Chapter 24
JULES
“Earth to Jules.”
Delaney sat across from me at The Coffee Cabin, her coffee pushed aside as she held her wrist out, turning it slowly so I could admire the bracelet she’d designed for a client. Gold wire wrapped around tiny emerald beads, delicate but intentional. Very her.
“It’s beautiful,” I said.
She raised an eyebrow. “That’s the same tone you use when you’re thinking about murder scenes.”
I leaned back against the bench and exhaled. “Sorry. I was thinking about my next scene. Something about it just isn’t flowing.”
“Your scene,” she repeated. “Uh-huh.”
We’d been back from Italy less than a week, and this wasn’t the first time she’d circled the truth without naming it. I hadn’t volunteered much. Partly because she’d warned me. Mostly because admitting she’d been right felt like tempting fate.
“Yes,” I said lightly. “My scene. It’s a killer. No pun intended.”
Delaney didn’t smile.
Instead, she lifted her coffee mug slowly, deliberately, eyes never leaving mine, and took a long sip. Something about the way she did it sparked an idea. For a bubbly redhead, she looked faintly murderous.
“What?” I asked. “Nothing happened. There’s nothing between us. I’m fine.”
“That’s getting harder and harder to believe. I know you, Jules. And you haven’t been yourself since we got back.”
She wasn’t wrong. And she wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.
I stared at my bagel. “I don’t know what to say except… somehow, I ended up liking him.”
Jules placed her mug on the table with a sharp clink, loud enough that the couple beside us glanced over. The Coffee Cabin was packed, locals and tourists blended together in a steady hum of conversation.
“That was aggressive,” she said mildly. “I wish you’d said something sooner. Because it was completely obvious. And for the record, Cole’s being just as tight-lipped with Parker as you are with me.”
My head snapped up. “They talked about me?”
She rolled her eyes. “The fact that you care and you’re looking at me like that right now tells me all I need to know. So go ahead. Spill.”
I did.
Well, almost everything.
I told her how surprised I’d been by my attraction to him. How different he was once you got past the polished exterior. I told her about the boat ride I’d previously dismissed as just a really nice day.
And then I told her about the kiss.
The kiss that kept me awake at night. The one I could still feel if I closed my eyes. That brief, devastating moment that told me, despite my best efforts, I’d begun to fall for the completely wrong man.
Delaney listened without interrupting, then sighed. “Okay. This is a five-alarm fire. I know Cole’s reputation. And I know you. You’re not a one-night-stand girl. From what I’ve heard, he very much is.”
I took a bite of my bagel, smiling faintly. “He’s a one-night-stand girl?”
She snorted. “You’re impossible.”
“He told me as much,” I admitted. “We talked about relationships. He practically tried to scare me away. Which should’ve worked. If my brain were functioning.”
“Hey, ladies.”
Mae O’Malley slid up beside our table, a bakery box tucked under her arm. “Uh-oh. I didn’t mean to interrupt something serious. I’m just dropping off some pastries I’m testing.”
“No worries,” I said, scooting over and patting the bench beside me. “Join us.”
She hesitated, glancing between us. “You sure?”
“Absolutely.”
Mae sat, her gaze flicking briefly to Delaney, who gave the tiniest nod. If anyone understood how fast things could spiral with the wrong man, it was Mae. Beck had been openly a ladies’ man until his childhood sweetheart returned. Once they figured things out, it was game over.
That didn’t mean my story would end the same way.
“So,” I said slowly, turning to Mae, “I was just telling Delaney that I accidentally, and very involuntarily—”
“She’s in love with Cole,” Delaney announced.
My jaw dropped. “I am absolutely not in love with Cole Ford.”
“Correction,” Delaney said. “She is in lust with Cole.”
Mae’s head swiveled between us.
“It’s not just that,” I said quickly. “I mean, it’s a little like that.
But…” I looked at Mae. “You know how he and Parker came to Italy? We ended up spending a lot of time together. And I swear, before that trip, I would’ve laughed if you told me we’d be having this conversation.
I thought he was pompous. Stuck-up. Borderline rude. ”
“And now?” Mae asked.
“Now I know better,” I said quietly. “That was before I actually got to know him.”
Mae smiled, soft but serious. “Okay. Then we need to do some damage control.”
That didn’t feel reassuring.
Mae met my eyes. “Damage control doesn’t always mean stopping something,” she said gently. “Sometimes it just means being honest about what it costs.”
The conversation shifted after that, drifting toward safer ground. Mae’s new pastries. Delaney’s client deadline. Gossip about a couple arguing outside the post office. But even as the topics changed, the weight of what had already been said lingered between us.
Eventually, Delaney glanced at her watch. “I’ve got to head out if I want to make it to the studio before my afternoon appointment.”
Mae slid off the bench a moment later, gathering her box. “Same. If I stay any longer, I’ll end up oversharing and blaming the caffeine.”
She paused, then looked at me more seriously. “Just be careful, Jules. Whatever this is, it’s already bigger than you want to admit.”
“I know,” I said, though I wasn’t sure I did.
Mae squeezed my shoulder before leaving, Delaney following her after one last pointed look that promised this conversation wasn’t over.
I stayed where I was, staring into my untouched coffee as the space across from me emptied. The Coffee Cabin buzzed on around me, life continuing as if nothing had shifted.
But something had.
It wasn’t just that I liked Cole. It was that once I’d seen him clearly, I couldn’t unsee him. Not the restraint. Not the way he’d held back when he wanted more. Not the look in his eyes that said choosing distance cost him something.
I gathered my things and stepped outside into the warm summer air, the scent of cut grass and coffee lingering together. Cedar Falls looked exactly the same as it always had. Familiar. Predictable. Safe.
And yet, for the first time since coming home, it felt temporary.
As if the town itself were waiting.
Because somewhere between Italy and now, Cole Ford had become more than a memory. More than a mistake. And I had the unmistakable sense that his story here wasn’t finished yet.
Whether I was ready for it or not.