Page 71 of Wintertime Love (Holiday 2)

The taller woman gives me an angry look. “Look here. Don’t waste our time. Just get us something with low fat and low carbs.”

I blink at them. Are they deliberately trying to be difficult? I nod, stiffly, and prepare two lattes with almond milk and sugar free syrup.

I put them on the counter and wait for them to pay for them and take the drinks away, but they just make themselves comfortable in one of the booths. The women aren’t old. they’re more like middle aged. And between meals, the diner has a self-serving policy which is clearly stated on the board behind me in large block letters.

The shorter woman snaps her finger at me, “Bring the drinks here.”

I lift my brows and I can see some customers looking up in horror at the way the woman is behaving.

Even Jerry abandons his crossword to look over, a heavy frown on his face.

However, it’s Ben who speaks up, “Sharon, why is that woman snapping her fingers at Clara?”

Sharon glances up and there’s a dark expression on her face before she says, not bothering to keep her voice down, “Sometimes people have been raised with no manners. Make sure you never learn from them. They’re no better than uneducated apes.”

People’s lips twitch upon hearing her.

The faces off the two women grow bright red and the shorter woman jumps to her feet, screeching, “What did you just say, you little harlot? Do you know who I am?!”

“An uneducated ape?” Ben offers, innocently.

The woman’s eyes narrow with rage, and spittle flies out of her mouth as she screams, “You little bastard!”

People are on their feet at her words.

My body goes rigid with fury. “I think it’s time you leave.”

Sharon is also on her feet and she looks pissed off. “If you don’t know how to behave in public then maybe you shouldn’t be here!” She’s folding up her sleeves like she’s about to throw down.

I suddenly have a bad feeling that she’s about to jump the woman and not knowing whether to laugh or cry at the display of temper, I end up having to step in front of her, looking down at the two women, repeating, “I think it’s time you leave. You’re disrupting the environment and you insulted a child. We don’t tolerate this sort of behavior.”

The shorter woman gives me a furious look though her eyes hold a sly gleam as she glances at her companion and then she says in a loud obnoxious tone, “We don’t want to be served by a gold digging slut either. We know all about how you dug your claws into that rich man who came to town, knowing that he was engaged, Clara Winter!”

I stare at them, my blood running cold. “Excuse me?”

The older woman sniffs in derision. “Miss Merington even came to you in tears, begging you to give back her fiancé and you spat in her face and threw her out.”

Now, I’m starting to get a glimpse of the picture and as the women stare at me, their faces twisted in nasty triumph. I smile. “I don’t even know who Miss Merington is. And I don’t have time to be running around with men who are already taken. And I’m not going to take the word of somebody who calls a little child a bastard, and someone they don’t know, a harlot. If you’re just here to stir up trouble, then get out of my diner.”

The women are facing me and I see the unease enter their faces when a few more chairs behind me scrape against the floor as more people get up.

Finn was right. I have built this diner on the foundation of cultivating relationships with all my customers. And none of them are going to tolerate seeing me bullied.

The two women lift up their chins and the shorter one spits out, “Everyone will soon know what you are, Clara Winter. Then I’d like to see who stands up for you. We don’t want people like you in our town!”

They walk out.

I stare after them, my shoulders shaking with laughter.

A normal person would be upset but I just find the whole thing very funny. So, Elaine hasn’t wasted any time in stirring up trouble for me, huh? I’m impressed at how quick she is but I do have to wonder how she got these two I women to come in here.

“Clara, are you…” Sharon sounds hesitant.

I shake my head, suppressing my smile and turning to face her. “I’m fine.”

“How dare they come in here and say such crap about you?” one of the female customers hisses angrily.

I glance with interest at her. “Do you know who they were?”

---