Finding Love in Payton (4 page)

Rumor had it that the only person Mrs. Mac was
nice to was Stratton Sawyer. "May I help you,
Joanne?"

"Not yet. I just came to look around."

"All right," Dinah said, waving goodbye to Mrs.
McClusky and concentrated on ringing up another
woman's purchase. As soon as the room cleared, both
she and Joanne gave a comical sigh of relief.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?"

"I would, thanks," Joanne replied, already making
her way to the back of the store.

Dinah followed. Joanne had come for a reason, but
obviously she was going to get to her point in her own
time. Dinah poured a generous amount of steaming
coffee in a purple and orange mug with the words
READ printed on the side, part of a gift from her
mystery book club that met on Tuesday nights. As she
handed the mug to Joanne, she sat down in the wide
rocking chair next to Bryan's crib and waited.

She didn't have to wait long.

"I saw Jeremy yesterday. You know, my younger
brother."

Dinah didn't miss the jibe. "I saw him yesterday,
too. Well, I met him in aisle five at the grocery store."

"He told me."

Joanne's voice seemed to be both censorious and
encouraging at the same time. Dinah continued. "Jer emy got to see Bryan in all his glory, having a hissy
fit in the middle of the cereal aisle."

"I've been known to have those, too. Stratton's inordinately fond of bran cereal. My tastes have stayed
near the kids' boxes."

Dinah laughed. "Anyway, we chatted for a little
while. It's funny that I'd never met him before, since
I've met the rest of your family."

"He's quite a bit younger than the rest of us."

Ah. "Well, he's a nice guy."

"He is. He just graduated from college, you know."

She knew. Dinah glanced at Joanne for a long moment. Was she actually warning him off of her
brother? "He's going to be teaching at the high school,
right?"

"Right."

"Ah."

Joanne sipped her coffee and eyed her over the
brim. Dinah waited, still unsure if she was about to
get hit with any more zingers. "We talked about you
last night."

Dinah was glad she wasn't drinking any coffee herself, because she probably would have spilled it by
now. "Is that right?"

"Yep. I told him about how we had been in the same
class, how you had a baby ..." Her voice drifted off.

"Well, I know you'll have a nice time being in the
same town again. He spoke very highly of his family."

"He spoke very highly of you," Joanne blurted.

Dinah met her gaze. "He did?"

"He did." Joanne reddened. "I just thought you
should know that."

"Thank you. I think. Um ... is there a reason you
thought I should know?"

"No. I'm just making conversation."

Dinah wasn't so sure. Joanne surely seemed to be
on a search and rescue mission, and Dinah had the
feeling that Jeremy was about to be rescued from her
clutches. The idea didn't sit well with her, although
she was sure Joanne felt justified.

Jeremy Reece had the perfect combination of blond
movie star good looks and winsome wholesomeness
that was hard to ignore. She wanted to stare at him
and be his best friend all at the same time.

But he was young, and surely had no interest in
someone like her ... someone who had been married,
had a child, and had been widowed all about the time
he was getting his driver's license.

"Let me know if you need any help with the books,"
she said, hoping Joanne would end the conversation
at that.

"I came about something else."

"Yes?"

"Sewing. Are you interested in a couple of projects?"

She usually was, as long as Joanne gave her enough
time to do them. She made window treatments for a
few customers, and had made a formal dress once for Joanne. And she'd also made several gowns for a Civil
War ball a year ago for some fundraiser for the historical society. Dinah enjoyed the projects; it made her
feel good to have something so pretty to show for a
few hours of hard work.

"I might be," she said. "What do you need?"

"One ball gown and two soldier uniforms, all Civil
War era. We've got a reenactment of sorts for a benefit
in August." Joanne looked at her hopefully. "I already
have most of the material bought."

"When do you need them?"

"Not until August."

It was June 17. That was enough time. "I could do
them, probably."

"If you could, that would be so great."

"Same price?"

Yep.

The money would come in handy. And with Valerie
helping her out, she'd probably even have the time.
"I'll be happy to do the costumes."

"Oh, great," Joanne said, smiling. "I'll send someone by later with the patterns. You working until six?"

"Until almost six."

"Okay." With a happy sigh, Joanne set her coffee
cup down and then ventured over to the book stacks.
"Now I'm ready to shop. I need to get a couple of
paperbacks for me and a new mystery for Priscilla
Hayward. Have you met her yet?"

"Nope. Who is she?"

"She's Payton's new chef, and she's from Houston,
Texas."

"And you're buying her gifts?" Dinah couldn't stop
the surprise from her voice. After all, it was common
knowledge that Payton Chase was Joanne's former fiance.

"Just a new book. I heard she's super nice and kind
of at loose ends. And a mystery lover. And ... well,
I figure she's going to need some friends since she has
to deal with Payton all day."

Dinah burst out laughing. "Well, send her my way
and I'll try and help her out."

Joanne smiled broadly. "I'll be happy to. Now I
better get moving or Mrs. Mac isn't going to be the
only one late for work."

Dinah chuckled and walked to the register, just as
two gentlemen came in looking for the new bestsellers.
It was sure to be a busy day.

veything"E is about the same. Dinner service be
gins at five, continues until nine. We'll offer a buffet
on the weekends, a few daily specials, which you'll
get to sample when you come in," Payton Chase said
as he and Jeremy walked through the dining rooms of
the country club.

They'd been touring and talking for over an hour,
mostly chatting about college and fraternities ... and
about Priscilla Hayward.

"Have you met her yet?" Payton asked, looking a
little awestruck.

"I haven't," Jeremy admitted, biting his lip in order
not to smile. There was obviously something between
Payton and his new chef, and he, for one, was smart enough to stay out of it. "If that will be all, I'll just
go ahead and get my-"

Payton checked his watch. "She should be here by
now. Let's go see her, shall we?"

