16

ANA CAME BY THE CAFÉ a few days later, demanding the full scoop from Lulu and Leah about the Jessup fiasco. Leah filled her in on the dreadful mess. The police had arrested him after a doctor patched him up. Since it was a repeated offense, the court decided it was in Jessup’s best interest to spend some time in prison.

“Well, ladies, we are about to have all kinds of excitement in this little town,” Ana said as she eyed Leah’s outfit. “We’ve got to get you some new outfits for the big event.”

Leah felt her cheeks grow warm as she tugged at her bulky top. “What are you carrying on about, Ana?”

“Spring break!” Ana bounced up and down on her stool like a giddy child.

“I thought you were telling us news.” Lulu laughed. “Spring break happens every year.” Unimpressed with the subject, Lulu strolled over to catch up with some of her customers.

“What’s so great about that?” Leah asked as she handed her friend a glass of iced tea.

Ana took a long sip. “Thank you, honey. Crowley’s herding in his college fraternity brothers for a weeklong spring vacation. I’m talking about prime real estate here. Single, successful guys our age who are ripe for the picking.” She eyed Leah’s attire once more. “Honey, we have to get you some prime picking outfits.”

An hour later, Ana was still harassing Leah about her wardrobe while Leah continued to prep for the lunch crowd. Leah kept complaining that Ana needed to go do something more productive, but Ana had one of her helpers covering the boutique for the day. She said she had nothing better to do than to advise Leah about her awful wardrobe.

“What’s wrong with the clothes I already have?” Leah asked.

“They all look like they are swallowing you whole. I mean, seriously, are you safety-pinning the waistband of your pants to hold them up?” Ana leaned over the counter and tried to yank on Leah’s pants.

Leah scooted out of the way. “Hey! Cut that out!” Leah was using safety pins to hold her pants up but had no intentions of admitting that to anyone.

Ana kept trying to grab at her giggling friend. “I’m gonna sneak upstairs and steal all of your clothes and burn them suckers. Then you’ll have no choice but to get new ones that actually fit.”

Leah kept batting Ana’s hand away. “Really, Ana, I don’t see what’s so appealing about entertaining a bunch of guys with you.”

“Come on. That has to interest you. Unless . . .” Ana left the question in the air, and when Leah didn’t respond, Ana tried again. “Unless men don’t interest you.”

Leah raised her hands and laughed. “Ana, you’re really cute and all, but I prefer men.”

“Well, that makes two of us.” She got up and helped herself to some more tea and returned to her stool. “You know . . . I have noticed how you check out Crowley.”

“Girl, how can you not appreciate that view!” Leah teased and was relieved when Ana returned her grin.

Crowley strolled through the door as if on cue, causing the two women to laugh harder. “Why were my ears just burning?” He perched on the stool next to Ana and playfully elbowed her.

“Oh, Crowley. I do appreciate those sweet ears on that gorgeous head,” Ana said in full Scarlett O’Hara imitation. “Don’t you just appreciate those ears, Leah, darling?”

Leah, trying to mock Ana’s Southern drawl, replied, “Honey, how can you not appreciate the view of those sweet ears?” Both women burst into a fit of giggles.

Crowley swiped two of the oatmeal bars that Leah was cutting into rectangles. “I missed the joke, didn’t I?” he asked before cramming half of one in his mouth.

“Yep.” Leah smiled and handed him an iced tea.

“I was just telling Leah here that you are bringing in a whole panel of available bachelors for her and me to choose from.” Ana winked at him.

“I don’t know about all that. Some of them are married. Besides, they’re my company, not a potential dating game for you girls.” He shot them a pointed look.

“We’ll see about that, won’t we, Leah?” Ana sassed.

Leah ignored her and asked Crowley while brewing another pot of tea, “What are you guys going to be up to?”

“We’re gonna hang out at the beach for a couple of days to surf.”

“No epic skateboarding?” Leah caught his eye and grinned at him.

“Nope. The skateboard is still in temporary retirement.” Crowley laughed as he drained his glass.

“I bet they’re going to be doing some of that nasty ole fishing.” Ana wrinkled her nose.

“We’ve got a few fishing trips planned,” Crowley said, swiping another oatmeal bar.

“I’ve never been fishing,” Leah commented as she wrapped the bars in parchment paper and placed them in a basket for display.

