“Hey, Mr. Mayor!” he shouted.
That was a teenager’s way of saying hello. He liked it. “Hey, yourself!”
He ducked into The Cup & Saucer, eager for the diner’s bright ambience and comforting smells. He’d have the works, which meant egg-and-potato scramble with ham. During the week he watched his cholesterol, but it was Saturday.
He greeted the locals and noted several tourists as well. The number seemed to grow each year. And why not? Stony Point was a prosperous little town set in some of the best vacation country in the world. More than that, its citizens were resilient, generous, and proud. And he was honored to be their mayor.
Peggy spotted him and came tripping toward him, coffeepot in hand. Her nails were pink but bore no further embellishment today. Matching pink streaks in her short dark hair revealed that Mitzy, her beautician sister, had been at it again. In her zest for life, Peggy leaned toward whatever was new and off-the-wall, but she charmed everyone and could fill an order in no time flat.
“Morning, Mr. Mayor. You’re looking fine!” she chirped. She filled his cup. “The Saturday special?” she queried. “Better get it now. We may run out.” Barely taking a breath she rambled on, “Where is everyone coming from? Is the whole world vacationing in Stony Point? Even Wally’s—” She broke off, her eyes going suddenly wide.
Ian glanced up. Peggy rarely interrupted her own string of speech.
“I mean …” She put a pink-tipped finger to her temple. “I mean Wally’s had to drop me off early to refill everything—the sugars and creamers, the napkin holders, salt and pepper. Everything!” She spun off to get his Saturday special.
Ian grabbed for his coffee, feeling as though a tornado had just ripped through the building. But he felt himself smiling. Peggy could charm the rings off a raccoon. In the booth across from him, Commander Neil Bruce, decorated war veteran and Stony Point’s official VFW representative, raised one bushy eyebrow knowingly and gave a half salute. Martha, his diminutive wife, mouthed a “Good morning, Mayor” and daubed her lips with her napkin.
Peggy returned, dropped the Saturday special on his place mat, and slid in beside him. “Speaking of summer people, I suppose you’ve heard about Annie’s surprise tourist,” she said in a hushed aside.
When she seemed ready to fly off again, Ian stayed her hand. “Surprise tourist?”
“A girl whose mother recently died. She’s kind of lost, and she just turned up at Grey Gables. She practically fainted on Annie’s doorstep. Annie brought her to A Stitch in Time for the Hook and Needle Club meeting on Tuesday. She’s really sweet looking, but skinny as a knitting needle. Disgusting is what it is. Bet she never gains an ounce!” She recaptured her hand and gave him a little wave. “Gotta run, but hey, there’s Annie. You can ask her all about it.”
Annie breezed in, wearing something pink and stunning. She gave the crowded diner a roaming glance with those incredible green eyes and caught his glance. He suppressed the urge to smooth his hair as she came toward him.
She’d had that effect on him the minute he’d met her, when she’d first come to Stony Point to make arrangements for her grandmother’s estate. He couldn’t be happier that she’d decided to stay. He was glad they were friends, but was it disloyal to Arianna—especially on her birthday—to feel his heart beat a bit faster at the sight of Annie Dawson?
Annie too had lost someone special to her. She’d talked often enough about Wayne and her life in Texas. She was alone like him, but at least she had a daughter and grandchildren, though looking at her, one would never suspect she was old enough to be a grandmother.
And Ian succumbed. Standing, he pressed a hand across the crown of his head. Not the time for a stubborn cowlick. “Annie, would you join me?”
“Ian, hi!” A pleasant flowery fragrance lingered as she breezed past him into the booth. “I had some errands to run in town this morning, and all of a sudden, a hankering for a cheese danish came over me. I see you’re having the potato scramble. Looks good.”
“A Saturday indulgence,” he said ruefully. “And how are things at Grey Gables?”
“Good. Really good,” she said. “I’m thinking about getting Wally to do something with the pantry shelves. The kitchen cabinets he refinished are beautiful, and I’d like to get everything up to the same standard.”
Lisa, a waitress with a pert blonde ponytail, took Annie’s order in the absence of Peggy who was serving a large party of tourists. Annie ordered tea and the danish without consulting the menu. “Milk please, no lemon,” she told Lisa with a smile.