“Excuse me.”
Rose and I look up in unison to see a woman around my age waving at us from one table over. I recognize her from the volunteer meeting I held for the zoo trip chaperones. Ginny, I think. There’s another gal in an apron—the same lady who was behind the café’s counter, looking over Mack’s shoulder when we entered, if I’m not mistaken—standing next to her.
“We couldn’t help but overhear,” the woman wearing the apron says. She tosses a look at the counter. “You’re wondering about Mack Bradley, right?”
“We are,” Rose says with no qualms about it.
“We don’t mean to gossip,” I hurry to add. “We had an interesting run-in with a woman by the name of Tricia last week.”
The two ladies exchange a knowing look.
Rose’s gaze flips to mine, and she raises her eyebrows before turning back to the other women.
“First of all, I’m Inez. I’m the owner here.”
I shake the hand of the woman in the apron. She’s got beautiful, deep-set, dark eyes and dark-brown hair piled high on top of her head.
“Holland told me I should try your cinnamon rolls.”
Inez chuckles, all warm smiles and sparkling eyes. “He had me make up a tray of a dozen for him to take along before he left. The way to that man’s heart is through his stomach.”
“I’ll remember that,” I say, smiling back.
“I’m Ginny Douglas. Not sure if you remember me from the zoo volunteers meeting?” The other woman scoots her chair so she’s seated at our table. Bold, but I’ll allow it. I nod in response to her question.
She leans in. “I went to high school with Mack and Tricia, so I’ve got all the deets.”
“What are the…deets?” Rose asks, shooting me another look.
I’m conflicted here because I’m both dying to know what’s going on with Mack—there’s something about him that’s so intriguing—but I also want to respect the man’s privacy. He must’ve had his reasons for not wanting to get into his history with Tricia with me.
“First of all, some background.” Ginny settles into her chair, as if getting ready to tell us the next great American novel.
Buckle up, Boo.
I can almost hear Mack’s deadpan voice in my head. Which is weird, right? I look over to where he is, and he’s got his back to us. I exhale and focus on Ginny.
“Mack has always been a little rough around the edges. He got into some trouble as a kid.”
“What sort of trouble are we talking about?” Rose asks, and I nod.
“The usual teenager stuff. Mostly harmless vandalism. Spray painting the old water tower. Egging a couple cars. That sort of thing. It was nothing to write home about—until he upped his game.”
“How so?”
“He stole a necklace that was worth a couple thousand bucks from the local jeweler.”
Rose’s eyes bug.
“I know, right?” Ginny says. “It was a big deal. Rumor has it he was stealing it to give to Tricia, though Mack never confirmed that. They weren’t officially dating at the time, but they got together shortly after. I personally have always wondered if she put him up to it to see how much he liked her.”
“Sort of aif-you-say-jump-I-say-how-farsituation, then?” Inez clarifies.
“Exactly.”
Inez turns to Rose and me. “I moved to town after all this, so I’m not a primary source. I’ve only heard the story passed down.”
“It’s the juiciest of the Cashmere Cove history,” Ginny says seriously.
