Wildflower Muse by Pandora Pine

Author:Pandora Pine [Pine, Pandora]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B0B5KG22YK
Published: 2023-01-30T13:00:00+00:00

11

Austen

Austen had been a wreck all morning. She’d checked her phone constantly, hoping to see a message from Francesca, but there had been none. When the call finally came through, Austen had been in the middle of helping a young mother pick out a bunch of books for her toddler. There hadn’t been time for her to check the message until the mother left the store, which happened to be when Francesca was parking her rental in front of the bookshop.

She looked like hell, her hair tied back in a loose ponytail, without its usual luster. The closer she got, Austen could see she wasn’t wearing any makeup and looked like she hadn’t slept well. Christ, had their little Facetime tryst done this to Francesca? Was she feeling guilty or ashamed? Both?

“Hey, everyone. Sorry I’m late.” Francesca sounded as bad as she looked. Her voice was strained, sounding almost hoarse.

“Are you sick?” Barb asked, rushing to her side.

“Just a little hungover,” Francesca said, making all too brief eye contact with Austen. “I think tequila affects a body differently at this altitude. I swear I only had a few shots and before I knew it, I was out cold.”

Cindy chuckled. “Yeah, sounds like the altitude got you.” She turned to Austin. “Why don’t you get lunch for everyone, chicken salad, maybe and some tomato soup? Would that work for you, Francesca?”

“Actually, what I really need is a greasy egg sandwich and some bacon. The greasier, the better.” Francesca peered up at Austen who was nodding.

“Coffee too?” she asked.

“If you would be so kind.” Francesca looked as if she were about to take a step toward Austen before Barb took her arm and led her back to the break room.

“Chicken salad for us,” Cindy said when Barb had Francesca out of earshot. “You know, I thought there was something between the two of you, but you don’t look or sound hungover at all.”

“I grabbed some chicken, broccoli, ziti from Nonna’s kitchen and went home after work, put together the podcast, wrote the description and went to bed. It’s been a busy couple of weeks putting this idea into motion.” The last thing Austen was going to do was tell Cindy anything about her complicated relationship with their guest author. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Grabbing her purse from behind the checkout counter, Austen hurried out the door.

What she’d really wanted to do was check on Francesca. Not only had she looked like she’d been ridden hard and put away wet, but she looked upset about something Austen didn’t think was connected to what happened between them last night.

Hurrying over to the Club Diner, she placed the order Cindy had asked for, along with a hot bowl of chicken broth for Francesca’s throat and some slices of cherry pie for dessert. She took a seat at the counter while Marco made her order, singing along with the Frank Sinatra classic playing on the jukebox.

“I listened to your podcast last night,” Marco said as he walked back from the kitchen with Austen’s order bagged and ready to go.

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