“Sammy get your paper again?” Madeline asked.
“I’m thinking the Haglers’ next trick they need to teach Sammy is to bring the papers back to all the neighbors’ houses.” Larry was smiling. He dropped the paper on the table and disappeared into the kitchen.
Gil ate his breakfast with gusto. She noticed he ate all his meals that way. He ate a ton of food, but by some miracle maintained a hard muscled body. That miracle hadn’t been gifted to her, and she decided to just eat some fruit this morning.
As if.
She ate everything on her plate and finished up with a cinnamon roll with real butter on it. She mourned her lack of discipline.
Gil pushed back from the table and stretched out his jean-clad legs. “So, I was wondering what you’re going to do about Paul now?” He held his mug of coffee in one hand with the long fingers of his other hand encircling the mug, as if he were warming them on the cup. He had that satisfied look that males get when they are pleasantly full from a good meal.
“I’m going to look online and see if I can’t find another showing of his work. I’ll have to keep trying to see if I can find some other trace of him on the internet.”
“Surely his work will turn up somewhere else.”
“I hope so. I’m going to keep looking while I wait for my credit card to get here.”
“How much longer do you plan to stay?”
“A few days, I guess. I thought I’d go to Bay St. Louis and talk to your aunt again before I go. Let her know what we found and tell her that I’m going to keep looking.” Madeline folded her napkin neatly beside her plate and looked at Gil. “Or do you think I should just keep it to myself, so she doesn’t get disappointed if I can’t find him? Or if I find him and he… well, I don’t want her to be hurt.”
“I think she’d rather know that we’re looking. Maybe she’ll even have some other ideas to help us search.”
“You going to still help with the search?”
“Just try and stop me. We’ve gotten close. Hopefully we can find another lead. I can go with you tomorrow, if you wait until then. I really need to do some work at the Feed and Seed today.”
“That sounds good. Will you call your Aunt Josephine and tell her we’re coming?”
“I will. How about I pick you up about nine tomorrow morning?”
“That will work.”
Gil got up and grabbed his plate and cup. “I’m going to just bring this into the kitchen for Rebecca. That was nice of her to feed me. I’ll get yours, too.” With that he scooped up her dishes and walked into the kitchen. She could hear Rebecca telling him there was no need for him to be carting the dishes in. Rebecca might as well hold her breath. One thing Madeline had learned about Gil was that he had impeccable manners.
Madeline stood up and smiled as she looked down at her cowboy boots. So not like her normal attire, but they felt so right for some reason. She was glad to be back in the sleepy town of Comfort Crossing and away from New Orleans. Safety had surrounded her last night, sleeping at the B&B. She almost felt like her old self today and the terror of their night in New Orleans was fading away. The sooner, the better as far as she was concerned. She’d even taken off the gauze bandage on her neck this morning and replaced it with a small adhesive bandage, though she’d tied a scarf loosely around her neck to hide it. She didn’t really want to answer questions about it.
Gil strode back into the dining room, a smile on his face from his conversation with Rebecca and Larry. “I’ve gotta run now. You going to be okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I’ll see you tomorrow at nine.”
She watched him stride to the doorway. There was no other way to describe his walk. He strode. Long steps with a purpose. She watched his broad shoulders go out the door and shivered a bit against the cold draft of air. She’d go upstairs and put on a sweater before she started into her internet search for Paul. Rebecca had offered their computer for her to use today. She was anxious to start digging.
~ * ~
Gil worked hard at the Feed and Seed. He had so much paperwork to do that he’d been avoiding and the days out of the store had taken their toll. He absolutely hated doing the paperwork. Hated checking the orders and keeping all the accounts straight. But it was a necessary evil. The Feed and Seed did a fairly good business and he led a comfortable life. He had all he wanted.
Well, not all he wanted. He’d thought he wanted to settle down and raise a family, but Crystal had blown that theory. He wasn’t sure how he’d find a woman who wanted to settle down in a small town like Comfort Crossing, and there sure weren’t a lot of single women his age running around town. His sister had tried to set him up, twice, in the last year. Both times had been a disaster, though that was probably his fault. He couldn’t get past the belief that Crystal had firmly planted in his mind that no woman in her right mind would settle down in Comfort Crossing if she didn’t have to. Not that he shared Crystal’s opinion of his town. He loved Comfort Crossing. The people were friendly, even if they always seemed to know his business. He liked feeling a part of the town. He liked living in the same place he grew up in. The town suited him just fine, even if city slickers didn’t think much of it.