Shoe Strings

recommend the pizza here.   It’s the best.”
    “So I hear.   Go,
do your business,” said Lita.   “I’m
just going to mull over these toppings a bit longer.”
    He nodded and walked straight to the blond woman.   Fortunately for Lita, they were only a
few feet away and she could listen in.  
    “I thought you were in court.” The woman seemed irritated
and her voice sounded snippy.
    “We adjourned for lunch,” Bryce replied back in his lazy
drawl, either unaware of or unconcerned by the woman’s hostility.   “Misty said you came by to talk to me
this morning.   Said you seemed kind
of mad about something.”
    “Did she now?”   The woman was pissed, any fool could see the way she was slamming the
highball glasses on the shelf, but again it only seemed to amuse Bryce.   He was either entertained by her
behavior or a little slow. “I see speculating on my moods is sport to both you
and your employees lately.”  
    He let out a long-suffering sigh and actually chuckled when
she glared at him.   “Kerri Ann,
you’ve only got one mood these days.   The only sport in it’s figuring out what got you there in the first
place.”
    Oooh, maybe he was slow.   So, this was Kerri Ann.   Well, she was madder than hell, but
really quite pretty.   Her hair was
pulled back in a ponytail and a few pieces had escaped either on purpose or
through the course of the day, but either way it softened the sharp angles of
her face.   She looked slender and
athletic, the kind of woman you’d imagine hiking through the backcountry or
rafting down the river.   No wonder
she and Jesse got along—or used to.  
    “Bryce Jenson, you can just go back to sweet talking my
customers with your free time instead of bothering me when I’m trying to work.”
    “Sweet talking your customers?”   Bryce seemed genuinely confused by her
accusation, but Lita, like any woman, knew exactly what she meant.   She was talking about her.
    “I saw you flirting with that woman over there.   So just go on and let me get back to
work.”   She slammed the last glass
on the shelf and carried the empty rack back into the kitchen.  
    So, Kerri Ann had a thing for Bryce.   Interesting.   Lita watched Bryce massage the back of
his neck before turning around.   She
quickly averted her eyes back to the menu, but could see him approach the
table.
    “Angelita?   Would
you like some company for lunch?” he asked.  
    Lita looked up at his boyishly sweet face.   The guy looked like a dog that’d been
kicked by his owner.   But he wasn’t
stupid, because he wanted to make Kerri Ann jealous by planting himself at her
table.   “Sure.” She wondered how
wise it was to get in the middle of a lover’s quarrel.   If she wanted adventure, she seemed to
have found it.
    He pulled out his seat after removing his suit coat and
draping it over the back of the chair.   “Have you decided on toppings?”
    Lita nodded.   “Onions and mushrooms, with a side salad.”
    “Greek’s good and the ceasar is too, if that’s more to your
liking.”
    Kerri Ann approached the table, notepad in hand, fake smile
firmly in place.   “Welcome to the
Pizza Den.   Can I get you something
to drink while you look over the menu?”
    Her sugarcoated voice sounded as sweet as a candy apple, but
the look in her eye said poison apple.   “I’ll have Diet Coke, please,” Lita said with a smile.   Two could play at this game.  
    Kerri Ann looked at Bryce.   “And for you, sir?”
    “Sweet tea.   And
try not to spit in it.”
    Lita had to fake a cough to mask her chuckle.   “Should I have given the same warning?”
she asked as soon as Kerri Ann walked away.
    Bryce looked back toward the bar where she stood filling the
glasses with ice.   “Sorry.   She’s mad at me.”
    “What have you done to get her so mad?   Insulted her pizza?”
    Bryce looked mockingly horrified.   “I’d never talk badly about her
pizza.   Me just breathing ticks her
off lately.”
    “And you two are…?”
    “Friends,” he said dryly.   “Just friends.”   He shifted in his seat and placed his
elbows on the table.   “So, Angelita.   What brings you to our humble little
town?”
    “I’ve taken a much needed sabbatical from work and…pretty
much just ended up here.”
    “Where’s home?”
    “Atlanta.”
    “And your work?” he asked as Kerri Ann slung the drinks to
the table with such gusto a small amount sloshed over the lip of Bryce’s