Teresa Watson Read Online Free Page A

one other suggestion for you: cook a good meal and stock up on snacks. You are in for a long night.”
    “Why don’t you come over?”
    “Hm, it’s a tempting offer. I mean, who wouldn’t want a front row seat to the fireworks show of the year? Ok, I’m in. I’ll even bring some dessert.”
    “Thank you,” I said, squeezing her hand.
    “Don’t thank me yet,” she warned. “If you don’t ask questions, I will, and I won’t be nice about it.”
    I slid off the stool. “I know, and I don’t care right now. Try to come over around five if you can. We can get things set up before they get there.” I headed for the door.
    “One question.”
    “What?”
    “Were there sparks flying when you saw Jake again?”
    Luckily for me, the dim lighting made it impossible for her to see my face. She would have known the answer right away.
     

 
    Chapter Six
    When I walked outside, Jake was leaning against my car with his arms crossed. “Moonlighting?” he said with a smile.
    “Very funny. What are you doing here? Are you following me?”
    He shrugged. “It’s possible.”
    I walked around him, unlocked the car, and threw my stuff in the back seat. “Is there something specific you want, or are you just going to follow me to the next place I go?”
    “I thought we could have brunch, so we could discuss some business.”
    “Just business?”
    “You’ve made it clear you don’t want to air our dirty laundry in public, so it’s only business.”
    The only place that would even consider serving brunch was the café. It was a no-win situation, and I knew it. “Fine, we’ll go back to the café. Maddie serves excellent food. I should call Ellen and Bruce to include them in this discussion.” I figured if they were there, the fewer questions people would ask.
    I’ve been wrong before.
    Ten minutes later, we were sitting in a back booth. “So, who is this handsome guy?” Maddie asked as she handed Jake a menu.
    He stood up and shook her hand. “Jake Mathias, ma’am. Dale hired me to help out at the newspaper.”
    “Oh, so you’re the one they’ve been waiting for? Pleased to meet you,” she said, smiling.
    “Ellen told me the food here is excellent,” he said, sitting down. “What do you recommend? I haven’t had a good home cooked meal in a long time.”
    “You just leave it to me,” she told him, taking the menu from him. “You want your usual, Lizzie?”
    “Sure, why not?” Maddie nodded and walked away. “Laying it on a little thick, aren’t you?”
    “No. Ellen did tell me the food here was excellent, and I haven’t been home in months.”
    Maddie came back with two glasses of sweet tea. “Food will be ready in a few minutes.”
    “Thank you, ma’am,” Jake said.
    “Please, just call me Maddie.” For a second, I thought I saw her blush as she left to take someone else’s order.
    “Nice little town,” he said, taking a drink. “This is what you settled for?”
    “We aren’t going to talk about anything personal, remember? Strictly business.”
    “You’re right. I’m sorry. I did talk to Ellen for a few minutes, and took a quick look at the layout. I see several areas that need some improvement, but overall, you and the staff have done a pretty good job, considering this isn’t really your area of expertise.”
    “Thank you. The staff has done a lot of the work, and they have been very patient with me.”
    “Who was the woman you told off earlier?”
    “Gladys Norwell, the town gossip. There isn’t anything that goes on around here that she doesn’t know about.”
    “Have you considered asking her to do a column once a week?”
    “Are you crazy?”
    “You need to up your subscriptions. Who doesn’t like to read about everyone else’s dirty laundry? She couldn’t use any names, and she could even put in a teaser about a juicy item in the next week’s column.”
    I shook my head. “No way. She is already unbearable. If you give her that kind of power, she could do a