The Spice of Life

Never Trust A Skinny Cook

Never Trust A Skinny Cook

“I heard you were out with Grace's cousin this weekend.” Judy Summers said without preamble as Leo lifted the hood of her car.

“Did you now?” he asked politely. He could almost feel the gossip get frustrated when he said nothing else.

“Is it true?” she demanded to know as Leo looked her engine over.

He knew better than to think there was actually something wrong with it. The only reason Judy would have come in today was because she had heard the news that had spread throughout the town and she wanted fresh gossip from the source to add to the fire.

Judy Summers was beautiful in a small town kind of way. She would never be able to compete with big city models, but hers was a beauty that glowed in the simple life around her. Her honey blonde hair and rich hazel eyes were a simple but lovely pair and her creamy skin just begged to be stroked. She was known as the prettiest girl in town and the most relentless gossip. She and Leo had been a sort-of couple in middle school. Leo had his first kiss by her in a school age crush that had lasted all of a week. She was engaged to his brother Leland now and Leo couldn't be happier for them.

“It is.” Leo said simply. It wasn't that he minded Judy spreading his business all over town, it would end up there eventually anyway, he just felt that Judy had to earn it.

“Don't be that way, Leo.” Judy pouted as bent over her engine. “Aren't you going to tell me what happened?”

“There's nothing to tell.” Leo shrugged as he checked her oil. Just because she hadn't needed to come in didn't mean he wasn't going to give her the best his skills could give. “We had lunch in the park.”

“The way I heard it, you two were doing far more than eating.” Judy pressed eagerly.

“Those infamous ears of yours to the ground again?” Leo teased her with a grin.

“They were never off of it.” Judy grinned back. It was one of her best qualities, Leo decided. She was a relentless gossip and she made no secret of it. She even seemed a bit proud. Leo could respect that. “Now, tell me all about Grace's cousin.”

“She has a name.” Leo said absently, remembering her remark from their date about not wanting to be known as 'Grace's cousin'. “It's a very nice one if I say so myself.”

“Then tell me all about Brynn.” Judy corrected herself without hesitation. “I want to know everything.”

“I don't even know everything.” Leo shrugged. “That would be best gotten from the source.”

How could Leo tell her everything he knew about Brynn? How honest she was, how true to her own word? It was a quality that he couldn't fault even if it meant she came off rude. She was distant, true. She distrusted romance, which saddened him a bit. But she still blushed when confronted with it. So it wasn't that she was stung by someone who used romance wrong, but more that she had never been properly romanced before at all.

How could Leo tell Judy that Brynn's hair reminded him of chocolate mouse; a deep, chocolate brown that was soft to the touch? Her skin was smooth like a fine wine and that she herself had a delightful spice to her. There was no way to voice such things.

“I heard she's a bit of a delinquent.” Judy said like she was thinking out loud. “That her mother forced her here to get her out of the big bad city.”

“She would probably agree.” Leo said with a smile. She would probably even like the word 'delinquent'.

“Grace just says that she's high spirited but Grace is far too nice for her own good.” Judy smiled at the thought. “It's hard to believe they're related. They're so different.”