Read Online SunnyWithAChanceofTrueLove by Jessie Evans - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jessie Evans
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something designed to highlight a local business and send new customers its way. And if the front page spread hadn’t dwelled extensively on Ross’s career picking up roadkill and made sure to mention that new waitress Elodie spent her mornings, “up to her elbows in dead animals, and her afternoons slinging hash,” it might have done just that.
Instead, the evening after the article published in the Lonesome Point Gazette , Ross’s Place saw a fifty percent drop in business. The next evening saw another twenty percent decline, and by the time Ross locked up on Sunday night, he’d had his worst dinner service yet, serving only three meals the entire evening. And one of those was a take-out meal Mia had picked up for her and Sawyer to share when he got off work at the ghost town.
“It’s my fault.” Elodie sagged to the ground to sit cross-legged on the spotless tiles just inside the door. There hadn’t been enough customers to leave any scuff marks. “I should never have moved out of Remi’s. Maybe then, I could have talked her out of writing that article.”
“It’s not your fault,” Ross said, sitting down beside her. “It’s Spencer’s fault, for being a vindictive asshole. And Remi’s for letting herself be manipulated by a sociopath.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe she’s dating that creep. I thought she was smarter than that.”
“Me too.” Elodie sighed. “I can’t believe she did this, either. I thought we were friends.”
Ross put his arm around her. “You’re still friends. The article made your work look great and orders are still up at your store, right?”
“That doesn’t matter,” Elodie said, leaning into him. “She shouldn’t have done this to you. She knows you were the entire reason I moved back to this stupid town. If she were a real friend, she wouldn’t have lashed out at someone I care about.”
Ross smiled. If someone had told him a week ago that he’d feel like he was on top of the world, even as he watched his business and life savings wash down the drain, he would have called them crazy. But now that he and Elodie were together, all the other stuff was just icing. She was all he needed to be happy.
“It’s okay,” he said, wanting to comfort her so they could enjoy their last few nights before he was forced to admit defeat and close the doors to Ross’s Place forever. “And it’s really not your fault, I promise. This place is cursed. None of the restaurants that open here last more than a month or two. It was just a matter of time before something went wrong.”
Elodie tipped her head back, a curious expression on her face. “How is it cursed?”
Ross filled her in on the story Clementine had told him, finishing with the details Miss Emily, Mia’s grandmother, had shared with him when she came in for dinner on Thursday. “Apparently Jim and Macy tried to move back a few years later, but her father refused to acknowledge their marriage or their baby as his grandchild. Macy was so hurt by it that Jim ended up selling the Blue Plate for a fraction of what it was worth just so they could afford to get back out of town fast.”
“That’s awful.” Elodie’s blue eyes sparked with a familiar fire. Nothing riled her up faster than a whiff of injustice. It was one of the many things he loved about her.
He still hadn’t found the perfect moment to tell her how he felt, but he would. Soon. He already had a plan in place for the night before Valentine’s Day, the perfect day to start a romantic tradition he hoped would continue for many years to come.
“But I don’t believe in curses.” She crawled into his lap and looped her arms around his neck, making him wish they were already upstairs alone instead of sitting in front of the restaurant’s windows. “And I’m beginning to think you were right.”
“I’m sure I was,” Ross said, leaning in to kiss her sweetly scented neck. “Tell me what I was right about again?”
She tilted
Instead, the evening after the article published in the Lonesome Point Gazette , Ross’s Place saw a fifty percent drop in business. The next evening saw another twenty percent decline, and by the time Ross locked up on Sunday night, he’d had his worst dinner service yet, serving only three meals the entire evening. And one of those was a take-out meal Mia had picked up for her and Sawyer to share when he got off work at the ghost town.
“It’s my fault.” Elodie sagged to the ground to sit cross-legged on the spotless tiles just inside the door. There hadn’t been enough customers to leave any scuff marks. “I should never have moved out of Remi’s. Maybe then, I could have talked her out of writing that article.”
“It’s not your fault,” Ross said, sitting down beside her. “It’s Spencer’s fault, for being a vindictive asshole. And Remi’s for letting herself be manipulated by a sociopath.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe she’s dating that creep. I thought she was smarter than that.”
“Me too.” Elodie sighed. “I can’t believe she did this, either. I thought we were friends.”
Ross put his arm around her. “You’re still friends. The article made your work look great and orders are still up at your store, right?”
“That doesn’t matter,” Elodie said, leaning into him. “She shouldn’t have done this to you. She knows you were the entire reason I moved back to this stupid town. If she were a real friend, she wouldn’t have lashed out at someone I care about.”
Ross smiled. If someone had told him a week ago that he’d feel like he was on top of the world, even as he watched his business and life savings wash down the drain, he would have called them crazy. But now that he and Elodie were together, all the other stuff was just icing. She was all he needed to be happy.
“It’s okay,” he said, wanting to comfort her so they could enjoy their last few nights before he was forced to admit defeat and close the doors to Ross’s Place forever. “And it’s really not your fault, I promise. This place is cursed. None of the restaurants that open here last more than a month or two. It was just a matter of time before something went wrong.”
Elodie tipped her head back, a curious expression on her face. “How is it cursed?”
Ross filled her in on the story Clementine had told him, finishing with the details Miss Emily, Mia’s grandmother, had shared with him when she came in for dinner on Thursday. “Apparently Jim and Macy tried to move back a few years later, but her father refused to acknowledge their marriage or their baby as his grandchild. Macy was so hurt by it that Jim ended up selling the Blue Plate for a fraction of what it was worth just so they could afford to get back out of town fast.”
“That’s awful.” Elodie’s blue eyes sparked with a familiar fire. Nothing riled her up faster than a whiff of injustice. It was one of the many things he loved about her.
He still hadn’t found the perfect moment to tell her how he felt, but he would. Soon. He already had a plan in place for the night before Valentine’s Day, the perfect day to start a romantic tradition he hoped would continue for many years to come.
“But I don’t believe in curses.” She crawled into his lap and looped her arms around his neck, making him wish they were already upstairs alone instead of sitting in front of the restaurant’s windows. “And I’m beginning to think you were right.”
“I’m sure I was,” Ross said, leaning in to kiss her sweetly scented neck. “Tell me what I was right about again?”
She tilted
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