Free Beauty and The Best (Once-Upon-A-Time Romance) by Judi Fennell Page B

company that kept his pictures in the public eye and his bank account full. The company that had proved Trista’s faith in him.
    And what was he doing about it now? Griping. Being annoyed that it even existed. Wanting it gone.
    What did that say about his value of Trista’s memory?
    Todd reached over and squeezed Jolie’s hand. “How do you do that?”
    “ Do what?”
    He didn’t think her eyes could get any wider. Even more so than when she’d gotten an eyeful of something she never should have had to deal with this morning. He really did owe her this dinner and a nice time. Enough with the angst.
    “ Put a person’s life in perspective with a few simple words.”
    She straightened her back. “Okay, number one—simple? I’ll have you know I’ve read and read, and studied, took classes to get my vocabulary out of simple .”
    He bit back the smile. Such indignation. “And number two?”
    She crossed her arms. “Number two is none of your business.”
    And now he really wanted that answer. He cocked an eyebrow and the corresponding corner of his mouth at her, letting a little of his smile through. “Please? With whipped cream on top?”
    Her exuberance returned in her smile. What was it she’d said earlier? He got her? Yes, he sure did.
    “ Okay,” she said after the laughter receded. “Number two is just a sunny outlook on life, because it’s true, you know. People do have choices. You’ve got a choice each morning to get out of bed on the right side or the wrong side. I mean, yeah, life’s hard. Different people have different definitions of hard, but it’s all in your perspective.
    “ Take me, for example. I could have let the system turn me into another welfare mom at age sixteen like a dozen girls I know, but I chose to get out of it. I wanted more for myself. So I struggled and stayed clean, and got myself into a decent school and learned a trade. I had the perfect excuse to be mad at the world, but I got mad at my circumstances instead and changed them.”
    “ And here you are.”
    He was wrong. Her eyes could get wider.
    “ Ye…yes. Here I am.”
    ***
    Jonathan sat back in the threadbare BarcaLounger. Had Jolie really said all of that? To Todd?
    Jonathan tapped the corner of his mouth. My, my. Big strides for her .
    He couldn’t help smiling.
    Oh, yes, this was going to work out. He just knew it.
    ***
    Jolie clamped her mouth shut. Had she just said what she thought she had? Had she just laid her entire life on the table for him? What was she thinking? She’d never told anyone that stuff. It made her feel a little weird, kinda open and vulnerable. Naked.
    And they were back to that.
    “ So, Jolie Gardener,” Todd said after a few minutes of much-needed silence.
    Much needed for her so she could recover from that unplanned therapy session. Not that she needed therapy; she was just fine. Really. Talking about it without breaking down was a positive. Proved she was beyond it all.
    She smoothed her dress over her lap and checked her earrings. Proving it to herself just like Todd was with his determination to have dinner at The Midnight Maiden . See? They had something in common.
    “ Yes, Todd Best?” There. Pleasant, solid, no shakiness in her voice. She was fine.
    “ What does a personal chef do with herself when she’s not cooking meals?”
    “ Plan them?”
    He laughed. Good.
    “ You are really good for me.” He squeezed her hand again as he slowed down on the exit ramp of the closest thing to a highway this little burg had to offer. “I’m glad you took this job.”
    She let the words wash over her as Todd zipped into the parking lot by The Midnight Maiden . Other than for her meals, she hadn’t received many compliments in her twenty-eight years.
    The boat bobbed on the tiny river waves, the ropes creaking against their moorings, a line of white Christmas lights blinking from the upper deck. Yes, she was glad she’d taken this job as well. For a whole host of reasons.
    They