Since Payton was already walking towards the
kitchen, Jeremy simply followed him. Truth be told,
it would be interesting to get to visit with the chef, if
for no reason than to have the news before Joanne.
After their conversation the night before, he was hoping to have news on anyone, anything before she did.

"Ah, Priscilla," Payton said. "Here's someone I'd
like you to meet."

Jeremy glanced up and did everything he could to
keep his expression simply polite and cordial. Priscilla
Hayward was a looker. With long black hair that
skimmed her shoulder blades, green eyes, and a tall,
lithe build, she looked like she should be skimming
the pages of Vogue magazine, not wearing a white
apron and hanging out in a kitchen.

"Nice to meet you," he said, holding out a hand.
"I'm one of the new waiters."

She looked confused. "Oh. Nice to meet you."

"Jeremy's a little more than that," Payton explained.
"His family have been long-standing members of the
club, in fact, his mother's on the board. Daphne
Reece."

Recognition clicked into place. "Well, I guess we'll
be seeing each other a lot, then."

"Jeremy's going to be Payton High's new history
teacher. He's just here for the summer."

Jeremy waited a moment longer, sure Payton was
going to tell her his shoe size and what annoying habits he'd had when he was twelve. But the manager
was quiet now, seemingly content to just gaze at the
chef.

He cleared his throat. "Um, are you enjoying our
town? I heard you moved here from Texas."

She smiled, her lips wavering a little. "Yes, I think
so. Things are really different here, but good. I'm living in a little house in the historic section of town."
Looking apologetic, she said, "I have to admit, the
country club is not quite what I had imagined."

Jeremy smiled at Payton, who looked like he was
seriously reconsidering his idea of visiting with Priscilla. "How did you imagine it?"

Her eyes hardened. "Well, Payton here had told me
it was quite a bit different than it is."

"Yeah?"

"Bigger. More ... cosmopolitan."

Jeremy swallowed hard. Clenched his fist. Anything
to not burst out laughing. "Cosmopolitan? Payton,
Ohio?"

She reddened. Payton looked practically pained. "I
had thought it was a little more ... edgy. Nouveau.
But now I'm finding that lasagna is still thought of as
ethnic fare here."

It sounded like Priscilla had been told a couple of tall tales. Jeremy felt bad for her; it was hard enough
starting a new job without finding that all your expectations were off-kilter.

"What are you going to do?"

"Do?" Payton squeaked.

"Do?" Priscilla repeated. "Nothing yet. I'm just going to make what they ask me for a little bit ... but
look out for the specials!"

"I'll do my best to promote them," Jeremy said with
a grin.

"Great! Before you know it, everyone's going to be
craving goat cheese risotto and veal shanks."

Payton flashed his perfect teeth. "As long as we
have Prime Rib on Fridays, everything should be just
fine."

Jeremy wondered if the two of them even realized
there was enough electricity between them to light a
small town. "I think I'll get my uniform and head on
out, then. I've got to stop by Joanne's place and pick
up something from her."

At his sister's name, Payton's expression turned sober. "Tell her I said hi, would you?"

"I will. She said to tell you hi, as well."

"How's she doing? I haven't seen her lately."

"Fine. She and Stratton are doing just fine."

If anything, relief crossed his features. "See you tomorrow night."

"Will do," Jeremy said after shaking Priscilla's hand
goodbye. "See you both tomorrow at four."

As he left, he couldn't help but chuckle. Payton and
Priscilla were at it again, this time fencing words over
an upcoming theme buffet.

And if he wasn't mistaken, he could have sworn he
heard several board members' names on the planning
committee. He shuddered at the thought. Priscilla was
going to have her hands full on more than one front.

Cosmopolitan, indeed.

He wasn't chuckling when Joanne handed him a
stack of material and three envelopes of patterns and
commanded him to take them to Dinah Cate.

"Couldn't you do this yourself, Jo?" he asked, more
than a little peeved. He wasn't ready to see Dinah
again. And he really wasn't ready for his sister to send
him places around town like he was her errand boy.

"Please, Jeremy? I'm swamped."

He glanced at her desk. As usual, piles of papers
were strewn everywhere, calendars, pens, and an
opened box of highlighters threatened to fall off the
side of the table. "You're a mess, that's what you are."

Missy, who worked as her assistant, looked up from
her own desk, which was neat as a pin. "She does
know where everything is, I should probably add."

"I find that amazing, but not enough to run these
over to Dinah." With sudden inspiration, he turned to
Missy. "Isn't it about your lunch hour? You could
drop these off."

Missy laughed. "Good try, but no. I've got two clas ses of second graders about to visit and I bring my
lunch. You are the chosen one, brother-in-law."

"Jo...

"No whining. Thanks so much," she said, hoisting
the material into his arms. "Please tell Dinah thank
you, and that I'll be calling her. And ... I'll call you
later this week and tell you when the first rehearsal
for the reenactment will take place."

"I can't wait," he muttered as he filed out of the
building, just as a school bus full of excited kids
pulled up on the curb. He waved to a few of them and
one of the teachers, then headed toward Beagle's
Books, pretending that he wasn't excited to see Dinah
Cate.

Did she dare act surprised when she looked up from
her mystery and saw Jeremy Reece enter the shop, his
arms full of navy blue wool and scarlet-colored silk?
No way, Dinah decided as she got a good look at his
expression.

It was full of resolution and brotherly irritation. She
knew the look well, after all, she had two brothers of
her own. "Hey, Jeremy," she said instead, standing up
to relieve him of his burden. Bonnie approached also,
and when he bent down to pet the dog, she gathered
her wits.