No Deal Breakers by Amanda Read Free Book Online Page B

just a few years younger than his mother, he had known her
and her husband, Bob all of his life.
    "Tammy, this is my wife, Aria, Aria, this is
Tammy Zimmer, she and her husband, Bob own this place, known them
all my life, they are dear friends." He noticed all the eyes that
had turned their way at his use of the word "wife" but he finished
the introduction anyway, Tammy was speechless, for what was
probably the first time in her life as she reached out and shook
Aria’s proffered hand.
    "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Zimmer, this is a
lovely restaurant you have," as was her pattern, Aria was much more
comfortable in public, she stood close to him, almost touching, but
not quite, and you would only know what a nervous wreck she was if
you knew her. Did he? Did he know her? The thought took him by
surprise. He was beginning to feel like he did, in the simplest of
ways at least.
    "Oh please, sugar, you can call me Tammy,
right this way, I only have one table left, and sorry, Brian, but
it’s in the middle of the floor, I know that’s not what you want,
but that’s the best I can do."
    "Oh well, better for the entire town to come
make introductions," he sighed as they made their way through the
crowded diner. He waved and smiled at every table they passed, he
knew everyone in the diner, most since childhood. He tried to
ignore all the stares and whispers, but he knew the news of his
impulsive marriage was all over town already. Brian the planner had
run off to Vegas for a week and came back with a bride in tow, the
hows and the whys would be the best part once the rumor mill was
done spinning.
    "I take it you made up with your fiancée,
then?" Tammy was fishing for information, and she didn’t try to
hide it. As much as he loved her, he also knew that not only did
Tammy own and operate the only diner in town, she was also
president and CEO of the local gossip mill, anything good and juicy
usually came her way first.
    Brian just smiled up at her, "Nope, I decided
to skip the fiancée part, it didn’t work out so well for me the
last time." He feigned nonchalance, he knew that stirring the pot
and adding fuel to Tammy’s fire wasn’t the smartest idea, but he
just couldn’t resist. People were going to talk, may as well make
sure they had a little truth in their tales.
    "Well, I’ll be, Brian Harris, Mr. Type A
himself gone off and married a stranger, why I never…" she trailed
off, no doubt preparing a thousand questions to ask them. He was
always surprised that she used her notepad for taking orders and
not jotting down all the juicy tidbits she sopped up. He cleared
his throat to get her attention.
    "Oh, I’m sorry, you know me, drifting off
into la-la land. What’ll it be tonight, folks? Brian, I assume you
want the tenderloin, with everything, sweet tea, and a piece of my
pecan pie?"
    "You assume correctly, Aria, what looks good
to you?" She had been intently studying the menu and, he assumed,
tuning everyone else out since they sat down. She glanced over the
top of her menu, "I’ll have a Coke, and…I think I’ll try the
mushroom burger with fries, please."
    "You got it," Tammy said with a wink, and
made her way back to the kitchen stopping to pick up empty glasses
and plates, and share a little gossip on her way.
    "Sorry about her, I hate to say it, but
that’s about how everyone will be." He shrugged.
    "That’s okay, I kind of assumed it would be
like this. They’ve known you your whole life, you’re a part of the
community, they’re all just curious." She hit the nail on the head,
Brian was relived she was being so understanding about all of
this.
    "That about sums it up. Thank you for being
so understanding, Aria."
    Lyle Robbins stumbled over to their table.
This’ll be interesting, Brian thought as he suppressed a groan.
    "Brian, you go to Vegas for a week and bring
me back the fourth Mrs. Robbins, how sweet of you, buddy." He could
smell the liquor on his breath, not that Lyle needed it to make a
fool of