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“You’re playing with fire, young lady.”
“That’s cuz I like it hot,” she said saucily over her shoulder before she disappeared into the bathroom. Yep, I was falling for her big-time.
After we were dressed, we headed to her place and stopped to grab breakfast at Coral’s Coffee Café on the way. I offered to go in alone, but Nolan hopped out of the truck to come with me. I guessed she didn’t care about people seeing her with me this early in the morning.
It was just after seven, and since it was Saturday, it wasn’t that busy. Coral was behind the counter and grinned widely at me before she glanced at Nolan. I wasn’t sure if Nolan saw Coral’s eyebrow pop or not, but I did.
“Morning, Coral, how is your father?” Coral Winston and her family were very close to ours. We’d grown up with their very similar family. We had four boys and two girls, and they had the opposite. Coral’s mother had passed away, and it had hit all of us very hard.
One of the boys in the family, Ethan, was married to my sister, Riley. They had tied the knot last year in a civil service and now had a toddler, Corey.
“He’s doing okay. You know him. He just keeps going.”
I smiled. “He is a strong man,” I agreed with her. “Coral, I’m not sure if you have met Nolan Nickels, but she bought the old Millstone property.”
“I heard there was a buyer! I’ve seen you in here a few times but never got the chance to introduce myself. What on God’s green earth possessed you to buy that property? I hope your husband is handy.” They shook hands over the counter.
“It’s great to meet you, Coral,” Nolan said, and before she could reply further, I jumped in.
“Actually, Nolan is doing a lot of the work herself. She even does a better job than Kayley, but don’t tell my sister I said that.”
We all laughed, and then Nolan spoke. “I’m actually divorced and moving here for a new start. I wanted a place that I could make my own.”
Coral whistled. “Girl, I gotta give you some credit there. I don’t know how a hammer even works.”
“That’s not true,” I replied with a chuckle. “Coral did her fair share of summers helping Kayley and me when we were teens.”
Coral eyed me carefully. “And you know that I only did that because I had a huge crush on you.”
Nolan laughed loudly, and I glanced at her. For a moment, time stopped, and I fell just a little further.
Coral brought me back to earth. “Brad, are you helping Nolan?”
“I am. We are on our way over there now. Hence the reason we stopped in.”
“Well, what can I get for you?”
After we ordered, we stepped to the side to let another customer get to the counter, and I explained to Nolan that Coral was about the same age as Henley and Riley, but she had always hung out with the older kids when we were together. I also explained that Ethan was her slightly older brother.
“Ah, that makes sense. Now that you tell me that, Coral is part of the family you grew up with, right?”
“Yeah, she is.”
“Kayley told me many stories of you all. Her mother passed away not too long ago, correct?”
“Yeah.” I frowned as I ran a hand over my beard. “Man, it’s been almost two years already. It was in July when Riley was pregnant.”
“I can’t imagine losing my mother. I mean, I know that one day I will, and sometimes she just irks me something fierce, but I can’t imagine not being able to pick up the phone and call her when I need her for something, or just to listen.”
“Yeah, me either.”
Our food was ready a few minutes later, and after we got back to the truck, she sipped her coffee, and said, “Do you think Coral knows we slept together?”
I laughed. “Why would you even ask that?”
“Because it’s like seven in the morning, and both of us look a little rumpled, no offense, but we do, and we are together in one car.”
“For all she knows, I picked you up at Kayley’s.”
