Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
“ Y ou’ve made a good start. The kitchen is spotless. It was always a mess when I worked here.”
Sophie stared around the kitchen proudly. “I worked in restaurants most of my life. My mother taught me to keep everything clean. To be honest, I knew if this kitchen wasn’t spotless when she got here, she’d give me hell.”
“I bet you can’t wait for your parents to arrive.”
Sophie nodded. “I’m looking forward to us not being bossed around. That’s why this restaurant means so much to me. My parents have had it rough since Mom’s divorce from Marty. He made their lives a living hell. They’ve had to move from one state to another to get away from him.”
“You moved with them?”
“Yes. I wanted to be close by if they needed me.”
“I understand. I’m close to my family, too.”
“Your family is really nice. If not for the tip they gave me yesterday, I was about to call a realtor. I don’t want my parents moving here only to find themselves jobless.”
“We’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
She tilted her head to watch Ginny’s reaction. “Why?”
“The town has missed having a place to hang out. We’ve missed the food, coming to eat here after church. It’s been depressing to see the diner closed.”
“People aren’t exactly rushing in like they missed it being open.”
“They’re skittish. They’ll slowly come back, and when they do, they’ll stay loyal customers.”
As they talked, they heard the bell ring.
“I should check and see if I have a customer.” She started for the door.
“Don’t worry. If someone came in, Jody would have told you.”
As Sophie showed her the food supply she’d purchased, Ginny took out her cell phone to write a list of the items they would need to prepare the dishes she wanted to teach her. When they were done, Ginny texted her the list.
Sophie stared at it in dismay. “Can we just start with a couple of the dishes? I’m afraid I don’t have enough money to purchase all of them.”
“Let me worry about that. It’s not like you can get away to do any shopping. I’ll send Jody to buy what we need. You can pay me back when the restaurant is making more money.”
Sophie shook her head. “Thank you, but I can’t accept that kind of help. Besides, Jody might have plans for the rest of the day. I’ll go to the store after I close.”
“Jody won’t mind. He’s off today.”
“I’m sure he’d rather be spending time with his new girlfriend.”
Ginny seemed confused. “What new girlfriend? He’s never had a girlfriend.”
Had she unintentionally told Ginny a secret Jody hadn’t wanted to share?
“I must be mistaken.”
Ginny nodded, her frown clearing. “You must be. Jody is waiting for his soul mate. He’s never even been on a date, as far as I know.”
Sophie could only stare at her. Poor woman was disillusioned where Jody was concerned.
“Soul mate?”
“Oh, yes, all my brothers are waiting for theirs. Well, except for Matthew—he found his,” Ginny explained.
“Really?” It was everything Sophie could do not to laugh.
Ginny must have read the laughter in her eyes, though. “You don’t believe me?”
“Jody told you that?”
“All my brothers know they have soul mates.”
“Are they faithful to their soul mates?”
Ginny grimaced. “I’m not making excuses—I don’t want you to think I am— but a few of my brothers may have the philosophy that, until they actually meet their soul mates, it’s not really cheating.”
“Isn’t that convenient?”
Ginny winced at her sarcastic tone. “Silas and I warned them that their soul mates won’t see it the same way. You have to understand that, to them, they’ve known about their soul mates since they were children. It’s like being promised to go on a magical trip to this magical place and having to wait. After so long, they get tired of waiting, and they take small excursions to different places.”
“I see.” She didn’t, yet she didn’t want to hurt Ginny’s feelings by telling her one of her brothers—from what she could tell—hadn’t gone on small excursions. He made regular trips.
“Do you believe in soul mates?”
Sophie had to think about it for a minute. Did she believe in soul mates?
“I think couples can be deeply in love enough to believe they’re soul mates. Do I personally believe they are? No. No one knows who their soul mate can really be. Does that mean every woman or man they’ve been with is their soul mate, and then, when the relationship ends, they say I guess they weren’t their soul mate? It gives them an excuse to give up on a relationship.”
Wondering at the strange expression Ginny made, she laughed. “You’re married.” Sophie looked at the wedding rings on Ginny’s hand. “Are you married to your soul mate?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m glad you found him. Did you know he was your soul mate before you were together?” Sophie was about to prove her point.
“I did.”
Sophie blinked at her. “Okay …” she drawled out. “But that was after you started dating.”
“Before.”
“How did you know he was your soul mate?”
“I saw his face. The moment I saw him, I knew he was my soul mate.”
Sophie had another word for what Ginny probably thought happened. Lust . With Treepoint being a small town, her parents would have drummed into her to save herself for marriage. She hadn’t been particularly adventuresome in the bedroom herself, but just because she had found a man earthshakingly attractive, like Jody, she wasn’t going to chalk those feelings up to finding her soul mate. If he was her soul mate, she thought sarcastically, she would be crying, right after she kicked him in his balls a couple of times.
“I’m happy you found yours, but I won’t hold my breath about finding mine.”
Ginny seemed about to say something then changed her mind.
Sophie thought Ginny was thinking of a way to change her mind about soul mates. She was going to make it easy for her.
“I’m not ruling out having a soul mate. I have my eye on a man I’ve met.”
Ginny’s face lightened. “You have?” she asked her happily.
“I have. I just need to ask if he is dating someone before I make my move.”
“Who is he?”
“Isaac.”