When she didn’t answer, Rachel did. “Homegrown.”
She straightened her shoulders. She had nothing to be embarrassed about, sitting at a table of men. Neither she nor Willa belonged to The Last Riders and could do as they wanted.
Yancy had tried to talk to Willa and received only monosyllabic replies, but Scott was more determined, eventually able to pry information out of her about her baking business. When he found out she had brought in pies to the diner, the men all ordered a piece to go with their coffee. The peach pie had the men silent for several seconds as they cleaned their plates.
“I could eat the whole pie by myself,” Vaughn complimented Willa, bringing a rosy flush to her cheeks. “Could I have your number? The next time we have a cookout, I’ll order a couple.”
Willa hesitantly reached into her purse, pulling out a card and handing it to Vaughn. At that point, Rachel felt a chill run down her spine. Instinctively, her gaze went to the table The Last Riders were sitting at; the men seemed furious. Rachel couldn’t understand why they were so angry, and she was tempted to sit there longer but decided to put Willa out of her misery.
“I have to get back to work. It was nice meeting you all.” Scorpion stood, letting her slide out of the booth while the others stood, letting Willa out. The waitress had already set Lily’s takeout food on the table, so Rachel bent down to pick it up with the check, yet found herself forestalled.
“Our treat.” Scorpion smiled, taking the ticket.
Rachel started to refuse but was quickly cut off. “For letting us disrupt your lunch and keeping us company.”
The gesture was a friendly overture that Rachel saw no need to turn down. “Thanks.”
Rachel smiled as she and Willa turned to leave. Unfortunately, they had to pass The Last Riders on the way out and not a single one tried to hide their displeasure. What the hell was up with them? Oblivious to the men’s stares, the door was no sooner closed behind them than Willa gave a relieved sigh.
“That bad?” Rachel asked sympathetically.
Willa gave a brief nod. “I become an idiot around men. Just once, I wish I didn’t act like a dork.”
“You didn’t. You’re shy, Willa, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“There’s a lot wrong with it, Rachel. Just once, I wish I could be more like you. You had those men listening to your every word.”
“Willa, you’re wrong. Three out of the four were trying to get to know you. You’re too hard on yourself.” There was no middle ground with Willa. Like her salad, she starved herself from both food and male companionship because, to herself, she didn’t measure up to this ideal she felt she could never reach. The Barbie syndrome was a bitch to live up to. Rachel felt it herself, which was why she could understand Willa’s feelings.
“I’ll see you at the party tonight,” Rachel reminded her, hoping she wouldn’t back out.
“Do you want me to bring anything?” Willa offered.
“No, you’re already bringing the birthday cake, and that’s enough. The party’s in four hours, so just go home and relax.”
“All right. Bye, Rachel.”
Rachel left Willa, crossing the street to the church store. Lily was still doing paperwork. Handing her the takeout lunch, Rachel began to pull out the donations from the previous day to organize them.
“Was the restaurant busy?” Lily asked, digging into her lunch.
“It was packed. Some men from out of town asked to join Willa and me.”
Lily’s violet eyes sparkled. “Any of them good-looking?”
“A couple of them were. One managed to get Willa’s card from her. I bet he ends up asking her out. I hope so; she needs to get out more.”
“You think it’s safe? If they aren’t from Treepoint, you really can’t know anything about them.” Lily paused, taking a bite of her hamburger.
“I got their names. I’ll ask Tate to check them out if she decides to go out with him.”
“Lewis won’t be happy,” Lily said.
“No, he won’t.” The recently divorced man had three children of his own and was raising his sister’s two after her imprisonment and subsequent death. He was determined to make Willa his, despite her running in the other direction whenever she saw him.
“Shade was at the restaurant, eating with some of his friends.”
Lily nodded. “They probably stopped there for lunch, coming back from Jamestown.”
“Jamestown?” Rachel separated the toys from the clothes.
“They were meeting someone about buying property there.”