Read Online HAPPY PANTS CAFE (THE HAPPY PANTS SERIES) by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff - Free Book Online
Authors: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff
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he wished he could have.
“Are you absolutely sure he’s going to let her go?” He didn’t want to leave if Harper was going to need help, but if she really would get released, then there was no reason to stay.
Was there?
“Yes, I’ll see to it.” She turned and headed back under the floral arch toward her café, but then stopped. “Austin, honey, did you eat that cookie yesterday?”
Funny. How did she know he’d bought a cookie? There had been a young woman at the register and no one else. He remembered because he’d asked for the owner and was told that Ms. Luci had gone out to run an errand. Then, on the way out, he’d looked at all of the pictures on the wall, including a few framed articles from the local newspaper. One of them was about forty-five years old, with a tiny photo of Miss Luci Leon. The headline was The American Dream Alive and Well in St. Helena . The article mentioned that she had been an unmarried, twenty-five-year-old immigrant from Mexico who’d come to the United States with her parents, who’d both passed away since. To support herself, she’d run a small coffee shop and bakery that her mother had started before her death. That’s how Austin had figured out her age and full name. There were no public records on file regarding the café, which was very, very peculiar in this day and age. However, he had managed to dig up a marriage certificate for a Mr. Jeffrey Parker and Miss Luci Leon from the year the café was remodeled. A death certificate and obituary for the same man, referencing his three children and devoted wife, was on file five years later.
Tragic.
In all honesty, Austin took for granted growing up as a single child with two healthy parents who loved each other. He couldn’t imagine raising three children all alone. Or being a widowed, Hispanic woman in the 1960s, living in what was once a sleepy little town comprised of relatively unknown wineries. Of course, that was then and this was now. Now, people came from all over the world to explore the breathtaking views, sample the exquisite wines from the world-famous wineries—some edgy and boutique, some as old as the Mexican-American war—and enjoy a bit of tranquility. No doubt, the world was now a different place compared to back when Ms. Luci was enduring the worst of times, which indicated she was a hardy creature, probably stubborn as a mule and set in her ways.
Which is why when the woman asks you if you ate her cookie, you should think strategically about how you answer. Austin still wanted that interview.
Yeah. Maybe he was kind of an overzealous, cutthroat dick when it came to going after something he wanted.
He gave her one of his smiles, the kind that always made the ladies swoon. “I was hoping to talk to you first before taking the leap and eating that cookie.”
She laughed, but not because he’d charmed her. “Dear boy, it’s a cookie. Don’t listen to all those rumors.”
“What rumors?” He couldn’t resist asking just to see what she might say.
She shook her finger. “You are a sly one, Mr. Royce. If you spent as much energy on that Harper as you do work, you might find yourself in the Happy Pants boat with the rest of us.” She winked. “Trust me. I am an expert on such things.”
Harper? What exactly did Ms. Luci mean?
“Eat the damned cookie, Austin. Don’t be a…” she smiled brightly, causing the wrinkles around the edges of her big brown eyes to pucker, “big pussy.”
Austin’s jaw dropped. Had that sweet, gray-haired, little old lady told him not to be a pussy ?
Yes. Yes, she did. In public, no less.
“If I eat the cookie, will you change your mind about the interview?”
Ms. Luci chuckled and disappeared down the flower-lined walkway.
That was a no. Austin mulled it over for a moment. Well, he was doing a story on the café, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a little personal perspective to add regarding the infamous treats considering he wouldn’t be getting an
“Are you absolutely sure he’s going to let her go?” He didn’t want to leave if Harper was going to need help, but if she really would get released, then there was no reason to stay.
Was there?
“Yes, I’ll see to it.” She turned and headed back under the floral arch toward her café, but then stopped. “Austin, honey, did you eat that cookie yesterday?”
Funny. How did she know he’d bought a cookie? There had been a young woman at the register and no one else. He remembered because he’d asked for the owner and was told that Ms. Luci had gone out to run an errand. Then, on the way out, he’d looked at all of the pictures on the wall, including a few framed articles from the local newspaper. One of them was about forty-five years old, with a tiny photo of Miss Luci Leon. The headline was The American Dream Alive and Well in St. Helena . The article mentioned that she had been an unmarried, twenty-five-year-old immigrant from Mexico who’d come to the United States with her parents, who’d both passed away since. To support herself, she’d run a small coffee shop and bakery that her mother had started before her death. That’s how Austin had figured out her age and full name. There were no public records on file regarding the café, which was very, very peculiar in this day and age. However, he had managed to dig up a marriage certificate for a Mr. Jeffrey Parker and Miss Luci Leon from the year the café was remodeled. A death certificate and obituary for the same man, referencing his three children and devoted wife, was on file five years later.
Tragic.
In all honesty, Austin took for granted growing up as a single child with two healthy parents who loved each other. He couldn’t imagine raising three children all alone. Or being a widowed, Hispanic woman in the 1960s, living in what was once a sleepy little town comprised of relatively unknown wineries. Of course, that was then and this was now. Now, people came from all over the world to explore the breathtaking views, sample the exquisite wines from the world-famous wineries—some edgy and boutique, some as old as the Mexican-American war—and enjoy a bit of tranquility. No doubt, the world was now a different place compared to back when Ms. Luci was enduring the worst of times, which indicated she was a hardy creature, probably stubborn as a mule and set in her ways.
Which is why when the woman asks you if you ate her cookie, you should think strategically about how you answer. Austin still wanted that interview.
Yeah. Maybe he was kind of an overzealous, cutthroat dick when it came to going after something he wanted.
He gave her one of his smiles, the kind that always made the ladies swoon. “I was hoping to talk to you first before taking the leap and eating that cookie.”
She laughed, but not because he’d charmed her. “Dear boy, it’s a cookie. Don’t listen to all those rumors.”
“What rumors?” He couldn’t resist asking just to see what she might say.
She shook her finger. “You are a sly one, Mr. Royce. If you spent as much energy on that Harper as you do work, you might find yourself in the Happy Pants boat with the rest of us.” She winked. “Trust me. I am an expert on such things.”
Harper? What exactly did Ms. Luci mean?
“Eat the damned cookie, Austin. Don’t be a…” she smiled brightly, causing the wrinkles around the edges of her big brown eyes to pucker, “big pussy.”
Austin’s jaw dropped. Had that sweet, gray-haired, little old lady told him not to be a pussy ?
Yes. Yes, she did. In public, no less.
“If I eat the cookie, will you change your mind about the interview?”
Ms. Luci chuckled and disappeared down the flower-lined walkway.
That was a no. Austin mulled it over for a moment. Well, he was doing a story on the café, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a little personal perspective to add regarding the infamous treats considering he wouldn’t be getting an
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