to the game tonight?”
She twisted in her seat. A gray-haired man with a bushy mustache sat there grinning at her. Probably more of a soup strainer than a mustache. “I might. They any good?”
“The team?” He nodded. “Excellent. That squawking mascot? A pain in the—”
“I agree!” She wondered how he’d have finished that comment had she not interrupted.
His twinkling blue eyes didn’t match the gravelly edge in his voice. A slight dimple convinced her he wasn’t dangerous.
“Buck,” he said, followed by a head nod. “Welcome to town.”
“It’s that obvious?”
He shrugged. “You know what you know. It’s a small town.”
“Yes. I suppose everyone knows everyone around here.”
“Even the folks we don’t talk to. You should go to the game tonight. The whole town’ll be there. It’s a good time. Tradition round here.”
“Maybe I will.”
“Best chicken stew around.”
“At the game? Or here?”
“At the game. You haven’t visited this part of North Carolina before, have you?”
“Flown through Charlotte a few times. That’s about it. Until this trip.”
“Don’t miss out on the chicken stew. They don’t serve the good stuff at the Charlotte airport. Our chicken stew is something to write home about.”
“Really.”
“Oh yeah. If I do say so myself. It’s my recipe, but a whole team of us make a batch of it that size. We make it in a huge cast-iron kettle so big it takes a boat oar to stir it. Don’t worry, though. That oar is reserved for the chicken stew.” He got up and tossed a few bills down on the table. “I’ll see you there.”
How was he so sure she’d go?
He ambled out with a slight limp on his left side. His worn blue jeans were starched and stacked atop dusty boots.
She scanned the menu for something light to hold her over until the ball game that she was apparently now going to.
“Hey there. You must be the lady from Chicago.” The waitress raised an eyebrow. “I’m Lisa. Are you here to change things over at Porter’s? Folks don’t take kindly to changes around here. We like it the way it is.” The pretty redhead eyed her, lifting her chin with a slight tilt to her smile. “What can I get you?”
“Something light. I thought I’d get a small salad, but those sweet potato fries sound so tempting.”
“Best around. We make them fresh. Every single order.” Lisa pursed her lips together. “We have our own secret seasoning. Everyone who comes through here raves about them.”
“Then that’s what I’ll have. And an iced tea, please.”
Lisa scribbled on her pad and then went into the kitchen, hollering the order to the back. Vanessa heard the clank of metal bowls and then the sizzle of food being dropped into the hot oil. A moment later the waitress brought a huge plastic cup of tea out and set it in front of her.
“Thank you.”
“Your order will be up shortly. Sorry if I came off a little strong there earlier. We’ve seen too many of you corporate folks drop in here and try to disturb things over the years. They always think they know what’s best—what’ll make things better around here. They don’t have a clue how things work.”
“No offense taken.” She sipped the tea, which was so sweet it made her back teeth ache.
“Good. I know you’ve come here to do a job, but all anyone asks is for you people to get to know what this town has to offer. Hard workers. They’re dedicated and Porter’s is a huge part of the equation.”
Heat spread to Vanesssa’s neck and cheeks. It’s all business. It’s not personal. But something kept her from saying that out loud. Lisa looked like she was not someone she wanted to be on the wrong side of.
“Last goober that corporation sent here ended up getting himself locked inside a freezer. Who’s really to say whether he made the mistake or someone helped him? Either way he left and never came back.”
Maybe that was why Micky was so quick to try to shuffle off this account for the warehouse deal. He’d never live it down if the team back at corporate heard about the freezer scenario.
Vanessa tucked that little nugget in her back pocket for future tangles with Micky.
Lisa brought her order and placed it on the table along with the check. “Not rushing you, honey, but on football night people scramble around like they are gonna miss something. Let me know if you need anything else.”
Vanessa tried one of the fries. Kind of sweet, kind of salty, and