Free Hotel Ladd by Dianne Venetta

Candi’s place. She could
use the company and the ready ear.

 
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Seven
     
    Cal walked into Fran’s Diner, not
surprised the place was cackling like a hen house at feeding time.
He dodged aside as a toddler bumped into his legs. “Sorry!” came
the automatic response from a young mother, a woman who didn’t
appear old enough to have a child let alone one she had to chase
down and corral in a crowd. Cal waved it off with a smile. But that
was Fran’s. Folks of all ages frequented the restaurant, from his
Daddy’s generation right down to the students that made Fran’s
Diner part of their after-school schedule. Most of today’s crowd
was dressed in their Sunday best, relaxing over good old-fashioned
country cooking with friends and family after a morning of church
services.
    Cal inhaled the scent of roasting meat
and fried food, the heavenly blend of baked goods saturating the
air. For him this was milk to a baby. There was no better meal than
a southern one, even if it did come from a restaurant. Too bad he
was dining solo today. He was pumped with news for Annie. His
forester friend said cutting a road would be no problem at all and
shouldn’t add more than a months’ time to the job, maybe less.
Already familiar with the land, he was willing to pay Annie up
front, too. She couldn’t argue with those terms, Cal
mused.
    Spotting Malcolm and Lacy at the
counter, he paused. Malcolm waved him over. Inwardly, Cal smiled.
Maybe he wouldn’t be eating alone after all. “Afternoon,” he said
as he joined them.
    “ Good afternoon,” Malcolm
replied.
    “ Hi, Cal!” Lacy chirped and
looked around him as though searching for his lunch date. “Did you
see Annie?”
    Cal frowned, noting the two plates of
half-eaten fried chicken, biscuits and okra. “No. Was she
here?”
    “ She just left.” Lacy
delivered the news as if he’d been ditched, adding cheerfully, “You
can join us, if you’d like.”
    “ Well, don’t mind if I do.”
Cal slid onto a stool next to Lacy, marveling how similar in
appearance she was to Annie. Jet black hair, fair complexion and
those notably blue eyes, the sisters could almost be twins. Next to
Malcolm’s white hair and tanned skin, his eyes a pale blue, Cal
thought the two looked good together. He’d come to like Malcolm,
getting to know him over the last several months. He was decent,
smart, and definitely sweet on Lacy.
    She smiled. “Fran will be out in a
second.”
    Noting she was hitched so close to
Malcolm’s side it was a wonder if the man would be able to eat, Cal
surveyed the restaurant. Cooks in white dashed from a smoking grill
to the service window, sliding plates, pulling tickets in rhythmic
precision complete with shouts of, “Order up!”
    “ Fran really packs ‘em in,
doesn’t she?”
    “ That she does,” Malcolm
agreed.
    “ Oh, poo.” Lacy waved him
off. “That’s nothing new. Aunt Frannie’s has always been the only
place to eat in town, you know that.”
    “ You won’t hear any
complaints from me.” Cal loved southern cooking, and next to his
momma, there was no one better than Fran, particularly when it came
to her peach pie. He’d never admit as much aloud but sure as he was
sitting here, Fran’s was the best, three counties wide. Settling on
to a thick-cushioned seat, he asked, “How’s the baby?”
    Lacy’s face lit up brighter than the
hot pink of her jacket and she tapped his arm. “Good, and you’re
sweet to ask.” She paused with an odd look in her eyes, appearing
suddenly confused. “When is Annie gonna get it through her brain
that you’d make the perfect husband?”
    Malcolm twisted toward her. “Don’t you
think you should let your sister decide that?”
    Lacy pouted. “Not when she’s being so
mulish. Why look at him.” She gestured toward Cal. “He’s a fine man
and been so patient with her. If I were you, Cal, I’d demand she
officially be your girlfriend or tell her you’re gonna leave