“No way.” Crowley shook his head. “We’re just gonna have to correct that injustice after the guys head back home.”

Ana rolled her eyes and flicked her wrist. “Leah, honey, you are not missing a thing. Trust me.”

“I wouldn’t mind trying it.” Leah shrugged.

“Cool. It’s a date. We’ll introduce you to Old Man River sometime soon,” Crowley said as Leah refilled his glass. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“You’re welcome.” Leah smiled.

Crowley scanned the café. “Say, where’s Lulu?”

“She’s already headed out for the rest of the day,” Leah answered.

“What?” Crowley didn’t sound like he believed her.

Ana snickered. “Leah practically shoved her out the door earlier.”

“A bunch of her lady friends came in and begged her to go to some flea market with them, and I insisted she go. That stubborn woman is always turning them down. I told her to quit being so rude to her friends, so she really had no choice but to go,” Leah said.

Crowley let out a low whistle. “Lulu got told what to do! Man, what I would have given to have seen that!” He gestured around the café. “You got all of this covered, Lee?”

“Yes, Crow. I can manage just fine. The soup is already done. The salad and sandwich prep is finished. You can go check if you don’t trust me,” Leah challenged, and Crowley shook his head no. “Also Kara and Alice will be here soon to help finish out the day.”

“Just asking.” He raised his hands in surrender.

“What’s with this Lee and Crow business?” Ana asked.

Leah pointed at Crowley with the knife she was about to take to the kitchen sink. “He started it. As a matter of fact, Crow started it the very night of your big New Year’s date,” Leah said as she walked to the kitchen. She hoped it made Ana as uncomfortable as she had made Leah all day.

It did the trick too. Before Leah could return to the counter, Ana had slid off her stool and headed to the door. “I’ve got something more important to do than to entertain the likes of you two.” She stopped at the door and looked at Leah. “Come see me after work today so we can get started on you with a proper dating wardrobe. I’ve got a few hot dresses with your name written all over them.” Ana did a little finger wave and sashayed next door.

“Finally,” Leah muttered after Ana was gone. She turned and caught Crowley helping himself to another oatmeal bar. “You keep it up and I’m gonna have to make another batch.” Leah batted at his hand.

He talked around a mouthful of oatmeal. “Sorry. I missed breakfast.” He washed it down with the last of his tea. “Don’t worry, Lee. You’re free from me the rest of the day, too.” He handed her a ten-dollar bill and headed for the door. “I’ve got some shopping to do before my company arrives.”

“I don’t mind your company so much, Crow.” Leah grinned.

Crowley turned and held Leah’s gaze for a long moment, wearing an odd expression that she couldn’t decipher, before heading to his truck.

“What was that about?” Leah whispered to the empty café.

Two days later, Crowley came in with a herd of guys. Each was on the tall side, but none meeting Crowley’s impressive stature. They were all nicely tanned and gave off that outdoorsy vibe. They went straight to rearranging a few tables together to form a large rectangular one in the left corner of the café.

“Good grief. Did Crowley attend the Tall, Dark, and Handsome University?” Leah quietly asked Lulu as they both stood behind the counter taking in the view.

From the men’s bulky forms came booming laughter and steady conversation. They all seemed to have limitless issues to catch up on with one another. The group of guys was such an anomaly to Leah. She wondered how it would feel to have such a bond formed from years of friendship.

Lulu shoved an order pad in Leah’s hand, snapping her out of the staring. “Good luck.”

“What? I think you should handle them.” Leah tried to give the order pad back to Lulu, but Lulu had already moved to the other end of the counter to take an elderly man’s order.

Leah gave a haughty huff in Lulu’s direction, but of course it went ignored. She walked over to the boisterous table and stood by Crowley, who was seated at the head of the table. She nudged him on the shoulder to interrupt him in midsentence.

He looked at her and smiled politely. “Guys, I’d like you to meet Lulu’s number one sidekick, Leah.” Crowley commenced introducing the large group as if Leah would be able to remember their names. “Leah, this is Todd, Josh, Ben, Greg, Brad, Rob, Matt, Than, Jake, and Will.”

Leah tried to stifle a laugh at how each guy had a one-syllable name. She thought Crow was perfect for Crowley and wondered why no one else called him that.

“You guys ready to order, or are you going to let me do what I do with Crowley and just bring you whatever I see fit?” She smirked.

