AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What?” she said. Davis leaned against the doorframe, his blue eyes unwavering. Shit. Was that a smirk?
“Ava said you bailed early last night.” Ava. Of course. She’d sent Charlie an insane number of text messages and didn’t stop until Charlie had texted her back, somewhere between the outbuilding and Rick’s house. The text had been curt.
Stop or I’ll hurt you.
“And?” Keep it cool. Simple. Nonchalant.
“Said you left without saying goodbye and that you were in a foul mood.”
“What are you? The dance police?” Charlie watched him warily. There was no way he could know. Was there?
Davis shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “We just hoped that you’d have a good night is all.”
“Yeah well, being alone at a Valentine’s Day dance is pretty pathetic and I wasn’t feeling it. Watching her and Seth—“
“Seth Rogers?”
“Yes, he’s the only Seth in Fisherman’s Landing, why?”
“No reason.” Davis cocked his head to the side. “So you left.”
She nodded, reaching for the half-brewed coffee pot. “So I left.” She filled a mug for Davis and handed it to him. “How was Connor last night?”
“He was good. We watched the hockey game. He ate a lot of popcorn and fell asleep before it was over.”
“There were no issues?”
Davis took a sip from his mug, swirling the coffee around a bit before answering. “He took a shine to the piano that belonged to my mom. Started banging on the keys, but most of them are dead and the damn thing sounds like shit.”
“Really?” Charlie asked. “The piano?” She thought back to the other day at Rick’s.
“I’m only sorry that it’s nothing more than a hunk of junk. After he went to bed I had a look inside, thinking I could maybe do something with the hammers, but most of them are broken. I guess I should haul it out to the junkyard.” He smiled. “The little guy seemed intense about it.”
Charlie’s throat constricted and she set her mug on the table and crossed the room, giving Davis a big hug. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Lucky for you, you’ll never have to find out.”
She pulled away and laughed. “One of these days Jason Davis, some woman is going to knock you on your ass and she’s going to take you away from me.”
“I’m a townie for life. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
She frowned. “Don’t you want more than this?”
“Don’t you?”
Annoyed, she frowned. “We’re not talking about me.”
“Maybe we should be.”
“Oh for God sake. Let’s just forget about it, all right?”
“Fine by me,” he said, a smart-ass grin on his face. He drained his mug and handed it to her. “I’ll take another.” He moved to her fridge. “You got eggs? I’ll scramble us up something.”
The two of them settled into a routine that they’d done many times before. After her father died, Jason had started coming around Saturday nights after work and he’d be back Sunday mornings. He’d been close to her father as well, and they’d needed each other to get through their grief.
The sun was now up in the sky and outside her kitchen window the rays danced over the snowdrifts, sending dazzling reflections of lights into her eyes. In the distance she could see the icy Atlantic and she shivered. It was going to be another cold one. She closed the blinds a bit to cut the glare and peeled a few potatoes, some onions and green peppers. Once she was done, she handed everything over to Davis and he fried them up along with the eggs.
She checked on Connor, but her brother was happily munching on his Cheerios, eyes glued to Shark Man, and by the time she returned to the kitchen, the food was ready. She grabbed two plates, handed them to Davis and while she topped up their coffee mugs, he readied dished out the food.
