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“Tell me more about you.”
He blows out a breath. “Like?”
“Like why you stay at my inn when you’re in town when you’re from Greywall?”
He bites his lip and nods, staring at the busy tables. “I come to see my parents and my grandma on occasion. They’re the only family I have. The problem is the two of them don’t get along. At all. They don’t even speak to each other anymore.”
My forehead creases. “Really? Midge?”
He nods. “They haven’t said a word to one another since I was seventeen.”
“Why?” Realizing how nosy I’m being, I raise my hands. I hate when people ask me personal things when they barely know me. “Never mind. None of my business.”
“No, it’s okay.” He waves off my backtracking. “My grandfather died when I was seventeen and my grandma was left everything in the will. Including the mining business that had been in our family for generations. She sold it off without consulting my dad. After that, my dad cut her off. I’m not sure how my mom really feels, but she took my dad’s side, obviously. And I got stuck in the middle. So I stay at the SunBay Inn because it’s a retreat where they’d never look for me. I do a dinner here or a lunch there with each of them. But always separately.”
“That’s gotta be hard.” I place my hand on his forearm.
His large hand lands on mine and goose bumps race up my arm.
Just keep ignoring these feelings, Mandi. It’s what you do best.
Of course, Jed picks that moment to deliver our food. His gaze lingers where we’re touching. And Jed being Jed, he sits down. “I’m sorry, Noah, where did you say you’re from?”
“Jed,” I say with zero patience in my tone.
But my brother doesn’t shift his gaze from Noah’s.
I slide my hand out from under Noah’s as he says, “I’m originally from Greywall, but I travel for work now. I do a lot of shoots for National Geographic.”
“You’re the photographer?” Jed asks as though he’s heard rumors about him.
“Yeah.”
“I heard you did Fisher and Allie’s family photos?”
My mouth drops open. Here I thought Jed was going to go all big protective brother on him.
“My girlfriend is pregnant, and I have a seven-year-old. Do you do a lot of family photos?”
Noah appears a little uncomfortable. “Um, it’s not really my specialty.”
“Oh.” Jed stands.
“But sure.” Noah digs out his wallet and pulls out his card, passing it to my brother. “Give me a call to set up a time.”
Jed accepts the card and smiles at me. “Great. Molly’s had horrible morning sickness and I want to do something special for her. I figure pictures are forever.”
“True enough,” Noah says.
“I’ll probably wait until she’s almost full term, but I’ll be in touch. ’Kay, now I’ll leave you two to it.” He winks at me, and I groan.
“At this rate, it seems like I’ll be the family portrait guy if I stay in this town long enough.” He takes another drink from his flight.
“Would that be a bad thing?” I ask more for myself than him and wish I could take it back.
Noah locks eyes with me. “I’m not sure. I used to think so.”
Neither of us shifts our gaze, and I try to decipher his words. Am I the one making him unsure now, or is it that he’s grown bored with wildlife photography? He did mention it being lonely once.
I strip my gaze from him. “We should eat before it gets cold.”
“Yeah. Good thinking.”
We enjoy our meal, and afterward, we walk back to the inn. I say good night to him and get in my car to drive back to my place, though that’s not really what I want to do.
