It took ten seconds for the man to take another hesitant step into the room, and it wasn’t until he took a breath, thumbing his nose and loosening his shoulders with a shake, that he appeared to calm.
Henrietta yanked her hand back as the hot water she was using to clean the coffee machine spilled out and splashed over her.
It forced her to look down, and when she looked up, using her apron to dry her hand, the guy wasn’t there anymore.
He hadn’t disappeared in a flash of smoke or anything so fantastic. He had wandered off to the bathroom.
He wandered back out again several minutes later and then left.
Weird people walked off the street all the time, but this guy caught her imagination, and she craned her neck to watch him as he strode across the street outside.
“Henrietta, hello, Henrietta.”
She blinked, snapped her head forward, and realized she was ignoring one of the customers. Except this wasn’t any old customer. This wasn’t any ordinary man. It was Jimmy Field, the hottest man in the whole city. He was strapping, he was handsome, and he had the kind of body that looked fantastic when covered in oil. He was always December when it came to the nude calendar the fire station did each year for charity. Though by nude, you never saw anything; there were hoses and fire hats in the way. Still, Jimmy Field was Mr December. He was also dating Marcia. Though Marcia was also dating about nine other men, Henrietta knew her sister was proud of the fact she’d gotten the attention of Mr December.
Jimmy turned around in his chair to check where Henrietta had been staring off to.
She squeaked. “Oh, sorry, nothing, a bird caught my eye.” A bird caught her eye? What kind of excuse was that?
Jimmy nodded, as if birds caught his eye all the time… which they did, but only if bird was being used as a euphemism for women.
He grinned.
She knew what was coming next. As Jimmy opened his mouth, she got there first. “She is fine. So is mum and so is dad.”
Jimmy got the same confused look Patrick had that morning. “How did you know what I was going to say?”
She shrugged and tried to look affable. It was best not to tell him he was as predictable as one of Marcia’s ridiculous romance novels.
“All right, what am I going to say next then?” Jimmy waggled his eyebrows.
Henrietta paused and glanced around the room, trying to look mystical. “Jimmy Field, you are about to say: here, have a tip.”
He laughed, reached into his pocket, and grabbed a piece of gum, offering it to her. “Here, Henrietta, have a tip.”
She accepted the gum, but arched an eyebrow. “Jimmy, this is not a Home Alone movie. In the real world, we use money.”
He shrugged, his tan, muscular arms peeping out from under his tight and sooty white t-shirt. “Sorry, Henny, but I don’t have any coins.”
She took the gum and put it into the pocket of her apron then she watched as Jimmy brought out his mobile and proceeded to call her sister, planning a date for the weekend.
Whilst Marcia would get to enjoy the hottest fireman in town, Henrietta would spend her weekend cleaning out her woodshed. Some things weren’t fair. Especially where Henrietta was concerned.
She didn’t have long to mull over her bad luck. It was then that she took a quick break to go to the bathroom.
A funny thing happened while Henrietta was in the bathroom. The door caught fire.
The rest of the five-book Enchanted Writes series is currently available.
