“Antics? Y’all must be talkin’ about Grayson.” Kenzie comes to Maize’s side, crossing her arms over her chest.

“And you’ve just made my point.” Grayson flicks a piece of sausage in his mouth.

“So Gavin…” Kenzie directs her attention to him. “Heard Maize made you a nice dinner last night.”

I groan with an eye roll.

“She sure did,” he responds with a smug grin. “Best meal I’ve ever had.”

“Well, I just want to say…” Kenzie looks over her shoulder at me with a mischievous smirk. “I’m rooting for you. But if she fails, I’m single. Just a heads-up…”

Oh my God. I’m gonna kill her.

“Is that so? Well, thank you. It’s refreshing to have one Bishop girl on my side.”

“Don’t you have a job to get to?” I elbow her ribs and push her out of the way. “Mom won’t like it if you’re late.”

“I’m not afraid of her,” she taunts. Kenzie talks a big talk, but she’d never be late, considering she’s teaching now.

“Ha, don’t let her hear you say that.”

Kenzie quickly looks around in a panic, and I laugh. Point made.

“Well, I have to get back to work. If you need someone on your side, Grayson you have my number.” I flash him a wink to get under Kenzie’s skin, and luckily, it works.

“Why does he have your number?” she asks. At the same time, Gavin says, “He doesn’t.”

Chuckling, I head into the kitchen to clean. Lunch is baked chicken casserole and doesn’t take long to prep, especially with Sandra and Jane bouncing around. Once it’s baked and served, I meet Elle at the diner for a late lunch. My employees are more than capable of handling the kitchen while I’m gone. Right now, I need another woman to talk to about Gavin since my sister insists on antagonizing me about it.

“Hey!” She stands from the booth and immediately hugs me.

“I’m so excited you were able to come,” I say, taking a seat.

“Me too. Honestly, it’s been so hectic.”

We grab our menus and flip through them even though we know what they offer.

“Yeah, same. Lunch rush is over, and my employees were fine.” If I’m lucky, they’ll start washing dishes too.

“Oh good, so we have time to chat.” She smiles up at me.

“Yeah, I owe you an update on Gavin.”

“Girl, yes. I wanna hear all about it.”

I go through all the details– the nice dinner I made and our conversation that quickly shifted to him getting up and leaving. It takes me nearly twenty minutes to explain it all.

“Wow…Gavin’s not messin’ around this time.” She snickers. “Sounds like he’s trying to protect his heart just like you. What would you want a guy to do if the tables were turned?”