Walking on Sunshine Read Online Free Page A

must draw the line somewhere . . . dear God, the biscuits are more than enough carbs.”
    Mattie laughed again. “Juice?”
    â€œJust water, please, but keep the coffee coming.”
    â€œWill do.” Mattie nodded and turned on her heel. He noticed that she kept glancing at Colby, who had his nose buried in a newspaper. When she walked over to refill his coffee mug, he ordered a huge breakfast feast, including a stack of pancakes. It kind of irked Garret that the dude didn’t seem to have an ounce of fat on his damn body. A few minutes later a whole crew of guys dressed and built like Colby entered the restaurant. There was a lot of back slapping and joke telling. Garret had to admit that he was envious of their camaraderie. But what he didn’t like was the constant teasing of Mattie. When Colby tugged her ponytail as she walked by, Garret longed to stomp over there and smack the big clod upside his head.
    While waiting for his breakfast, Garret played with his cell phone but listened to their conversation that was apparently English but might just as well have been in a foreign language, since Garret failed to understand most of what they were talking about. What in the world was flipping and pitching lily pads? And apparently mudding was some sort of pastime that they were going to engage in over the weekend. Did they sling it at each other whileflipping lily pads? The conversation led into some of them trying to get their girlfriends to go noodling in a nearby lake. Garret thought they must mean something like skinny-dipping. Knowing that he needed to learn the local lingo, he listened closely.
    â€œSherry won’t even consider going noodling,” said some big dude they called Squirrel. “What do you think, Danny?”
    â€œToo scared, I guess,” said Danny. “Mattie would be too.”
    â€œNah, I just bet Mattie would do it,” Colby said, drawing Mattie’s attention away from the griddle.
    â€œOf course I would,” Mattie boasted, and then turned to flip several pancakes. “When are y’all goin’?” she asked over her shoulder.
    Garret took a sip of his coffee, not liking the idea at all, and then wondered why he considered it his business.
    Danny laughed, drawing a frown from Mattie. “You’d never stick your hand in a catfish hole, Mattie. Get real.”
    â€œI’m not afraid of a catfish,” she scoffed before handing him a huge stack of pancakes.
    â€œYou’d be too scared of a water moccasin,” Danny said.
    â€œI would not,” Mattie argued.
    Garret had the feeling they weren’t talking about a shoe.
    â€œRight, you’re scared to death of snakes,” Danny insisted. “You even screamed at that fake one I put behind the counter last week.”
    â€œThat was a riot,” Colby said, and gave Danny and Squirrel a high five. They all laughed.
    Mattie narrowed her eyes and pointed her spatula at Danny. “I thought you said that Mason put the fake snake there.”
    â€œIt was Colby.” Danny jammed his thumb in his friend’s direction.
    â€œNo way.” Colby held up his hands in protest. “Wasn’t me.”
    â€œWell, I wasn’t scared, just startled,” Mattie insisted. “Even Rusty thought it was real and started barking his fool head off. And I will go noodling with you to prove it,” she added. “And show y’all up by winnin’ the weigh-in.” With a lift of her chin she turned back to the griddle, cooking at the speed of light. A minute later she brought Garret’s huge breakfast over to him and put it on the table. “More coffee?”
    â€œWhen you get the chance,” Garret said, and suddenly wanted to get up and help her wait on those big clods who seemed to love to get her goat. “What is noodling, again?”
    â€œYou wade through the water until you find a catfish hole. Then you stick your hand in