Read Online Falling for Grace by Maddie James - Free Book Online Page B

two women
were her best friends, and had good intentions, she didn’t want
them joining forces again to instigate something into an area of
her life where Gracie had no intention of going.
    Will those two never stop trying to hook her
up with a man?
    “ Oh nothing,” Amie
replied, popping the last bite of bagel into her mouth. “You know,
Gracie, I am a bit miffed at you, however.”
    Puzzled, Gracie stared at her friend.
“Whatever for?”
    “ Allowing him to come into
town and open up another café . I mean, when the soup and
sandwich place closed down the street, I all but had a monopoly on
the lunch crowd.”
    “ My goodness, you have the monopoly on the
breakfast crowd! And more customers than you can handle, as I
recall, at lunch,” Gracie told her. “Weren’t you just complaining
last week that you weren’t prepared for the onslaught and that
people could barely get in the door during their lunch
hour?”
    “ Complaining? No. Drooling
at the thought of the increase in lunch sales? Yes. But now I
suppose…”
    Leaning forward, Gracie
replied, “Look, Amie. Carson Price putting in another café down the street is
not going to ruin your business. If lunch customers can’t get in
your door because it’s too crowded and the service is slow, do you
think they are going to come back? No. And besides, Carson’s place
is going to be different from yours, not just a soup and sandwich
place, he said. In fact, he’s even going to be open for
dinner.”
    Amie thought about that. “Not just a soup
and sandwich place, huh? Wonder what he meant by that?”
    Gracie shrugged. “Not sure. I just think he
must be designing something fairly upscale since he’s planning to
be open for dinner, too.” Her thoughts drifted for a moment, then
she looked at Amie. “I wonder...wouldn’t it be great if he was
putting in some sort of tea room? I mean, that would be so cool
right next door. We could possibly double up on advertising and
marketing and bring in customers for each other....”
    Thoughts were swimming in her head. This
could be perfect. This could be just the thing she needed. She
couldn’t wait until the next meeting of the Chamber.
    “ I dunno,” her friend
said, “Carson Price doesn’t look much like the tea room type to
me.”
    But Gracie wasn’t listening. Visions of
increased business and new customers were dancing in her head.
    Amie touched her arm.
    “ What?”
    “ I said why don’t you ask
him now.”
    Gracie shook her head. “Excuse me?”
    Pointing with her thumb
over her shoulder, Amie directed Gracie’s attention to the front of
the shop. “That’s him, right? Why don’t you go discuss business
with him now? See if you two could drum up some business together.”
    Gracie sucked in a deep breath. Amie’s
innuendo stood for more than business, she knew. Turning, she
looked in the direction her friend pointed. There he stood at the
front counter, wearing tight jeans, work boots, and a black t-shirt
that fit like a second skin—ordering breakfast to go.
    “ Doesn’t look like any
lawyer I ever met,” Gracie muttered.
    “ What?”
    She sat up straighter and looked at Amie.
“Wait a minute. You said you’d never seen him. How did you know
that was Carson Price up there?”
    Amie tossed her an evil little grin and
tilted her chin a bit. “Oh, all right. So, I lied. I peeked. And,
oh yeah, he comes in here every morning for breakfast. Just in case
you’d like to know.”
    Amie grinned wide and giggled and Gracie
could all but strangle her. She was up to something. So was
Constance. And that didn’t bode well for her, she knew.
    * * * *
    “ Just a large coffee,
black, and one of those honeybuns. To go.”
    Carson eyed the young girl across the
counter as she turned and headed for the coffeemaker. She couldn’t
be more than seventeen, he thought. Yet, she was giving him the
once over and smiling like he was prime rib or something.
    Another teenager sidled up next to her,
pretending to