Page 19 of Her Rugged Guardian

“What the…” Thank God, I stopped a series of curse words. The woman’s voice was soft and sincere in an apology. I dropped to the floor, struggling to pick up the fallen items before they rolled too far, clenching my teeth to continue holding my tongue.

“Oh, goodness. Let me help. I was in my own little world.”

“No, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” After tossing the items back into my basket, I turned toward the woman, holding back a giggle as she carefully placed two of Moose’s upcoming toys back into the basket. While the woman was obviously in her sixties, she was wearing pink spandex pants and a crop top with a jacket over it along with tennis shoes the color of plums.

However garish the look, the older woman was in the kind of shape I wished I were in. Even her blonde hair was perfect, suiting her well-tanned face. Who managed to get a tan in a town where the average rainfall per year was eighty-five inches? Information on the area had been something I’d looked up on my laptop when the hint of sun had given way to another round of dark, foreboding clouds.

“Oh, my gosh. You’re Cassandra Dayne, aren’t you?”

“How did you know?” My defense system was immediately on high alert.

“Well, sugar, first of all, this grocery store isn’t a tourist attraction even if it’s obvious you’re not from around these parts. More important, your mama was very proud of you with that six-figure job you had back in DC. She bragged about you all the time. When I learned she left Tangerine Sunset to you in her will, I breathed a sigh of relief. I think the whole town did.”

“She did?” That wasn’t like my mother at all. Somehow, I could tell she was comparing me to my mom, who wasn’t like me at all.

“Oh, golly gosh, yes. She was so proud of you.” Her face clouded over. “I’m so sorry about your mama. She was such a breath of fresh air in this town. You have no idea. Cancer is a bitch.”

“Yeah, it is.” I still couldn’t get over that my mother had talked about me. We didn’t have that kind of relationship at all.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Where are my manners? I’m Millie Tinslow. I own Millie’s Diner. Your mama used to supply us with her delicious wine and baked goods.”

“Baked goods? She didn’t bake.” My mother could burn water. When I was a kid, we ate out almost every night, or something was brought in. My father certainly didn’t care, almost never home for dinner anyway.

“Goodness. She was a delicious baker. Pies. Cakes. Cupcakes.”

“Wow. I had no idea.”

“I admit it, I was kinda hoping you were as good a baker as your mama.”

“Me? I don’t think so. Besides, it’s going to be a little while before I get the place up and running again to even consider using the oven.”

She eyed my cart and sighed. “What a shame. I know your mama was struggling. All the businesses around here are. We just don’t have nearly as many tourists coming through as we used to. We need a big promotional marketing thingy but the mayor doesn’t want to spend the money.”

Hmmm… Maybe that was something I could also help with. “It’s not just about the marketing. I need a lot of work done on the place.”

“That’s what your mama said. Those old buildings are notorious for having crap show up out of the blue. Hey, but your mama hired the best contractor in town. Jake Spencer is a damn good carpenter, a real craftsman too.”

“A craftsman?” Jake seemed far too rough around the edges in my opinion, but what did I know?

“Golly jeepers, yes. He built me this gorgeous coffee table for my house and a stunning butcher block service cart for the diner. Oh, and the kitchen table inside your mama’s kitchen? He refinished that. She found it at an estate sale and it was in rough shape. In a flash, Jake had that all spiffied up.”

“Wow. I had no idea.” That made me feel even worse about bashing his head in with a toaster.

“He’s a talented man. Don’t let anyone steer you wrong.”

“Why would they?”

She glanced over one shoulder then the other before leaning in. “Did you know he used to be a famous hockey player?”

“Uh, no. Hockey’s not that big in DC.”

“Well, he was. He was the cream of the crop, his name alone putting our little town on the map. The mayor even gave him the key to the city when his team won the Stanley Cup and all because of him. So sad what happened.”

While it was obvious she enjoyed gossiping, she’d piqued my interest a little too much. Now I needed to know more. “So what happened?”

“He got injured, tanked his career. He’s lucky he can still walk. All those months of physical therapy. All those doctors. He was lost without hockey for a long time.”

“So he became a contractor.”

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