bit. "Lynn, could I come back again and maybe watch you do this? Maybe tomorrow?"
"You're welcome anytime, Sarah." Lynn paused, thinking. "Well, the rest of this week won't work for me. I'm closing early tomorrow because I'm working at the Soup and Bread Supper Fundraiser for the high school athletic programs."
"Oh, yeah. I heard about it at school."
"Will I see you there?"
"Uh, no, I don't think so. I don't really know anybody."
Lynn sorrowed over the lost look on the young girl's face. She'd definitely make time to teach her about perfume. "Come next week and we'll start on your fragrance."
As Sarah turned to leave, the phone rang and Lynn, noting who called, answered it with an impatient grimace, "Hello, Janine." Damn it. She didn't want to talk about Friday night, and she was certain that's what this was about. Sure enough.
"Lindsay, I'm not going to mince words. How interested are you in D.G.?"
"Look, Janine, I'd rather not discuss it. I assure you I have no interest in dating an itinerant waiter. He's all yours."
She slammed the receiver into its cradle, looked up, and saw Sarah standing there.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that, Sarah. Just a couple of grown women acting like children."
"I wasn't trying to eavesdrop or anything like that."
Sarah showed such distress, Lynn said, to reassure her, "It wasn't anything important. I went to dinner at the Kensington last Friday with some friends, mainly because they wanted to meet a new waiter, rumored to be really good looking. My friends wanted to check him out."
"You did, too?"
"No, absolutely not. You heard me tell Janine, I'm not interested in summer flings with these guys who blow in here for a couple of months and then leave.
"I'm ashamed to say grown women can act silly over a good-looking guy the same as girls your age." She felt her face flush while Sarah watched her with real interest. "Anyhow, Janine liked this guy, and I didn't want to interfere."
"Did you like him, too?"
Why was she so fascinated? Well, sure. She was the age to be interested in boys. Without a mother, she didn't have a woman to talk to.
"He's handsome, I'll admit. No, he's way beyond handsome, and I might have experienced a little flutter of attraction, but Janine went overboard flirting with him."
"Oh. Well, did you think he was dope?"
Lynn looked at her, considering how much to reveal. "Definitely dope," she said, using the current teen term for 'awesome,' "but not for me. We get these guys in town every summer. They work until the season is over, and then move on. They're not worth the time."
"How do you know he's like that? He could be here to stay."
"Sarah, why all the questions? I'm not looking for a boyfriend. Believe me, that's the last thing I want."
"Oh." Her voice echoed her disappointment. "Well, thanks for talking to me. I have to get home now. My dad worries if I'm late." She picked up her backpack and went out the door while Lynn watched her, wondering.
~ * ~
Once more, the feeling of being watched overtook Sarah when she approached her house. The deep shadows created by the trees and bushes made her uneasy. "Stupid, dumb town," she muttered, kicking angrily at a piece of broken sidewalk, avoiding the weeds growing through the cracks of the old limestone paving. Everything here was at least a hundred years old and looked every bit of it, as though being left over from the nineteenth century was a big deal.
She saw movement in the shrubbery when she walked by. Her heart jumped with fright until she recognized the boy from her English class—Logan somebody.
Eyeing him critically when he stepped onto the sidewalk, she took in his unkempt appearance: dirty, dark brown hair, parted in the middle, hanging in his face, down to his chin.
Actually, if he had a decent haircut, he could be kind of fly, but his clothes are so yesterday. Nobody wears green camo cargo pants anymore, plain old sneakers, and a faded, green t-shirt. Loser, for sure. He kept his
"You're welcome anytime, Sarah." Lynn paused, thinking. "Well, the rest of this week won't work for me. I'm closing early tomorrow because I'm working at the Soup and Bread Supper Fundraiser for the high school athletic programs."
"Oh, yeah. I heard about it at school."
"Will I see you there?"
"Uh, no, I don't think so. I don't really know anybody."
Lynn sorrowed over the lost look on the young girl's face. She'd definitely make time to teach her about perfume. "Come next week and we'll start on your fragrance."
As Sarah turned to leave, the phone rang and Lynn, noting who called, answered it with an impatient grimace, "Hello, Janine." Damn it. She didn't want to talk about Friday night, and she was certain that's what this was about. Sure enough.
"Lindsay, I'm not going to mince words. How interested are you in D.G.?"
"Look, Janine, I'd rather not discuss it. I assure you I have no interest in dating an itinerant waiter. He's all yours."
She slammed the receiver into its cradle, looked up, and saw Sarah standing there.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that, Sarah. Just a couple of grown women acting like children."
"I wasn't trying to eavesdrop or anything like that."
Sarah showed such distress, Lynn said, to reassure her, "It wasn't anything important. I went to dinner at the Kensington last Friday with some friends, mainly because they wanted to meet a new waiter, rumored to be really good looking. My friends wanted to check him out."
"You did, too?"
"No, absolutely not. You heard me tell Janine, I'm not interested in summer flings with these guys who blow in here for a couple of months and then leave.
"I'm ashamed to say grown women can act silly over a good-looking guy the same as girls your age." She felt her face flush while Sarah watched her with real interest. "Anyhow, Janine liked this guy, and I didn't want to interfere."
"Did you like him, too?"
Why was she so fascinated? Well, sure. She was the age to be interested in boys. Without a mother, she didn't have a woman to talk to.
"He's handsome, I'll admit. No, he's way beyond handsome, and I might have experienced a little flutter of attraction, but Janine went overboard flirting with him."
"Oh. Well, did you think he was dope?"
Lynn looked at her, considering how much to reveal. "Definitely dope," she said, using the current teen term for 'awesome,' "but not for me. We get these guys in town every summer. They work until the season is over, and then move on. They're not worth the time."
"How do you know he's like that? He could be here to stay."
"Sarah, why all the questions? I'm not looking for a boyfriend. Believe me, that's the last thing I want."
"Oh." Her voice echoed her disappointment. "Well, thanks for talking to me. I have to get home now. My dad worries if I'm late." She picked up her backpack and went out the door while Lynn watched her, wondering.
~ * ~
Once more, the feeling of being watched overtook Sarah when she approached her house. The deep shadows created by the trees and bushes made her uneasy. "Stupid, dumb town," she muttered, kicking angrily at a piece of broken sidewalk, avoiding the weeds growing through the cracks of the old limestone paving. Everything here was at least a hundred years old and looked every bit of it, as though being left over from the nineteenth century was a big deal.
She saw movement in the shrubbery when she walked by. Her heart jumped with fright until she recognized the boy from her English class—Logan somebody.
Eyeing him critically when he stepped onto the sidewalk, she took in his unkempt appearance: dirty, dark brown hair, parted in the middle, hanging in his face, down to his chin.
Actually, if he had a decent haircut, he could be kind of fly, but his clothes are so yesterday. Nobody wears green camo cargo pants anymore, plain old sneakers, and a faded, green t-shirt. Loser, for sure. He kept his
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