“No. We’re big boys and can make our own decisions, unlike our buddy Crowley,” answered the tall, dark, and bright-blue-eyed guy, who Leah thought was Matt.

“Hey now. I just try to be easygoing on these ladies, but you creeps always have to be complicated.” Crowley laughed.

Each guy rambled off his massive order quicker than Leah could write.

“I want two spinach omelets and an order of French toast,” said tall, dark, and chocolate-brown eyes.

“I’ll take two sausage and egg sandwiches on English muffins and oatmeal,” ordered the tall, fair-skinned, strawberry blond.

“I want . . .” continued until Leah had three pages full of orders.

She was about to head off to the kitchen when Crowley stopped her. “What about me?”

“You’ll eat whatever I bring you, big boy,” she said, earning a roar of laughter from his friends.

Leah quickly went to work on the massive order. While the breakfast meats cooked and the oatmeal boiled, Leah delivered the drink orders, along with a basketful of freshly baked banana-nut muffins to hold the guys over until she had their orders finished.

The group gave her a round of applause after she successfully delivered each order correctly to its owner. She served Crowley a huge, overfilled Western omelet with wheat toast and a side of fruit and yogurt.

“Not bad, Lee,” Crowley commented.

“Lee?” a few guys asked.

“It’s Leah if you want me to answer.” She poked Crowley in the side. “Poor Crow has a hard time pronouncing Le-ah.” This got a few whoops and hollers from the group.

“Crow?” Jake asked, laughing. “I like it, Leah.” Leah remembered his name. He was intriguing to look at. There was something about his caramel skin tone and bright-green eyes.

Leah gave him a smile and headed back to the kitchen, where Lulu stood, pulling more muffins out of the pan. “Good grief, Lulu.” She clucked her tongue, feeling right exasperated, and took a much-needed drink of water from her glass. “I hope you ordered extra food for this week.”

“Sure did, don’t worry,” Lulu said and continued her task. “They’ll be heading to their beach house this evening for the next two days, so we’ll get a small break.” Lulu playfully bumped into Leah on her way to the display case with the muffins. “Besides, those boys will tip you more than you make in two regular weeks. It’ll be worth the extra work.”

Lulu was right about the tip. Lying on the table after the guys left was an extra hundred-dollar bill for her. The same happened after they inhaled a massive lunch of two turkey burgers each, extra-large orders of potato wedges, and side salads.

Leah was relieved when they announced their departure for the beach. She helped Lulu load them up with an assortment of goodies for their trip.

The next two days were considerably quieter, but a bit lonely. By the time the guys returned to their claimed corner of the café with deeper tans and more tales to share during a late lunch of soup and sub sandwiches, Leah was actually glad to see them.

While the guys finished up their meal, Crowley made his way to the counter to speak with Leah before he headed out for an evening of fishing. “You missed us, didn’t you?” he teased.

She pretended not to hear him as she refilled some glasses and returned them to customers at the counter.

“You go shopping yet?” he asked.

“I think you missed me, Crow.” She smirked. “Yes, I went shopping in your absence and found something super sexy that I think your friends will find interesting.” She raised her eyebrows and leaned close to whisper, “But I want to show you first. Come on.”

Leah led him out the back door and pointed to a teal-blue beach bicycle that almost matched her Jeep’s color. The retro-style bike was decked out with chrome finish and whitewall tires. The bike was complete with a black wicker basket.

“Great bike, Lee.” Crowley huffed out a laugh.

“Found this beauty at a yard sale yesterday at the park. Only paid thirty bucks for it,” Leah bragged as Crowley sat on it to try it out.

The back door banged open with Ana staring the two down. “Whatcha doing hiding back here together?”

“Showing Crowley my big find from the yard sale yesterday,” Leah answered.

“Oh, that’s a sweet bike, Leah,” Ana said in approval. “I got me a bike too. Let’s load them up and spend the day at the beach tomorrow.”

“Sure, but after church. I already promised Lulu I would go,” Leah said.

Ana rolled her eyes but nodded in agreement.

“You two ladies have a good time,” Crowley said as he climbed off the bike and walked back into the café.

“He didn’t seem too sincere,” Ana sassed after the door was closed. She waved her hand as if to dismiss the thought. “I’ve got a huge surprise for you, my friend.”

“What?” Leah eyed her.

“Oh, you’ll see . . . real soon.” Ana smiled.