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Straightening myself to face Maddie, I ask her for a caramel latte and Beckett requests a black coffee.
Maddie’s biting her lip so hard when she takes his credit card, I’m worried she’ll start bleeding any second.
When she hands it back, she musters the courage to speak again. “Go ahead and sit down, I’ll bring these over when they’re ready.”
Maddie’s wide-eyed gaze is on me, but I catch Beckett slipping a twenty into the tip jar on the counter. It’s a nice gesture, and it’s not lost on me that he did it when he thought no one would see him. Never mind the fact that Maddie will send all the money home with the other employee.
Leading the way, I weave between a smattering of tables towards the private back corner. The round table is scarred, small and my favorite seat in the house.
I’m reaching for one of the chairs when Beckett’s hand tightens in the fabric of my cardigan across my back.
Forced to stop, I stand still while Beckett reaches past me and pulls the chair out from the table, “Allow me.”
Taking the offered seat, I can’t stop the smile spreading across my face, “Why thank you.”
Seating himself across from me, Beckett rests his elbows on the table, “I might be a prick some of the time, but I know how to behave on a date.”
“I’ll be sure to tell your mom she raised you right.”
Beckett laughs, “Hell,” he shakes his head, “she’ll have a field day when she hears about this.”
My brows raise, “You gonna tell her?”
He rolls his eyes, “If I don’t, I’m sure my cousin will.”
The thought of Beckett’s female family giving him a hard time fills me with delight.
“Do they still live around here? Your parents?” I ask.
He nods, “Yep. I know the day is coming that they’ll eventually have to move out of that house and into a senior housing type place, but they’re still both active as ever.”
I smile. I don’t know his parents well, but because of our brothers’ friendship, I’ve met them plenty of times.
Maddie’s approach halts our conversation, and we exchange a chorus of thank you’s as she sets down our drinks.
After I promise we don’t need anything else, Maddie backs away from our table, putting herself behind Beckett so only I can see her. With her eyes wide, she fans her face and pretends to pant.
I do my best to ignore her, wrapping my hands around the warm latte in front of me.
“What about your parents?” Beckett taps the side of his coffee with his fingertips. “You said you bought your old house?”
Maddie stands behind him and feigns a faint, then finally spins and walks away.
“I did,” I purse my lips to keep from laughing at my friend. “I think it’s been… two years already.” I shake my head. “That seems crazy.”
“Did they just want to downsize, or what made them move?”
“Oh, they downsized alright.” I roll my eyes, “They bought an RV and have been terrorizing the entire countryside with their antics ever since.”
“They’re having fun I take it?” Beckett asks with a crooked grin.
“That they are,” I nod. “They head to the southern states during the winter, then travel back north in the summer. Keeps them out of my hair for half the year at least.”
“There is that,” Beckett agrees.
There’s a moment of silence while we both sip our beverages.
“So how about James? What’s he up to?”
