Simon blinked overly innocent eyes from behind his glasses as he pried a worn notebook free from the stack of books beside him. “Uh-huh.”
“Then how about you read to your brother and sister?” She reached under the counter and handed him several children’s books.
Simon rolled his eyes but stacked them on top of his notebook and settled in the corner booth with the infants in their carriers.
“Nice save,” Frankie muttered under her breath and earned a flash of a tired grin from Holly. Simon was well-known for his super-sneaky tactics around town, especially when it came to ferreting out supposed nefarious behavior. The last thing anyone in town needed was for Simon Saxon to set his sights on the mayor. He’d get them all banished.
“For once I might not mind the fallout if he did something about the mayor,” Holly told her and Ursula.
“Something will be done, don’t worry.” Ursula’s throwaway comment had Frankie sitting up straight and Holly standing at attention.
“What are you talking about?” Frankie perked up.
Ursula blanched. After spending most of her life hanging out in this diner, Frankie knew when the old cook had a secret she couldn’t keep.
“Ursula, spill,” Holly ordered.
“Don’t know that I should yet.” Ursula’s beady eyes glimmered. “But let’s just say there’s a faction in town looking at the option of a recall election. This new development with Frankie might give them additional ammunition.”
“A recall election?” Frankie’s heart sank. Oh, man, she didn’t want a political solution to her situation. What was done was done, and while she wasn’t going to be named chief, that wasn’t going to stop her from doing the job she loved. Still... “Who’s spearheading?”
“Can’t say.” Ursula pinched her lips closed.
“No. You won’t say.” Holly narrowed her eyes.
“Can’t,” Ursula repeated. “At least for now.” She disappeared back into the kitchen.
“So, how’d it go the other night?” Holly’s voice lowered.
“With what?”
“That accountant guy. What was his name? Richard?”
Frankie had a hard time even remembering what the guy had looked like. “David.”
“Joel!” Ursula yelled. “His name was Joel.”
“Right, Joel.” Nope, Frankie thought. Her mind was blank. Not true. Her mind seemed to have been overtaken with images of Roman Salazar and his bulging biceps. She wasn’t sure Joel had even had arms. “Dinner was good,” she told Holly, who looked disappointed but hardly surprised. “The dating pool is a bit shallow these days.”
“Maybe you need to try another pool.” Holly ate one of the fries. “I never figured you for the beta type.”
“Betas have their good points.”
“Yeah, I know, but you’re just so...you.” Holly waved her hand up and down. “I mean, you could probably bench-press most of those guys you go out with. Don’t they find you intimidating?”
“If they do, they’ve never said.” Of course, that was probably second-date talk, and she hadn’t had one of those in... She let out a sharp breath. Well, it had been a while. In the past few years, she’d dated three accountants, a mail carrier, a high school drama teacher and a pharmacist. Who knew one could have a two-hour conversation about over-the-counter antihistamines? They’d all been...nice. Polite. And safe. Very, very safe. No chance of her getting burned—in any way—with men like that.
“You should let us fix you up with someone,” Holly offered.
“Us who?” Frankie narrowed her eyes.
“Me, Abby, Lori, Paige... Calliope.” Holly added the last name with a wide grin. Everyone knew when Calliope got involved in someone’s personal life, things got very complicated very quickly. “We could probably come up with a great selection of guys if we put our heads together.”
“Nope. Not interested, thanks.” Frankie shook her head. “I’m doing just fine on my own.” Single, unattached, focused on work with an occasional lunch or dinner date to break up the monotony.
“Can’t blame me for wanting to remind you there’s a part of life you seem to be ignoring.”
“I’m not ignoring it. I’m keeping my options open. For example.” She ate another fry. “I could have a serious long-term relationship with these chili fries.”
“Couldn’t we all.” Holly popped one in her mouth before heading over to refill coffee cups. “If you need any help with those options, say the word.”