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The woman just kept surprising him. “I never would have pegged you for a first-person shooter.”
“Oh, not by my own doing.” She grinned. “But they’re Aubry’s poison of choice, so I get dragged along when she starts annihilating noobs.”
Now, the redhead he could picture camped out in a dark room with a microphone on her head and a controller in her hands. She was as intense as Jules was sunny. In fact, despite being around them a grand total of an hour, he couldn’t really wrap his mind around how they were friends. “How did you and Aubry meet?”
“It’s a silly story.”
“Humor me.”
“If you insist.” She turned, fully engaged. Jules seemed to spend her entire life fully engaged. “So my grandmother passed when I was a junior in college. I already knew what I wanted to do for a career—start a coffee shop with a unique draw—and she left me enough money to get off the ground, plus her blessing along with it.” She smiled, her eyes going soft. “Gran was one of the few people in town—my family included—who didn’t think I’d end up a lonely spinster after Grant dumped me.”
Before he could comment that he thought it highly unlikely Jules would hit thirty and still be single, let alone a spinster, she continued on, “So I’d just bought and renovated the shop, and I was down at the Humane Society picking the cats that would live there. Aubry was carting her massive laptop home from the library and saw me loading what she termed ‘a cat lady’s starter kit’ into my truck. She made some comment about cats eating you after you die, and of course I couldn’t let that stand. We ended up arguing all the way back to my place and while she helped me unload the cats and get them settled. From there it’s more or less history. Aubry has her quirks, same as me, and she doesn’t expect me to be something I’m not.”
Friends like that were worth their weight in gold. He’d had three, now two, and he’d barely seen them over the last twelve years. I’m a leaver, just like my mama always said. Once upon a time, those words had been a promise—Devil’s Falls and its whispers and judgment wouldn’t hold him back forever—but now they felt more like a curse.
He turned into the alley leading to the little carport behind Jules’s shop. “And what’s she think about this plan you’ve concocted?”
“She thinks I’m crazy.” Jules laughed again. “But then, she tells me I’m crazy at least once a day, so that’s nothing new.”
He parked but hesitated turning off the engine. It was all too easy to step back to the last time they’d been in his truck cab and the trouble he’d let them get into. Adam gripped the steering wheel, reminding himself for the dozenth time that he sure as hell could not kiss Jules again.
She took the decision right out of his hands. “See you later.” She dashed a quick kiss against his cheek and bounced away, opening the door and sliding out of the truck before he could respond.
Adam watched her bound to her door and let herself in, her enthusiasm infectious even over the distance. He finally shook his head and threw his truck into reverse.
Aubry was right—Jules was bat-shit crazy.
And he loved it.
Shit.
…
Five days passed with only a few texts from Adam, but Jules told herself she didn’t care. He had his own life to attend to, just like she did. She couldn’t expect him to drop everything to spend every minute of every day by her side on the off chance that Grant would wander in and see them.
Coincidentally, her ex had made a habit of waltzing through the door at least once a day to make comments about her boyfriend in such a tone that she knew he still didn’t believe she was with Adam.
She took the plate of sandwiches Jamie had made up special and brought them over to where Lenora and Amelia were sitting at a table by the window. Lenora smiled in thanks, but Jules couldn’t help noticing that Adam’s mom had lost weight. “These are on the house.”
“Oh, Jules, you shouldn’t have.” Amelia sipped her tea, petting Rick.
Lenora sent her a look of thanks. “I know you just said you’re not hungry, but you can’t let this go to waste,” she said to Amelia.
“Let me know if you need anything else.”
She headed back to the counter, leaving the ladies in peace.
But they were apparently the only ones going to be left in peace today. As if her wishing him ill conjured him up, the bell above the door jingled and Grant strode through. “Jules!” He stopped just inside the door and examined the floor at his feet. He had this nasty habit of looking around him like he expected to step in cat shit, which made Jules grind her teeth every time she saw it.
