Read Champagne and Lemon Drops: A Blueberry Springs Chick Lit Contemporary Romance for Free Online Page B

out of
the Friday special."
    ***
    "So?" asked Nash sitting down across from
Beth in the small, bustling cafeteria filled with staff, townsfolk
and patients. "Still feeling down?"
    "Sorry?" Beth glanced around the room. The
clatter of dishes and hum of conversation, distracting.
    "How are you and Oz doing?" He broke his tea
biscuit in half and dipped it in his Irish stew.
    Her shoulders sagged. "Oh, you know..."
    "I heard you moved out."
    "You never struck me as a gossip
follower."
    "Well, I can't say I like it, but you can't
get anywhere in this town without wading through it. Some of it
sticks to you." He glanced at Beth, then away. "The two of you are
the topic of the town, you know. Especially with you moving
out."
    Beth closed her eyes. Great, so much for
Nash being an impartial ear who didn't know the town's gossip or
everyone's history. The guy probably knew more than she did by now.
She opened her eyes to find Mary Alice, the town's most active
rumormonger beside their table, tray laden with desserts and
coffees for a table of Beth's patients. The woman said she was
volunteering, but the way she pumped those folks for gossip—knowing
they spent half the day on the phone catching up with the town—she
was more like a pioneer trying to fill a leaky bucket with
water.
    Mary Alice let out a wheezy smoker's cackle.
"Ha! I heard Oz kicked her out, Dr. Leham." She turned a curious
eye to Beth, brows raised in anticipation.
    "I chose to be the one to move out.
Temporarily," Beth said, straightening her shoulders. If there were
two people in town she'd like to avoid until this business between
her and Oz was over, it was Mary Alice and her older sister Liz
and, in particular, their big mouths and active imaginations.
    "Now why would you two break up?" Mary Alice
asked, her sister sidling up beside her.
    "It's just a break," she muttered.
    Liz piped up, "Then where's your ring?"
    "Oz has it."
    "He asked for it back?" the sisters asked at
the same time. Their eyes slid over Nash and they shared a knowing
look.
    Liz elbowed her sister in the ribs and
whispered loud enough for Beth to hear, "Betcha Mandy moves in on
Oz."
    Beth shot Nash a look and avoided making eye
contact with the ladies. Seriously. They were worse than a pair of
soap opera writers. Beth focused on her stroganoff and entertained
a brief fantasy of flying away on a private plane, away from these
ladies and their less-than-trustworthy gossip. She could picture a
dance floor on a secluded beach with a live band playing Michael
Bublé. Nash would twirl her around, her light gown flowing out
around her, neither of them with a care in the world. She jabbed a
noodle and shook the image from her head. She really, really needed
to get more sleep. Desperately.
    "I think Beth is looking to climb a new
mountain." Liz waggled her eyebrows suggestively, elbowing her
sister again.
    Beth threw her arms in the air, trying to
act cavalier when all she wanted to do was rip the heads off of
everyone who had turned to eavesdrop. "You got me!" She let out a
laugh. "Nash and I are bumping uglies on the side. That's why I
moved out."
    Eyebrows shot up around the room and
whispers stirred the air like a breeze through dry grass.
    "You know what?" Nash said casually, his jaw
tight. "It's a beautiful spring day. Why don't we go outside to
eat?" He stood and clamped a hand on Beth's arm, helping her stand.
The sun shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows to her right,
and small mounds of slush hid on the shaded stone benches. It was
going to be chilly out there, but definitely better than staying in
front of the firing squad.
    "Outside would be fantastic." She hoisted
her tray. "Send your husband my regards, Mary Alice. I hope his ear
is feeling better soon. Lovely talking to you, ladies."
    Catty cows.
    Nash led her outside and past the cold
tables and benches. Curious, Beth followed him to a bench resting
in a patch of sun under a grove of trees. Nash worked to balance
his tray on his