“That isn’t the answer to the question I asked,” I said, moving her plate out of the way and pushing mine over in front of her.
“I can’t eat your food.”
I motioned for the waitress, who was at a table nearby.
“What else can I get ya, sugar?” she asked with a wink.
“Another side of pancakes.” I looked at Mila. “Anything else?”
Her cheeks turned pink again and she started to push the plate back toward me. “I’m fine.”
I stopped it with my hand. “Two more sides of pancakes, please.” I didn’t look up at the woman; I kept my gaze on Mila long after the waitress had walked away.
“Thanks,” she said, finally taking a bite of the food in front of her. “I’m hungrier than I thought I was.”
“So why Boston?”
“It’s where I wanted to go to school.”
“You said you were a music teacher?”
“Instructor—or at least, I was—at Northeastern College of Music, where I got my degree.”
I envied the male students in her classes. If I got to look up at her pretty face every day, not to mention her rockin’ body, I would’ve taken every class she taught. “What did you teach?”
“Music theory, critical listening, piano. I was supposed to teach copyright law next semester.”
“Impressive,” I said, digging into my now-cold eggs.
She shrugged. “Did you…”
I looked up. “Go to college?”
Her cheeks were flushed. She gave a slight nod and looked away.
“You’re even prettier when you’re embarrassed.”
Her head snapped back in my direction; she opened her mouth and then closed it.
“I’m not sure how it works in the big city, but here in Texas, when a man gives a woman a compliment, it’s customary for the woman to say thank you.” I winked.
Before she had a chance to respond, my phone buzzed. I looked at the screen and saw it was Mac calling. “Excuse me. I need to take this.” I got up from the table and walked out the front door. The heat engulfed me like a cocoon. Damn Texas summers.
“Anything to tell me?”
“Afraid so. The sister’s place was trashed. Somebody was lookin’ for somethin’.”
“Any signs that whoever killed her started the process there?”
“None so far. Neighbors told one of our deputies that her car was parked in a back parking lot. That was trashed too.”
S
hit, this was getting uglier. As Mac said, someone was looking for something. Would whoever it was come after Mila next? “Let me know if you find out anything else.”
I went back to the table. “Sorry I disappeared on you.” I must’ve been gone longer than I thought. There was a plate of pancakes on my side of the table, and Mila looked like she was almost finished with hers.
“I’ll take these to go,” I told the waitress when she stopped back by to drop off the check. Mila and I reached for it at the same time.