Ginny Gold - Early Bird Café 02 - Deadly Surprise Read Online Free

of the details of what she loved about the evening—how special she felt getting dressed up; how every time she got Zach to laugh she got butterflies in her stomach; how his deep blue eyes never got old looking at across the table; how she was constantly reminded of growing up alongside him and wasting all those years they weren’t together.
    “I don’t want to say it, but I told you so!” Nora said, showing as much excitement as Kori was feeling. “You guys are perfect for each other. When’s the next date?”
    “We didn’t make plans,” Kori realized with regret. “But I saw him today at The Early Bird. And his new detective, Lani Silver, is a bombshell. Either he stopped by because he wanted to see me or because he wanted to show me that I had competition.”
    “ Oh please. That man hasn’t stopped loving you since high school. You think that some out of town beauty can steal his heart? Are you kidding me? You’re the one I had to convince to go out with him, not Zach. He’s been waiting for that day for more than half his life. There’s no way you have competition.”
    Kori felt only a little reassured. “Yeah right. You think he was always obsessed with me but he’s dated plenty.”
    “That was just to fill the time until you came to your senses. Now that you’ve finally done that, no one is going to get him to turn his head.”
    “Okay. Whatever. I’m here on business you know,” Kori teased.
    “Sure. What do you need?”
    Kori followed Nora to the kale and spinach that had been g rowing outside for over a month and they started picking the best leaves and putting them in a box.
    “Vera stopped by today,” Nora said, both women hunched over and sifting through the greens.
    Kori wasn’t surprised. “Oh yeah? What’d she want?”
    “She told me about a retired service dog that just came in. Owner surrender.”
    “That’s not quite what she told me.”
    Nora looked up and smiled. “I should have known she’d come to you first. What was her story then?”
    “She wasn’t a therapy dog but used to go to retirement homes unofficially.”
    “Okay, I might have embellished that part. I just thought maybe you’d be ready for a four legged friend. ” Nora’s eyes looked like those that Kori imagined the dog must have—pleading.
    “What about you? Don’t Milo and Otis need a young friend to keep them active?” Kori knew she was digging.
    “Hah! Those dogs are more active than most four year old dogs! They’d be keeping her active I think. Besides, I promised myself I wouldn’t get another one until they’re gone,” Nora whispered so the dogs wouldn’t know what she meant.
    “Fine. You guys are breaking me down. I’ll go look at the dog on my way back to The Early Bird.”
    “Great! We knew you’d cave eventually. And it sounds like this is a dog worth caving for.”
    Kori knew her friends were right—she was ready for a dog. And from what Vera said, this would be the perfect dog to add to The Early Bird Café family.
    “Now what about those eggs?” Kori asked, her box full of fresh greens overflowing in her arms.
    “I’m so glad you got more chickens for me. I don’t think I’d be able to keep up with the demand!”
    Nora was now up to 32 hens, thanks to Kori buying 14 retired layers. They were only a couple years old so didn’t produce quite as much as Nora’s young birds, but they still had plenty of eggs left in them.
    “Just let me know if you need more. It sounds like they’re always looking for homes for the hens when they stop laying an egg a day.”
    “If they’d just give them a better environment they’d get more eggs out of them. I’ve been getting five eggs a week from some of the new girls. I think that’s pretty good for a retired layer.”
    “You have different standards I think. I’m your only customer,” Kori joked.
    “Well, you do make it that way.”
    “Hey, what are you saying? That you’d like to sell elsewhere?” Kori was