Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
My mother called out, “Adelaide? Table five looks like they need more coffee!”
“Crap,” I whispered. “Wait, I’ll be right back.”
I quickly made my way around to my tables. Gave two of them their checks, filled up the drinks on another table, and had to listen to Mr. and Mrs. Walters tell me all about their daughter Lynn, whom I graduated with.
“She’s a lawyer now,” Mrs. Walters said. “A big-shot one in New York City.”
“Wow.” I cleared Mr. Walters’s plate from the table. “You must be so proud.”
“Oh, we are. Now, what is it you do again when you’re not working at your parents’ restaurant?”
I forced a smile. “I worked as a labor and delivery nurse back in Boston. I quit so I could move back to Seaside.”
“Why would you do that?” Mrs. Walters asked.
“Because my father had a heart attack, and I realized home is where I want to be. Where I belong.”
Mrs. Walters’s eyes darted to the kitchen, then back to me. “I forgot all about Keegan’s heart attack. What a sweet daughter you are to come back home to take care of him. I thought maybe the Seaside Grill was doing poorly.”
I groaned internally. Great, now it was probably going to show up in the gossip column. I gave Mrs. Walters a hard look. Could she be the writer?
“God, let’s hope not. I don’t know what I’d do if we couldn’t come here for breakfast!” Mr. Walters exclaimed, interrupting my thoughts.
With a lighthearted chuckle, I replied, “No worries. The restaurant is doing great. Do you need coffee to go?”
“No, no,” they said at the same time.
“You take your time, no rush.” I slipped the check down onto the table and then quickly headed back over to Palmer so I could find out the rest of the story.
“Okay, keep going!” I said. “What happened? Did something happen between the two of them?”
Palmer peeked over at Brody and then back at me. “Yep.”
I covered my mouth with my hand as I sucked in a surprised breath. Then I dropped it and asked, “What?”
“I couldn’t hear what they were saying because they were too far away, and she wasn’t yelling like she had been with Jack. They talked for a bit and then Sutton straddled him and they kissed!”
“Shut up! Why have you never told me this?”
Palmer giggled. “I guess I thought maybe Sutton had told you.”
“No, she didn’t tell me anything! You’re serious?
“I’m dead serious. Brody stood up—still holding her I might add. Then he set her down and they walked off down the beach. Away from the party.”
“Where did they go?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure. And I’m not sure if anything else happened. But according to my friend Kimberley, who knew everything about everyone—and still does—Brody liked Sutton back then.”
“Wait—how would Kimberley know that?”
With a huff, Palmer went on, “I’m telling you, if I thought she had the brains to be the mysterious writer of the gossip column, I would swear it was her. She knows everybody’s business.”
“She isn’t capable of writing an article?”
Palmer shook her head. “Dumb as a box of rocks, but has a heart of gold. Anyway, she overheard her older brother asking Brody why he didn’t simply tell Sutton how he felt about her.”
“No!” I exclaimed, causing nearly everyone at the counter to look at me. I smiled and turned my back to them. “What did Brody say?”
“According to Kimberley, Brody told her brother he wasn’t going to do that because he was in the Navy, and he would never ask her to wait for him. He was only home on leave when that party happened. The crazy thing is, Sutton liked Brody too. Remember when we were little how she used to pretend they were married?”
I glanced back to Brody, who was currently in a deep conversation with Gannon. Our brother had somehow managed to move over to the next table and was laughing away at whatever the pretty blonde was saying.
“I do remember that,” I said. “After that night, though, I don’t really remember Sutton talking about Brody or making little flirty comments like she had before.”
“That’s right. What do you think happened?”
“I’m not sure. But my gosh, look at our brother.” I shook my head and focused back on Palmer. “Will Brax ever settle down?”
She shrugged. “Who knows? But don’t you think it’s kind of funny that Brody would run to Sutton’s aid as soon as she was free of Jack? Do you think he still likes her? I have a very strong suspicion that her feelings for him never changed. She only married asshat because…well, I don’t really know why she married him. Oh!” Palmer waggled her brows. “Do think they’re…you know?”
I rolled my eyes. “How would I know? I just got back into town. Maybe he’s simply being a good friend. Or, maybe there is something there. But I think Sutton would have told us if there was.”