Page 9 of Bourbon Bliss
She smiled. “Good.”
The waitress, a woman with a red beehive hairdo and a name tag that said Clarabell, came to take our order. Shelby chose an open-faced turkey sandwich. I went for the meatloaf and mashed potatoes. My favorite.
“How’s little Marshmellow?” Shelby asked after Clarabell left.
“She’s adorable, obviously,” I said with a grin. Marshmellow, or Mellow for short, was my pet bunny—a Netherland dwarf. She was tiny, soft, and pure white. “I miss her already, but Andrea’s taking care of her for me while I’m away.”
“Aw, I need to come visit her.”
“You should. This being unemployed thing makes that a lot easier. I have all kinds of time.”
“I’m so relieved,” she said. “Mom and Dad have been worried about you, but you seem like you’re taking everything in stride.”
“Doing my best,” I said. “But you need to tell me more about this hot spring.”
“Right.” She got out her phone and started typing. “I’ll just text you the directions. It’s easier than trying to explain.”
“Is it hard to find?” I asked.
“Kind of, yeah,” she said. “There are a few places to soak, but I found a really good one. It’s more private. I’ve only been out there once, but it was so nice.”
We chatted for a few more minutes until Clarabell brought our food—and holy hell, it was good. Down-home cooking at its best. Now Ireallyliked this place. I had a feeling I was going to become a regular Moonshine customer during my stay. I was already wondering how soon was too soon to order another meal. I wanted to dig into that open-faced turkey sandwich next.
I glanced up as I ate and noticed a woman sitting a few booths away. She had dark blond hair that hung carelessly around her shoulders. No makeup. The sleeve of her navy sweater slid down her arm as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She had her phone in one hand, and she picked up a pen with the other. Her eyes darted back and forth between her phone and a notebook as she wrote something down.
She was cute, in a not-usually-my-type sort of way. But it wasn’t so much her appearance that made me glance twice. Something about the way she moved caught my attention. She was precise and exacting, her eyes flicking back and forth as she jotted in that notebook of hers. I found myself gazing at her, wondering what she was doing.
And then she spoke.
Not to me. She was sitting alone, and she didn’t appear to be talking to anyone. I couldn’t make out what she was saying—she was muttering to herself. But for some reason, I found the whole thing fascinating.
“Do you know who she is?” I asked Shelby, nodding my head in the direction of the muttering woman.
“Oh, that’s June Tucker.”
“Do you know her?” I asked, still gazing at June. Of course Shelby would know everyone in town by now.
“Not really. The locals haven’t exactly been welcoming ofmy kind.” She didn’t sound the least bit upset by that. “But I’ve seen her around.”
“And you see a lot.”
She wrinkled her nose. “She’s different.”
“In what way?”
Shelby raised one shoulder in a slight shrug. “People say she’s a little off. She doesn’t interact like everyone else. But they still make a place for her. She’s interesting.”
I looked at June again. She appeared to be having a quiet argument with… herself? I wasn’t sure. The phone in her hand indicated she might be on a call, but there wasn’t another voice coming from the speaker. And I didn’t see ear buds or a headset. Maybe she really was talking to herself.
She seemed… focused. As if unaware that she was in a public place and people might think it odd that she was talking to herself. Or maybe she just didn’t care.
Either way, it was hard to take my eyes off her.
“Earth to GT.” Shelby snapped her fingers near my face. “Quit staring. You’re being weird.”
I grinned at her and motioned to her half-full plate with my fork. “Are you going to finish that?”
“All yours.” She pushed the rest of her dinner to my side of the table.
