"Bought it, gutted it, and now he's turning it into some kind of boutique hotel for tourists. Sandra told me he's already got plans for the whole block. Condos, restaurants, a damn spa." Charity shakes her head and pops another deviled egg into her mouth. "Half the town's ready to tar and feather the man and the other half is lining up to cash his checks. My cousin Dale sold his lot on Marsh Street last month, and you'd think he won the lottery the way he's been spending." She speaks with her mouth full of food, which is grating on my nerves, but she is good for sharing news, I guess.
I had no idea Langford was pressuring more than just the businesses on the boardwalk. These developers move into small towns like ours and gentrify everything, then the tourists come and bam, it's not a small beach town anymore. Pretty soon, it's nothing but a tourist trap and the small-town vibe is gone.
"Good for Dale," Leah says flatly.
"Good for Dale's truck payment, maybe. But what about the rest of us? You think rent stays the same when they start putting up condos? Emily, you're on a mortgage, aren't you? For the bakery?"
"Yeah… I have one," I say, but I'm barely listening now. Roger is wandering through the crowd, shaking hands, slapping backs. I'm scanning every face around him looking for the one I'm afraid to see. Mercy is twenty feet away crouched down on the grass tying her shoe, and the distance between her and Roger Cole is making my skin crawl.
My chest is so tight, it feels like a violin string ready to snap any second. I don't have emotional energy to think about Victor Langford's pressure tactics when I have a life that might implode now. Keeping Mercy a secret wasn't really something I thought about. It just happened because Jaxon was gone and Mom and Dad—well, they didn't need to know the ugly details. But now it's gonna come back to bite me so fucking hard.
Why didn't I think things through better?
"Well, you'd better pray the city doesn't force you out because I heard Langford's—oh, my lord." Charity stops mid-thought. Her eyes go wide and she fans herself like she's suddenly sweltering. "Is that Jaxon Cole?"
I don't have to look. I already know from the way my pulse just spiked, making every nerve in my body tell me to grab Mercy and leave. But I'm a glutton for punishment, so I turn and see Jaxon walking across the lawn toward the refreshments table. He's wearing jeans and a white button-down with the sleeves rolled up. His hair is combed, his jaw is clean-shaven, and he looks like he just stepped off the cover of something I'd be embarrassed to have on my nightstand.
"Well, shut the front door, ladies," Charity whispers, and Leah elbows her, scowling. The alternate swear words aren't really appropriate on church property. Though I carry the same sentiment.
Who on God's green earth does Jaxon David Cole think he is walking into a church event looking like that? My pulse ticks up and I swear it feels like it's a thousand degrees out here. Jaxon looks even better today than he did a week ago when I first saw him back in town.
Slathered in decorative ink and bulging with muscles from head to toe, and isn't it embarrassing that he's looking right at me like he wants to use me as his dinner plate? My cheeks burn as I listen to my best friend and the town gossip.
"What? He's damn hot." Charity snickers.
"Language," Leah hisses, but she's staring too. Who wouldn’t be staring? With biceps like that, it makes me drool a little to think what I gave up when I counted him as a total loss and moved on with my life.
"I'm sorry, but have you seen him? That is not the same scrawny kid who left here eight years ago. Look at his arms." Charity shoves me. "Emily, look at his arms."
"I see them, Charity." My heart does this strange little flip, which I can't tell if it's caused by my sudden heat flash or the panic that just smacked me like a ton of bricks. Mercy is fewer than ten yards away and there isn't a single person here to help me hide her.
"Are those tattoos? Oh, my God, he's got tattoos. Since when does Jaxon Cole have tattoos?" Charity is practically vibrating. I want to strangle her because he's getting closer, walking directly toward us.
I glance over at Mercy, who's now lined up at the rope with the other kids, bouncing on her toes and clutching her basket. She's far enough away that Jaxon wouldn't possibly associate me with her, and she's distracted, so she won’t call me. That's all I care about right now—protecting her, and maybe myself.
Jaxon reaches the table and picks up a cup of punch. When he turns around, we're standing four feet apart. He smiles that slow, easy grin I used to know so well. I feel it all the way down to my shoes.
"Hey, Em."
"Hey." I sound like I've swallowed a golf ball. Charity is staring at me. Leah is staring at me. Everyone within a ten-foot radius is probably staring at me. Or maybe that's just how I feel about this. It's not like the whole town doesn't know I used to date him. When Chelsie died, I got a few condolences, though I was never close with Jaxon's parents. We were too young and never quite serious enough to warrant that back then. But believe me, the town knows.
I'm sure every gossip hound from here to Wilmington has already had their say in what they think might happen between us now that Jaxon is back.
"Good turnout," he says, glancing around the lawn. He takes a sip of punch, and I watch his throat move when he swallows, which is not something I should be noticing at a church function. Or the way his steely eyes drink me in before he says, "I forgot how big this thing gets."
"Your mom used to run it," I say, and I immediately wish I hadn't. I feel like an idiot. Of course he knows his mom used to run it. What the heck am I saying? I sound like a fool.
"Yeah. She did." He looks back at me, and there's a beat of silence that Charity is absolutely dying to fill. I can feel her nearly exploding out of her skin beside me. "Listen, I know things are weird right now, with my being back and everything. But I'd really like to catch up sometime. Maybe grab a coffee or something?"
"Oh, I don't—I mean… I'm pretty busy. The bakery keeps me slammed most days, and I've got a lot going on right now, so…"
"She's free Tuesday," Leah says, and I turn to look at her so fast, my neck cracks. I want to smack her. Why would she say this? Yeah, she knows nothing about Mercy being his, but she does know how badly this man broke me. No way in hell she actually thinks I want to do this.
"What?" If my heart wasn't divebombing before, it is now. I think I may throw up those finger sandwiches I forced myself and Mercy to eat.
"Tuesday—I can cover your shift. You've been working seven days a week for three months, Em. Go get a coffee." Leah shrugsand sips her lemonade. She has no idea what she's just done. She thinks she's being a good friend, helping me loosen up and reconnect with an old flame. She doesn't know why I can't sit across from Jaxon Cole at a table and make small talk without my entire life unraveling.
"I don't think that's?—"
