****
At the counter, Patty was working. The older woman brightened as she saw Daphne coming through the door.
“Magnolia! How are you, my dear?” Patty had picked up the endearment from Grams when she was younger and had refused to stop calling her by the familiar nickname.
“I am worn out, Patty, and starving. Do you have anything on special tonight?” She sat herself on one of the barstools at the counter.
“Of course. Tonight, we are doing meatloaf sandwich from yesterday’s special. And blueberry pie is the dessert special. Would you like that or something else?” Patty leaned her elbows on the counter and leaned in. “I’m sorry I’m not serving a certain sexy carpenter tonight.” She winked and jumped back as Daphne playfully swatted at her arm.
“Patty! How do you even know about that?” Daphne felt her cheeks heat from embarrassment.
“Oh honey, everyone knows about it. Did you forget how things work in this town? Once someone saw you leaving Trent’s place in the morning, it spread all over town. But, honey, I can’t blame you one bit. I may be old but I have seen how fine his butt looks in those jeans.” Patty winked and Daphne blushed even deeper. She leaned forward and motioned for Patty to come closer.
“It looks even better out of the jeans.” Daphne smiled guiltily and Patty threw her head back in a roar of laughter that had everyone turning in their direction. Patty had to wipe the tears out of her eyes once she finally stopped laughing.
“So how ‘bout that special?” Patty wrote down the order as Daphne nodded enthusiastically.
“Could you make it to go?” Patty gave a “thumbs up” and took the order to Joey who was bustling about in the kitchen. Daphne sat, going through her emails on her phone for a while until Patty came by with a bag of to–go boxes.
“I remembered how much you liked the pie so I gave you double the order and a small cup of vanilla ice cream to go with it.” Patty winked and then waved away Daphne’s credit card. “For that laugh you gave me, we will call it even. I think I’m having another hot flash just thinking about it.” Daphne protested but Patty wouldn’t budge. “I’ll make you a deal. You won’t pay now and you can give me a discount at that new shop of yours.” Patty winked and surprised Daphne for the second time of the night.
“You know about that too?”
“Well of course I do. Now, that one isn’t a part of town gossip but Anna divulged your little secret last time I saw her. And I have to say, way to go girl! I think it’s a great idea. People in this town need to loosen up! I may be older, but I’m definitely not dead yet.” Her grin got so wide that Daphne couldn’t help but smile with her. Daphne stuck out her hand and they made a deal.
By the time she reached Grams’ house the smell of the meatloaf was making her stomach cramp. She carried her food in the house and determined she would return for her suitcase after she ate. The house was quiet and she found a note on the table from Grams stating she would be back later. Her book club had a meeting.
She had just sat down with her food when her phone buzzed. It was a text message from Trent.
Are you busy?
She quickly responded with a “no”, wondering if everything was okay. It wasn’t incredibly late, only about 9 p.m. but usually Trent called her about the store during the day.
You should come to the front door.
Daphne had barely finished reading the text message when the doorbell rang. She got out of her chair and sprinted to the door, then skidded to halt almost just as quickly. The first thing she realized was her stomach was still growling. She hadn’t begun to eat her food, but she quickly dismissed the thought. She missed Trent more.
Unfortunately, the second thing she realized was that, as soon as she came into the house, she had stripped off her clothes and donned her robe. Her favorite robe was silk and lace and almost completely see through. It had a floral pattern and only covered her body where the sides over–lapped, which was some of her breasts and her pussy. The sleeve came down to her elbows and the bottom stopped mid-thigh. She hadn't been expecting Grams to come home any time soon, so she hadn't been expecting to see anyone.
She was alone in the house and had decided to feel decadent after a day of feeling grungy at the airport. She looked down at herself and knew she should probably go change, but decided to hell with it.
Daphne shook her headed and then continued to the front door. After checking the peephole to make sure it was just Trent, she unlocked the door and pulled it open. He had a wide smile on his face until he took her robe in and she watched as his jaw slowly dropped.