’s just that he knows us too well,” Jenny said in a dry tone, causing Zane, who was still standing close enough to hear, to chuckle and shake his head.
“Boy, he is a different man, now that he and Amanda are getting married. It’s easy to see he’s much happier.”
“I know,” Jenny said, smiling at her brother when he turned back to look at them once more with a wide grin. “Speaking of people being happier because they’re getting…”
“No,” she huffed, sticking her bottom lip out. “I’m not volunteering. If that’s what he wanted, he could have just asked me.”
“Well, how are you going to entice college students barely out of high school to ‘possibly’ marry a thirty-year-old man? Wa
it, didn’t they all graduate last year?”
“No. Ann did. The others are still in,” she answered, shaking her head before cramming another fry in her mouth.
“Oh, yeah. She’s twenty-one, I think. But how are you going to lure them? They’ll probably think he’s too old.”
“I don’t know. College students are always starving. They’ll probably be willing to help with a little prank if I offer to buy them dinner. I would start with actually telling them what is really going on, unlike with the first three.”
“Which means, you might not be able to get Ann to help.”
Mary Ellen shook her head as she swirled another fry around in the ketchup on her plate. “She might be the easiest of the three. She just bought a brand-new car. I know that job she got probably pays good, but she most likely still has it a little tight. It is just entrance level. Besides, she’s always up for a prank.”
“You’re probably right, but I still think you should just tell him how you feel and offer to marry him.”
“No.”
“But…”
“No. I’m not going to marry a man who doesn’t love me.”
“He does love you.”
“Jenny,” she snarled.
“Fine, I’ll drop it for now.” She sighed, her surrender only a temporary thing. “Do you think we’re ever going to get all that snow they keep threatening us with?” she asked in an obvious attempt to change the subject. “I really would like a white Christmas. Of course, we’re still far enough away from Christmas, any snow we got right now, will most likely just be gone or completely nasty by then. We’ll just be needing fresh snow again by Christmas.”
“I don’t know,” she said with a shake of her head. “I do hope we have a white Christmas, whether we get snow now or not.”
Chapter 2
Tuesday, December 9
5:37am
Brock walked into the local gas station, stomping the snow off his boots on the way in. He glanced down, the brim of his cowboy hat temporarily blocking his view, or he might have noticed the man walking his way. He wiped his boots on the rug, mumbling to himself. “Man, it’s cold outside.” He shivered and dusted the snow off his jacket before moving forward.
Married by Christmas (Sapphire Springs Book 2) Page 2