“A client, I imagine,” Grace said, setting another menu at the place across from her.
Mary Vaughn lifted her chin and met Grace’s gaze. Grace was a wonderful woman who prided herself on knowing everything that was going on in town. She knew it because she paid attention and asked intrusive questions. Amazingly, no one in town held it against her. That didn’t mean Mary Vaughn had to cooperate.
“I’d like a glass of sweet tea, please,” she told Grace. “And you can go ahead and bring a diet soda for my friend.”
Normally her deliberate evasiveness would have piqued Grace’s curiosity to the point that she’d try a few more questions, but for some reason today, she just hurried away to fill the order.
Not two minutes later, just as Grace was putting the drinks on the table, Sonny walked in, removed his sunglasses and took a minute to allow his eyes to adjust. His hair was a little windblown, which told Mary Vaughn that he’d borrowed a convertible from the lot for the drive. She’d always thought he looked sexy as the dickens when his hair was mussed, his sleeves rolled up and his shirt open at the collar as it was now. Once again, she felt that funny little jolt of awareness that made her feel suddenly self-conscious with a man she’d known almost all her life.
“Well, will you look at what the cat dragged in,” Grace said, glancing from him to Mary Vaughn. “He’s probably here to meet his daddy.”
Mary Vaughn didn’t reply, in part because she couldn’t seem to get a word past the unexpected lump in her throat. Damn, he was good-looking. She’d always known that, but it had never kicked her pulse into gear the way it seemed to be doing today.
When Sonny headed straight for Mary Vaughn’s booth right by the front window, Grace inhaled sharply and murmured, “Well, I’ll be,” then whirled around and rushed away, no doubt to spread the word far and wide that Mary Vaughn and Sonny Lewis were about to break bread together, and that they were acting perfectly civilized. Wharton’s would be packed within the next half hour with people wanting a glimpse of the two of them. Bets would be wagered before the end of the day on what it all meant. Mary Vaughn sighed.
“You were right. This was probably a bad idea,” she told Sonny.
He shrugged, as unconcerned today as she’d been the night before. “It’s Serenity, sugar. Talkin’ is what people do.”
“Do you really want them talking about us?”
“Nothing new in that,” he reminded her. “Are you ready to order? I need to get back for my sales meeting.”
Mary Vaughn was feeling too uncomfortable to even glance at the chalkboard with the day’s specials on it. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
“Cheeseburger with fries?” he asked, sounding surprised.
Normally she ate a container of yogurt or a salad for lunch unless she was dining with a client. She hadn’t had a burger in a year.
“A burger sounds perfect,” she said, throwing caution to the wind. Today seemed the day for it.
“And fries?” Sonny asked again, as if he still couldn’t quite believe his ears.
“And fries.”
A smile spread across his face. “You remember what we were talking about last night, about people being able to change?”
“Of course.”
“Sugar, if you’ll order a milk shake with that, then you’ll make a true believer out of me.”
She frowned at his teasing. “It’s lunch, not a conversion.”
“After watching you nibble on lettuce leaves most of our adult lives, this is noteworthy,” he insisted.
“You won’t be so pleased by that when my hips start looking like two watermelons stuffed into a pair of pants.”
“You know, Mary Vaughn, that’s just one more thing you never understood about me. You’re a beautiful woman, no doubt about it, but I always loved who you were, not how you looked.”
She regarded him with skepticism. Before she could argue with him, though, Howard walked into Wharton’s took one look at them and gaped.
“Never expected to find you two sitting here all cozy,” he said. “You here to talk about our Christmas plans with Rory Sue?”
Mary Vaughn left the explanation to Sonny.
“Nope,” he told his father. “We’re on a date.”
Even though her heart took an unexpected lurch at his ridiculous claim, Mary Vaughn scowled at her ex-husband. “We are not.”
He grinned. “What would you call it?”
“A mistake,” she suggested dryly.
Howard beamed at them. “Well, whatever it is, it’s good to see the two of you together. Rory Sue would be mighty pleased if she could see you.”
“Don’t you say a word to Rory Sue about this,” Mary Vaughn said.
“That’s right, Daddy,” Sonny admonished. “You keep this to yourself. We don’t want her getting ideas. She’ll just wind up being disappointed.”
Howard gave his son a penetrating look. “You so sure about that? I never did understand why the two of you split up in the first place. You never gave me an explanation that made a lick of sense.”
“Because it was none of your business,” Sonny said flatly. “Go on and meet your friends, Daddy. Their eyes are practically bugging out from staring over here. You might as well fill them in on what the two of us are doing here together.”
Howard regarded him with obvious frustration. “I don’t know why you’re here together.”
Mary Vaughn gave him her sweetest smile. “Then you won’t have too much to say, will you? You can move right on to other, more interesting topics.”
“You’re still full of sass and vinegar, aren’t you?” For once, Howard’s tone was almost admiring.
“I do try to be,” she told him.
“Well, whatever you’re doing here, enjoy yourselves,” Howard said and walked away to join his friends.
“Well, that was awkward,” Mary Vaughn said.
Sonny’s eyes, however, were glinting with humor. “But you have to admit it was kind of fun to get him all riled up. Daddy hates being out of the loop when it
