Page 7 of Ready, Willing and Abel

I hope.

Not that it matters. Despite Mia’s optimism, there is little to no chance I will actually see Abel Cartwright again outside a movie theater. Lord knows, I’m certainly never going to see his bare ass again.

He is a movie god. I am a country girl who’s never even been to Houston. Meeting him once was a freak accident as rare as lightning striking a lone cactus in a field of oaks.

chapter

four

Abel

I stare at the chalkboard sign hanging above the order counter. Evan is over there getting something. I’m content with my coffee.

I can’t tell if this is a coffee shop or a bakery. I wasn’t paying too close attention when I came in. I got here before Evan, ordered my coffee, and I’ve just been sitting.

Not gonna lie, I was very pleased to get Evan’s text this morning. I hope my gift for Marley did the trick to solidify my apology for being such a dick to her.

Finally, my brother comes over to the table and sets down a couple of plates. “Marley threatened to poke me with something sharp if I didn’t get you one of these.” He pushes a plate to me. “They’re her favorite.”

“Does that mean she forgives me?” I ask.

“Yeah, and so do I. Even though I didn’t get a fucking gift basket,” Evan says.

“Do you need me to order you one?”

My brother chuckles. “No. I knew your heart was in the right place, even if your head was up your ass. And you went to a lot of trouble to make that basket special. I know it wasn’t one you ordered from a website. Those items were carefully curated. She loved it.”

“I’m glad. I was an ass and shouldn’t have interfered. I really want her to like me,” I say.

“Everyone likes you,” Evan says.

“No, everyone likes you. Everyone just wants to know me. There’s a difference.”

He takes a bite of whatever is on his plate, which looks like maybe a cinnamon roll and a honeybun had a baby. Then he taps his fork on my plate. “This is their creme brûlée donut. You should definitely try it. The women who work in here are wizards.”

My mind wanders back to my Cactus Girl. I’ve thought about asking about her in town, trying to find out her name, at least. I could probably look her up online. But it all feels like an invasion of privacy.

I take a bite of the donut, which somehow has a burnt sugar crust around it. “Wow,” I say after swallowing.

“Right?”

After we eat in silence for a few, I look at Evan. “You know why I did it, right? I just didn’t want anyone to be trying to take advantage of you.” I take a sip of my black coffee.

“I know. But you know, not everyone is out to scam our family. What Jim and Becky did to us was a one-off. And you’re older and wiser now and have put safety measures into place. Hell, mom and dad are set for life.”

“Maybe, but they nearly bankrupted our parents.” I shake my head. “I won’t ever let that happen again.”

“Bro, how much money do you have in the bank right now? Hell, even your wallet?”

I pull my wallet out, grab the money, and put it on the table. “I don’t know. Couple of hundred, I guess.”

Evan stares at me like I’m a moron, then picks up the stack. “Crazy fucker. This is seven hundred and fifty dollars. Who carries that around with them?”

“Your point?”

“My point is, you can relax. You’ve probably made enough money at this point that you could retire. Never make another movie again.”

“I think about that sometimes. A lot actually,” I say.