I felt the tears well up in my eyes and struggled to keep them from falling. “I cried at a coffee commercial yesterday. Coffee! Do you have any idea how mortifying that is?”
“Oh, Fortune.” Ida Belle reached over and put her hand on mine. “You know if I could fix this, I would.”
I nodded. “Like my mother used to.”
Ida Belle smiled. “You’re the daughter I never had, but if you tell anyone I was that sentimental, I’ll kill you. And you know I’m capable—at least, I’m capable if I shoot you from a distance. Hand to hand, you’d probably take me.”
Because I knew she wanted me to, I forced a smile. “Under normal circumstances, I’m pretty hard to kill, but I suppose I’m at a disadvantage lying on the couch all day.”
“Not to mention that a predator on four legs could probably smell you a mile away.”
“It’s not that bad, but I get your point.”
Ida Belle rose from the coffee table. “Let’s get you something to eat, then I’ll root around in the laundry room and find you a pair of those yoga pants you like so much. A good meal and a shower will do you a world of good. You’ll see.”
I followed Ida Belle into the kitchen and plopped down at the table as she pulled leftover pot roast and potatoes from the refrigerator. She set a plate of it heating in the microwave and poured us both a glass of sweet tea. As the food heated, she wandered into the laundry room and came back out with yoga pants and a T-shirt and laid them across an empty chair. The microwave dinged and she pulled the plate out and shoved it in front of me, along with a hunk of French bread and a container of butter. She grabbed some cookies from the jar before taking a seat across from me.
Now that the food was in front of me and I could smell the enticing aroma of one of Gertie’s signature dishes, I was starving. I picked up the fork and attacked the plate of food with more gusto than I would have thought possible when I was entrenched on the couch. Ida Belle gave me a pleased nod and bit into one of the cookies.
“These are great,” she said. “One of Ally’s new creations?”
“Toffee, chocolate, something or other,” I said in between bites. “I predict she’ll make a million.”
Ida Belle took another bite. “I wouldn’t bet against you. These are incredible. What a talent she has.”
“She’s awesome. Not just the food, but her, too, you know? She’ll be great with customers when she opens her bakery.”
“She will. I know she had to get back to her own house, but I almost wish she could have stayed here longer.”
I shrugged. “It’s probably easier this way, given the circumstances.”
The circumstances being that Ally didn’t know the real me and therefore couldn’t know the truth behind why Carter and I had split. She was firmly committed to the idea that Carter was a stubborn man and would come to his senses. It had been tough coming up with a reason for our breakup, but I’d finally decided on a combination of two things—the first being my constant involvement in things I ought not to be involved in and the second, the biggie, being that I had no intention of remaining in Sinful when the summer was over. I pitched it as the smart thing to do before we got more attached. Ally, being the good friend and romantic that she was, still held out hope that Carter would get unstubborn and I would change my mind about staying.
“You’re right,” Ida Belle said. “Gertie or I would be happy to move in for a bit, or both of us, if you’d like.”
I felt a tingling of warmth run across my skin and smiled for real this time. Having friends was also new to me, but I was not only getting used to people caring about me as a person, I was starting to like it. It brought back feelings I hadn’t had since my mother was alive. Feelings I’d almost forgotten and never thought I’d have again.
“You know I appreciate the thought,” I said, “but people would talk, and we don’t have a decent cover story. You guys staying here after the hurricane was one thing, but if you set up residence here without some sort of emergency situation, everyone will take a closer look.”
Ida Belle took another bite of her cookie. She knew everything I’d said was true, so there was no effort to argue. “People are already talking, you know,” she said. “Carter’s doing the honorable man thing and refuses to say anything to anyone, including his own mother, much to her dismay. But unless someone spreads a rumor, people will keep speculating until there’s something more interesting to focus their attention on.”
“Well, Sinful has had quite a crime wave since I arrived. Maybe someone will get murdered or blow something up.”
“That’s quite possible. And if we’re lucky, it won’t be someone we like.”