Before she could think on it further, the door opened and another woman walked in. “Are you Holly Bingman?” she asked.
“I am.” Was there something in the water making people want to find her today?
The woman extended a hand and a friendly smile. “I’m Sylvia Mason. Your friend Tiffany told me you have some people harassing you and that I might be able to help.”
Of course, leave it to Tiffany to reach out to the woman knowing that Holly probably wouldn’t herself. “Um, maybe, although I did tell a friend on the police force and he was able to speak to the woman. The harassment might be done. I haven’t had any calls today.”
“Oh, well, that’s great to hear.” Sylvia fumbled in her purse a moment before producing a business card. “Well, I’m around if it doesn’t stop and you want to discuss legal matters around it.”
“Thanks,” Holly said, taking the card. “I’ll keep this in mind.”
Sylvia nodded, and as she reached the front door, Ashley hurried in.
“Sorry I’m late,” Ashley said, looking around as if assessing how much trouble she was in.
Holly glanced at her watch, surprised at the time and the fact that Ashley was fifteen minutes late. The girl was never late, but there was no reason to reprimand her today; the restaurant was still nearly empty. “No worries, we’re still pretty slow here.”
Ashley sighed. “Not that I’m glad we’re slow, but I’m happy I didn’t leave you hanging. Becca just hired a new girl to help her out, and she seems sweet enough, but boy is she slow.”
Holly gazed past Becca to the bakery. “Becca just hired someone? Did you recognize her from town?” Courage always had new people coming in but they were usually tourists and not looking to settle down. Two new women in one day was odd, even if things hadn’t been crazy in Holly’s life.
Ashley wrinkled her forehead, clearly confused by the question. “Uh no, why?”
“A woman just left here claiming to be my father’s PR rep. I just find it odd that two new women showed up in town today.”
Ashley smiled and placed a hand on Holly’s shoulder. “I think you’re overthinking things. I know it’s been rough the last few days, but not every stranger is out to get you.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Still, Holly couldn’t shake the feeling that this time was different.
“What did your father’s PR rep want?”
“She wanted me to publicly apologize for going on the prayer walk,” Holly said, her frustration coming out in a huff.
“Whoa, what did you say?”
“I told her I wasn’t interested. Hopefully, she goes away now, but who knows?” Holly glanced down at her watch and realized she needed to get to cooking if she was going to have dinner ready for Dougie. “Ashley, do you have the front? I need to whip up something for my dinner tonight with Dougie.”
Ashley’s brows lifted. “Dinner with Dougie? Sounds serious.”
Holly felt her cheeks heat, but she played it off. “It sounds like dinner. My way of thanking him for everything he’s done.”
“Uh huh. Sure. I never got dinner for all I’ve done.”
“That’s because you get a paycheck,” Holly called as she headed to the kitchen. Pulling out her phone, she read the text from Chance and smiled. Chicken alfredo she could do. It was one of her favorites as well, but only if done right. She’d tasted too many dishes where the sauce was too watery or too heavy, and she wanted hers to be perfect.
Grabbing a pan, she began heating the chicken.