Page 46 of One Sweet Match Up

But before that, he needed her to say yes. From what he was learning about Zoe, she had an enormous amount of pride. Agreeing to do this wasn’t going to be easy for her. If only he could take the decision out of her hands.

All of a sudden, an idea popped into his head. He jumped off the sofa. “Hold on a second,” he said, moving through the living room, down the hall, and into Rachel’s spare bedroom. In less than a minute, he had the 1937 penny in his hand. He knew what he was supposed to do with it. “Why don’t we flip for it?”

“Flip for it?”

“Heads or tails.” He held up the penny. “Heads we become business partners for the next two weeks. Tails we don’t.”

“Let me see that.” She grabbed it out of his hands, inspecting it. “Only two weeks?”

“A trial run, and then we can renegotiate.”

“Okay, fine.”

Holy crap. She said yes. He flipped the coin in the air before she could change her mind and held his breath, watching Mary decide their fate.

10

Donovan tooka seat at the Star Lite counter, setting the soup ladle down wrapped now in a red and white basketball jersey.

A jersey he’d found this morning when he’d checked inside the antique purse.

And it just so happened to have his number, 24, on the back.

How did Mary get her hands on his old basketball uniform, and why did he find it rolled up inside the purse?

He’d contemplated calling Sheila, but he’d wanted to get out the door and to the Ice Heaven to get today started. Besides, it was way too early to bother her.

Unfortunately, when he arrived at the frozen yogurt shop, the door was locked. He settled on having a warm breakfast and a cup of coffee at the Star Lite while he waited for Zoe to arrive.

When she did, he planned on taking an inventory of all of the Fresh Food items, roll up his sleeves, and get cooking.

It’d take a couple of days, but people would start coming in. He turned his head to the empty barstools, lining the counter. At least he hoped so. He might have to recruit his friends to help spread the word. Maybe he could start by putting up flyers in Rachel’s flower shop and Will’s auto body shop.

“Hey, Sugar. What can I get you?”

He glanced up to see Betty looking down at him with notepad in hand. “Hey, Betty. I’ll take your bacon and eggs special.”

“Two scrambled and one over easy?”

“You remembered.”

She leaned in and grabbed his cheek. “I remember a lot, Toots.” Turning around, she reached for a full pot of coffee and placed a mug in front of Donovan, filling it up. “I hear a lot, too.”

He etched an eyebrow. “What have you heard?”

“Oh, that you proposed to Zoe Mathews at the Sweet Match Up.”

“Old news.” He reached for a tiny cow creamer and added some cream to his coffee. “And for the record, she said no.”

“I would have said yes,” Betty said, batting her thin lashes.

“I’ll remember that next time.” He chuckled and took a sip of coffee, letting the warm caffeinated beverage wake him up. He’d been so excited last night just thinking about his new adventure with Zoe that he’d hardly slept.

“She’ll come around. Give her time.” Betty gave him a wink and turned to shout her order to Mel who flashed her a toothy grin and a thumbs-up.

Some things never changed in this town, and the teamwork between Betty and Mel was one of them. He loved coming into the Star Lite as a kid. He never worked here, choosing to take a job with Ralph over at the pizzeria, but that didn’t stop him from getting culinary advice from Mel. The restaurant owner even showed him how to make his infamous BBB Burger.

He envied them. Glancing over his shoulder in the direction of Zoe’s shop, he couldn’t help but wonder: Was today the beginning of a new dynamic partnership in Buttermilk Falls? He could only hope.

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