Page 71 of Happy Harbor
The woman stared at her like she was an alien. “You can put sugar in it.”
“In cold tea? With ice? Are you crazy?”
Finally, Josie’s business associate, who was having lunch with her, explained that sweet tea was purely Southern. She could’ve been knocked over with a feather. In any good Southerner’s opinion, sweet tea should be the national beverage.
“Come on in.”
Josie was immediately surprised by how well decorated Walker’s place was. She wondered if a previous girlfriend had done it, or if he was just good at everything.
“Nice place,” she said, following him to the small kitchen which overlooked the garden. He had a couple of little planters on the windowsill, one growing basil and the other growing rosemary.
“Not as nice as yours, but at least I have a relaxing view of the garden and the back porch.”
“Stalker,” she said, sitting down on the barstool. The kitchen wasn’t large enough for an actual table.
Walker smiled. “Here you go,” he said, sliding a glass of sweet tea over to her. “Lemon?”
“No, thanks.”
He pulled the other barstool around so he could sit across the bar from her. “The biscuits are almost done.”
“Okay.”
“Do you smell fish?” he asked, scrunching his nose.
She laughed. “Sorry. I didn’t have a chance to shower.”
“Oh. Gotcha. Well, no biggie. I like fish.”
“Are you always this positive?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I try to be.”
“I guess that’s a good quality, but it can get annoying.”
“Duly noted.”
“Sorry. I guess I’m just in a mood today. The stress of all this is getting to me.”
He smiled. “Well, then, I have some good news for you.”
“You do?” she asked, taking a sip of her tea. One important factor in being a good Southerner was making perfect sweet tea. There was a fine line between not sweet enough and ropey sweet. His tea fell right in the middle.
“I’ve been on the phone all day, and I’ve run around all over town.”
“Didn’t you have work to do?”
“You mean all those boats and that hole in your roof? Yeah, but priorities, right?”
She laughed. “Right.”
“Anyway, we’re going to have a fundraising event this weekend right in the middle of downtown. I’ve got at least ten vendors signed up, a couple of food trucks, and entertainment.”
“Wow! That’s a lot of stuff. How’d you do that so fast?”
He grinned and crossed his arms. “People kind of love me around here.”
“I can see that. What do you need me to do? Make flyers? Or maybe I can talk to the local radio station?”
