Page 3 of Dear Southern Belle
2
MAGNOLIA
“So, how did the blind date go last night?” My best friend, Sabine, asks before I’m even in my usual seat at the café counter.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I grumble.
She sets down a glass of sweet tea in front of me and I take a long sip. The sugary amber liquid has an incredible ability to make even my worst days just a bit sweeter.
“I thought it seemed promising,” Sabine says, but I see the grin itching at the corner of her mouth.
I glare at her. “He’s a balding dentist that spent most of the meal trying to convince me that he could fix the gap between my front teeth if I wanted to look prettier.”
“What? I love your gap.” Sabine frowns. “I hope you threw your drink at him.”
“And waste a perfectly good martini?” I scoff and shake my head. “No, but I did rub his bald head for good luck instead of a good night kiss like he was hoping for.”
Sabine throws back her head and laughs.
“Bless his heart,” I say and take another sip of the tea.
“What did your mother say when you told her the bad news that you wouldn’t be having his bald-headed babies?”
“I haven’t told her yet, but I’m sure the news of my terrible date has already reached her. She’s currently getting her hair blown out at the salon so I’m sure all the gossips in town are giving her the full run down.”
“Do you think she will finally let up on you finding a husband?”
“Please, my mother has been trying to set me up since I started dating. She will never be happy until I’m walking down the aisle, and someone puts a ring on this.” I hold up my left hand and wiggle my ring finger. “I don’t need a guy to complete me, despite what my mother says.”
“Well she can stop looking because I think I just found you the guy of your dreams.” She points towards the large windows in the front of the café.
I follow my gaze to where she is pointing and freeze when I see a guy I don’t recognize step out of his parked car. He’s got ashy blonde hair, full kissable lips, and chest of muscles that fills out his chest quite nicely. If he had shown up at the restaurant last night for my blind date, I’d be telling a very different story to Sabine.
“Here he comes. Be cool,” she tells me, starts wiping down the counter as if we just weren’t ogling him.
I pretend to be focused on my tea when the bell above the café door chimes.
BRADEN
When I first drove to my grandfather’s house, I hadn’t come through the heart of the town of Oak View. Brick storefront buildings lined the main street that ran through town. Through the eyes of my parents as young adults, I could see how they wished for a bigger life outside of this small town. But as someone who grew up in city, I could see the appeal of living a simpler life in Oak View.
I find Sabine’s Café easy enough. The metal patio tables out front would have been enough of a giveaway if there hadn’t been cursive sign hanging above the door. A bell chimes as I head inside. The place is quiet besides a few patrons sitting in the booths that line the side wall and a young woman sitting at the counter. She’s mostly turned away from me, but I can’t miss the shapely lines of her bare legs crossed in front of her.
My breath catches in my chest when she swings her soft caramel curls and glances over her shoulder, her blue eyes meeting mine. With just one look, I feel a connection with this stranger that I’ve never felt before. She gives me a half smile and I feel my dick react to her. I’m consumed with the need to be closer to her.
“Sit anywhere you like,” the raven-haired woman behind the counter says to me as she lifts a carafe of coffee off the warmer and moves from behind the counter to top off the other customers in the booths.
I take a seat at the counter, leaving one seat between me and the gorgeous woman with the stunning blue eyes. I can’t seem to take my eyes off her. The soft curves of her hourglass figure has my mind conjuring up images in my mind of what she might look like without her dress.
An older man clears his throat and I notice him sitting two seats on the other side of this woman. Our gazes meet, and from the stern look on his face, I realize that I’ve been caught.
“Magnolia, darlin’,” the man says to the young woman. “We had a performer drop out of the Peach Festival last minute. Would you mind stepping in and performing a few songs for us?”
Magnolia.
She takes a sip of her iced tea and turns to the man.
“Mr. Mayor, this isn’t going to be like last time when you asked for a few songs and it turned into a full set?” she asks.
