"Then she'll fit right in with us," Sierra deadpanned.
"Ha, ha, you're hilarious."
"I know, right?"
"Okay, enough. It's time to make ice cream and clean. If you actually help instead of sitting around and looking pretty, we might get out of here in time to pick up a pizza and go home for that movie night you've been wanting to have."
"You say that like I didn't just go through a year's worth of financials for the shop in one morning!"
I snickered and got up from my desk. "Okay, so you've earned your keep for this week. Now it's time to work off next week's."
"I'm a partner, not an employee. I don't need to earn my keep," she retorted.
And this was why I hated arguing with Sierra. She won nearly every argument I had with her. Her brain was too sharp. It was a little scary.
"And don't you need to call this Lee person about the job?"
I sighed and sat back down. "Good point."
I picked up my cell phone and scrolled through my contacts to my mother's name. She answered on the third ring. "Hey, baby. How are you today?"
"I'm good. I was wondering if you had Lee Prescott's number?"
My mother was rabidly social and she knew nearly everyone in town either through her social circle or because they brought their kids to Dad's office.
"Let me just..." she trailed off and I knew she was looking through her contacts. "I think I have it here." After a few moments of silence, she said, "Here it is. Do you have a piece of paper?"
"You can just share it with me, Mom." I walked her through the process and heard my phone chime a moment later. I checked the screen and saw that the contact came through. "Great. Thank you!"
"Oh, your dad's next patient just came in. I'll talk to you later, sweetie. You'll be over for lunch on Sunday, right?"
"Yes, Mom. Love you."
"Love you, too, baby."
After we disconnected, I looked at Sierra and said, "I have no idea how to call someone and invite them in to interview for a job that they didn't apply for and that they may not get."
She grinned at me and held out her hand for the phone. "Let me handle that."
We took a break for lunch and walked to the diner two doors down. Sierra had set up an interview with Lee Prescott for Friday and we'd already made two batches of ice cream. I needed to make a couple more, but I was much closer to being done than I normally would have been. Though she wasn't as familiar with the day-to-day operations, Sierra was a huge help.
We walked into the diner and Steph, the owner, waved at us. "Sit wherever you want, y'all. We'll be right with you."
Sierra walked directly to a booth near the front corner of the diner and she tossed her purse onto one of the benches. "I'll be right back."
She disappeared down the back hallway toward the bathrooms. I settled on the other side of the booth and grabbed the menu even though I had it memorized. Steph tried to change the menu last year and the entire town revolted. Dennis Middleston even took out a half page ad in the Farley Gazette, protesting the change.
It was hysterical. I still laughed a little every time I thought about it.
When I was younger, that would have bugged the shit out of me. I couldn't wait to leave this place behind. But after I went away to college, I realized I wanted to come home. I missed seeing familiar faces every morning. The easy pace of things. Of knowing that I could ask someone for help and they would do so happily.
Six years later, I was glad I'd made that decision. Sure, it was hard to meet men. Well, men I hadn't known since I was a kid, but I loved it here. My family was here. Most of them anyway.
I studied the menu, vacillating between the club and patty melt, but movement across from me caught my attention and I looked up.
Right into Brody Murphy's bright green eyes.
I blinked at him, unable to reconcile that he was now sitting across from me.
"Eating alone?" he asked.
I shook my head, still holding my menu up between us. This was not something I'd considered when I was musing about how much I loved living in Farley now. Though, for once, I didn't feel the usual mixture of both excitement and anxiety at his presence.
For once, it felt...normal.
He grinned. "It is normal to greet someone when you see them. You know, hi, how are you or stop following me around. That sort of thing."
The corners of my mouth twitched and said, "Stalking is illegal in all fifty states."
"See, that's a good greeting," he teased, his green eyes sparkling.
"It took me a minute because I'm not used to you popping up wherever I go. Maybe I should start carrying around one of those Whack-a-Mole hammers."
Brody laughed. "I'm not too worried. If I remember correctly, you sucked at that game."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Really? You're gonna go there?"
"Go where?" Sierra asked as she approached the table.
"Nowhere," I muttered.
Sierra stopped next to Brody and stared down at him, her expression expectant. It took him a moment to catch on, which made me bite back a laugh.
"Am I in your seat?" he asked. His tone was ripe with amusement.
Sierra nodded and Brody got to his feet and slid out of the booth. Then my best friend looked at me with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "You can sit next to Cam if you want to join us for lunch."
"Thanks, but I just finished eating and I need to get back to work. Maybe next time?"
I had no control over my head as I nodded. Brody walked away, waving at Steph before he walked out the door.
As soon as he disappeared from sight, Sierra looked back at me and said, "Y'all are so gonna bone."
My cheeks heated. "Stop saying that. Who even uses that expression anymore?"
Her answering laugh was more like a cackle. "That must have been some apology. You went from wanting to smack him to wanting him to smack your ass."
"What? Where in the hell did that even come from, Sierra?"
She shrugged and slid into the side of the booth that Brody had just vacated.
"And Brody definitely doesn't look at me like that," I continued.
"How does he look at you?" she asked.
"Like an annoying little sister."
Amy, one of Steph's waitresses, came over. "What can I get y'all to drink?"
After we both ordered iced tea and Amy vanished behind the counter, Sierra turned back to me. "You may annoy him, but if a man looks at the sister the way he looks at you, well, they belong on that cable show you're always moaning about."
I gaped at her. "Are you bad-mouthing my favorite show?"
Sierra rolled her eyes. "That's what you took away from what I said?"
"I'm pretending you didn't mention the other thing. The only thing Brody and I could ever be is friends."
"Let me know how that goes in a month, okay? Wait, never mind, I'll be here to watch it all in real time. That'll make saying I told you so completely satisfying."
Amy arrived with our tea and straws. I tore the tip off the wrapper of my straw and blew it at Sierra. It hit her right between the eyes.