"Miss Daisy, you ready to take me up on my offer of a date yet?" Will asked, giving Miss Daisy a wink.
She blushed and smacked his hand with her small notepad. "William Ashton, you devil. If I was only thirty years younger.... But, look at you with your bad manners. Bless your heart. If I didn't know your mama raised you better, I'd think you were a total failure of a gentleman for not introducing me to your lady friend." Miss Daisy looked pointedly at Kenna, and she thought Miss Daisy said the words lady friend a little strangely.
"McKenna Mason, this young lady is Miss Daisy Mae Rose. One of her sisters is Miss Lily Rae, your landlord," Will smiled at her and then nodded his head toward the back of the cafe, "and her other sister is Miss Violet Fae Rose, but she's usually in the back, riding hard on the cooks."
"That she is. And you, dear, you just call me Daisy Mae. So, you’re staying with Lily Rae. Well, I'm sure she'll feed you fine, but you just come on down here anytime you want to eat. Most of the time, we supply some of the food to Lily Rae anyway." Miss Daisy turned to Will. "You know Violet Fae will be out to see you as soon as I put in the order. Do you both know what do you want to drink?"
Will looked up at Kenna and signaled her to go ahead with her order. "This raspberry ice tea looks great. I'll have some of that," Kenna said.
"Sweet tea for me. Thanks, Miss Daisy," Will said with a genuine smile for her.
Daisy Mae turned to Kenna. "It was real nice to meet you, dear, and I’ll be out in just a jiffy with your drinks. Specials are on the board." With a wave, she walked to the back with their drink orders. Kenna noticed her stopping at every table on the way. Some quick glances darted her way while others openly stared.
The bell over the door tinkled, and the gazes of the patrons shifted from her to the person coming into the cafe. Will leaned forward and explained to Kenna that the man was Mr. Wolfe. He was a kind of legend in the town and the main source of the Keeneston grapevine. It amused her to see him greet a majority of the people there. John turned his attention to the table where Will and McKenna sat. He began to wind his way through the tables. He shook hands and nodded his head in greeting all the way to the back.
"Uh-oh, here comes trouble," Will said as he stood up from the table to shake Mr. Wolfe's hand. "John, good to see you again." Will turned to Kenna. “This beautiful lady is McKenna Mason. Kenna, this is John Wolfe.”
"I see you wasted no time is welcoming this beautiful young lady to our town. I hope he's treating you well, Miss Mason."
"He sure is, Mr. Wolfe." Kenna said.
"Little lady, you can call me John. I heard a rumor you were in town to interview for the assistant D.A. job. Good luck with that. I saw Tom this afternoon and told him I hoped he’d give you lots of consideration. It wouldn't hurt to have a pretty thing like you to counter his bad looks either!" John guffawed.
Kenna felt her cheeks start to blush but was more amazed he knew why she was there, not to mention his remarks about her being pretty didn't seem to stem from sexism but from his gentlemanly manner. "How on earth did you know I was interviewing for the job? Mr. Burns said the application process was confidential and I haven't told anyone but Will and his father?" Kenna asked.
Will's smile grew and he shook his head in slight bafflement. "We don't know how he does it, but John always finds everything out. He has for as long as I've known him. The prevailing town theory is he bugged the whole city. Either that or he has a magic crystal ball. We can't decide and John has never revealed his sources."
Miss Daisy appeared behind John carrying their drinks. "What's this I hear? John, did you say McKenna is here to apply for the assistant D.A. job?"
Kenna cringed. Miss Daisy had not only asked her question loudly, she did it in such a way that her voice projected through the whole cafe. Kenna saw another white head of hair pop out the back servers’ window and figured that was Miss Violet. All conversation had stopped, and the only noise was chair legs scrapping the floor as the patrons angled toward her awaiting an answer.
"You better just come clean with the group," Will said.
His smile was starting to irritate her. He wasn't the least bit surprised or embarrassed that half the town was blatantly staring and patiently waiting for her to answer.
"Um," she cleared her throat and then decided if this was turning into a sudden cross-examination, then she’d better act like the accomplished attorney she was. She scooted to the end of the booth and stood up. Her hands were sweaty and she felt slightly confused by the attention. She put on her best lawyer face, which consisted of softening her face and attaching a small, polite smile. She clasped her hands in front of her and spoke in her courtroom voice, "Yes, I've come from New York to apply for the assistant D.A. job. Will has been showing me around this lovely town that I hope will soon be home." She gave one more smile and went to sit down.