Little Girl Lost by Lauren Lee

Author:Lauren Lee [Lee, Laurèn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-10T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

After meeting with Mr. Harden, Penny’s stomach growled and reminded her she forgot to pack lunch today. She looked down to her watch and saw the shorthand kissed the twelve. Inside her car, she cruised back to the office, hoping she’d had the foresight to bring extra snacks the last time she went grocery shopping. In the confines of her old vehicle, her stomach grumbled again.

Damn, chill, she thought.

She turned onto Main Street and slowed down to accommodate the handful of pedestrians walking across the street and away from Crimson’s Cookery, a petite spot with unbelievable wraps for lunch and a bakery to die for. Not literally, but close enough. After five, the menu switched over to dinner options which included home-cooked comfort food with a side of heart disease: Penny’s favorite dish was the fettuccini alfredo with a side of garlic bread.

Penny patted her belly and veered right into an open parking spot in front of the restaurant, nearly knocking over a bicycle locked around a thin tree trunk planted by the main strip’s sidewalk.

The aroma of fresh bread and sweet tea wafted through the air and tickled Penny’s senses. Typically, she ate lunch at her desk, if she even ate at all. Outside the Cookery, vines clung to the faded and chipped paint upon the building, snaking up and down the sides. A few smaller tables and chairs were left on the patio. However, the weather around this time of the year didn’t leave much to be desired for eating outside.

Penny stepped across the threshold and was greeted by the clanging of several bells on top of the door. Inside the Cookery, a few older couples and some kids, presumably either skipping school or taking advantage of their off-campus lunch privileges, sat at the vintage wooden tables. Local artwork hung beautifully on the walls, and the original tile still lay in place. The Cookery could make any patron feel like they were eating at their beloved grandparents’ house: cozy, homey, and a dash of nostalgic.

“Table for one?” Stella, the hostess, asked with her foreign Southern drawl.

“Make that a table for two,” a voice behind Penny chirped.

Penny’s stomach dropped and not because of her appetite. She turned around to find Jayson’s wife standing and looking deep into her eyes with a flicker of curiosity sparkling in the corners.

“Hey, Jennifer,” Penny said awkwardly.

“I saw you walking in, and I was hoping I could join you for lunch,” she said and rubbed the top of her belly, as big as a beach ball.

Penny waited a moment or two in hopes Jennifer would change her mind, but her pearly white smile said otherwise.

“Uh, yeah. Sure. Sounds good.”

Stella strolled to a corner booth and stepped aside, allowing the women to scooch onto the cedar benches across from each other.

“I’ll bring y’all some waters to start and let ya look at the menu,” Stella said with a smile as sweet as pie.

Penny nodded and then her gaze darted down to the menu even though she knew it by heart.

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