Steal My Magnolia (Love at First Sight #3) - Karla Sorensen Page 0,24
customers could sit and chat if they stopped by to book something. Hardcover books about Tennessee wildlife lining a bookshelf next to it. Maybe even a mural in blue and green tones with the majestic profile of the Smokies to cover our walls.
The last time I'd been able to daydream about anything like this was probably back in high school, and I wanted to snatch the feeling to my chest and protect it.
I was still smiling happily when it was my turn at the counter. Joy smiled brightly in return. "Magnolia, you look like you brought the sunshine in all by yourself today."
"Thank you, Joy," I said. I touched a hand to my yellow cardigan, probably my favorite article of clothing. "Would you believe my Mawmaw Boone crocheted this back in the seventies?"
She shook her head. "It looks brand new."
"She made it for my momma when she was high school," I told her with a smile, "but my momma never wore it on account it was too easy to get a fishing hook snagged on the design, so it sat in her closet until I found it three years ago."
"Well"—Joy sighed—"it makes you look like spring itself." Her smile brightened again. "What can I get for you this morning?"
I leaned over to look at the case, unsure of what Grady might like. Then again, he was a man. And the way he towered over me with all that lean, lanky muscle, he could probably eat half the baked goods in here and not gain an ounce. "Why don't you bag up a couple of those wild blueberry muffins, and I'll take two medium coffees. One black and one with a splash of cream and two sugars, please."
Her eyes gleamed speculatively at my order, but Joy was too sweet and too polite to ask who I was buying for.
Maxine Barton had no such filter, unfortunately. She pushed her walker up next to me and watched Joy work over the rim of her glasses. "Two coffees, eh? You trying to smooth things over with your daddy, or is that for someone else?"
"Maxine, you never did master the art of subtlety, did you?" I asked good-naturedly. Unlike Connie, who was still watching me like a hawk, Maxine wasn't prying to be able to spread her newfound information around town. She was just happier knowing everyone's business and keeping it to herself like a pot of treasure she'd stumbled on.
"Subtlety is about as useless to me as unsweetened tea." She studied my face. "You sure pissed him off, didn't you?"
When I glanced over my shoulder, every set of eyes I could see was watching our exchange, and I sighed. "Is this what everyone else in town feels like when they've made him mad?"
"Yup."
"Wonderful," I said under my breath. She heard me, though, because Maxine Barton had the hearing of a bat.
"He'll get over it." When Joy approached the counter with my items, Maxine handed her some cash before I could protest. "Let me get this for you, Magnolia."
"Awfully kind of you." I took the drink holder from Joy and tucked the bag of muffins into my purse. "You certainly didn't have to."
"Of course I did. First of all, you had the good Christian nature to stay and talk to Connie and not stare at the dead cat hair she wears on her head and calls an updo. Second, standing up to your daddy takes more guts than half this town has, young lady. He might worship the ground you and your momma walk on, but that doesn't mean he doesn't need his head yanked out of his ass on occasion."
I exhaled a shocked laugh, because on the one hand, I still had to stifle the urge to defend him. I'd defended him my entire life because his first instinct was to steamroll anyone and anything who might stand in Momma's or my way. But on the other hand, having someone recognize my gesture for what it was did something strange to my heart.
A part of me wanted to earn the respect of people like Maxine. Or their notice, at least, in a way that I'd never had it simply by doing whatever Daddy had planned for me. News of me working for Grady, and the inevitable complications that it would bring with Tucker and Grace, still wasn't common knowledge. Once it was, the whispers would start for a whole new reason, but I'd be prepared for that.