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Mary Jo, but the strongest tip had been about Sharlene. She had been bragging that she would bed and wed Toby Dawson before the year was out since she’d missed out on doing the same thing with his brother, Blake.
    “Thank you, but not today, Miz Sharlene, but it was nice meeting you. Good day, Lizzy. I’ll look for that order sometime this afternoon, right?”
    “Soon as my part-time guy gets here.” She ran the card, rang up the bill, and pushed the receipt across the counter for him to sign.
    Sharlene tilted her head to one side. “How about Sunday dinner? I’ve been out of pocket the last few weekends, but I’ll be in church this week. Nadine makes a mean chicken fried steak on Sundays.”
    He shook his head and took a step back. “Got plans but thanks for the offer.”
    “With Deke? You can bring him along.”
    Deke was a lifelong friend of all the Logan women. He was Allie’s right-hand man when it came to construction jobs, and his ranch was right next door to the Lucky Penny. Plus, he’d become Blake’s friend the first week that he’d moved to the Lucky Penny and he was always, always ready for a good time. His taste in tall, loose-legged blondes ran the same as Toby’s.
    “No, not with Deke. Good day, Sharlene.”
    “Maybe another time.” She smiled.
    He tipped his hat toward both ladies and headed for the door.
    “Dammit!” Sharlene slapped the countertop. “I’m not giving up, Lizzy.”
    Before Lizzy could answer, her phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her hip pocket, saw Toby’s face on the screen, and answered it in her best business voice. “Yes, sir, did you forget something?”
    “Is that woman still there?”
    “Of course. Here she is.” Lizzy handed the phone off to Sharlene.

Chapter Three
    I ’m still mad at you,” Toby said that Sunday afternoon as he, Blake, Allie, Katy, and Lizzy found seats at Nadine’s. “I cannot believe you’d do that to me after all we had.”
    “Shhh!” Lizzy shushed him. “Someone will hear you. I figured if you had anything to say to Sharlene, you might as well say it to her yourself.”
    “She’s stalking me now. I’ve gotten a dozen text messages and that many calls that I didn’t answer. You gave her my cell phone number, didn’t you?” Toby narrowed his eyes at Lizzy as they sat down in the last two chairs on the back row.
    “You told me exactly what you are interested in, and she fits the bill to a tee,” Lizzy said. “You should be thanking me for my help.”
    “I could wring your neck for your help,” Toby said. “Tell me again why we’re here.”
    “Nadine and a few other folks have decided to get up a homecoming combined with a big Fourth of July bash this year. It’s to help entice folks into coming back for a visit and celebrate the town, I suppose,” she whispered.
    “Well, it looks like everyone in Dry Creek has turned out for it. This place is jam-packed. Oh, shit! There’s Sharlene up there and she’s staring right at me.”
    “It’s love at first sight.” Lizzy giggled.
    “You are not funny,” Toby said.
    Nadine’s café had opened back in February and already it was the central hub for everything from gossip to Sunday dinner in Dry Creek. It shared the block with the Dry Creek Convenience Store owned by Katy, which offered staples like milk and bread and had two gas pumps out front. Then two empty storefronts with dirty windows separated it from the Dry Creek Feed and Seed, which Lizzy ran, on the other end of the street.
    That Sunday afternoon, the café had closed at two, right after the after-church dinner run, and reopened at three for a town meeting. Nadine provided coffee, sweet tea, and an assortment of homemade cookies on a table right inside the door. She and her two best friends, Sharlene and Mary Jo, sat in three chairs facing the crowd. At exactly three thirty, Nadine turned on the portable microphone and got the meeting started.
    “All y’all know me but for the record, I’m Nadine and