Chapter 28 #2
“I’m, uh, just here to grab a coffee.” Nel fidgeted with her bracelet. “I didn’t mean to interrupt…this.” She swallowed before stepping around Ethan to the counter.
“You gonna sit with us or the guys?” Polly asked once Nel was gone.
“Why not both?” Joel said from behind Ethan, before setting a cinnamon roll on the table and pulling another table over. He lowered himself beside Polly, and Connor and Zac joined them.
Ethan smiled at Maggie. “Is that okay?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
The two women answered at the same time.
Maggie sighed before tugging Ethan into the seat beside hers.
Joel pushed a partially eaten pastry in front of Polly. “Here you go.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Oh, the roll you’ve seasoned with your saliva? No, thanks.”
What the hell was that about?
Over the next half hour, Polly and Joel continued to bicker. Nel left, as did Polly’s mother and the man who was with her. When Raven Price stepped inside, Ethan didn’t miss the way Connor followed her around the café with his gaze.
He nudged Connor’s shoulder. “You should talk to her.”
“I should, shouldn’t I?”
Connor looked like he was about to get up, when an older couple stepped into the café and went straight over to Raven. Her parents? They seemed to talk quietly for a minute before Raven guided them out.
Connor leaned back in his seat again.
Joel leaned forward. “Who’s that guy in the corner?”
Ethan glanced over his shoulder.
“David Collins,” Polly answered before he could. “He’s the town recluse.”
Connor frowned. “He’s watching everyone.”
Joel nodded. “He’s not obvious about it, but he’s definitely aware of his surroundings. Perfect spot for it too—corner table with his back to the wall.”
“He’s a former SEAL too,” Ethan said, turning back to the group. “His wife went missing when I was a kid. According to town gossip, he never recovered. Lives in a really remote part of the forest and barely talks to anyone anymore.”
The story had been a big one when he was young. Collins had gone on a rampage trying to find the person responsible but never had.
“He dangerous?” Zac asked.
Ethan sipped his coffee. “Not as far as I’m aware.”
Polly slapped Joel’s fork away. “What are you doing?”
“Seeing if your pancakes are as good as mine?”
“You touch my pancakes, and you’ll have a fork scar in your hand for life.”
“Jesus.” He looked at Maggie. “Is she always this violent?”
“Yes,” Polly answered for Maggie.
“Need I remind you that I offered you my bun?” Joel said.
Polly rolled her eyes. “The one you stole from me.”
Ethan shook his head, his thumb stroking over Maggie’s thigh under the table. When her muscles tensed, he followed her gaze to the door.
Shit. Was everyone in this goddamn town coming in here today?
He rose and moved toward the door, lowering his voice. “What are you doing here, Jay? I told you to go home.”
She swallowed. “I couldn’t leave until I made things right between you and me.”
Didn’t she get it? There was no making things right after what she’d done. There was no coming back from that. He stepped outside, and she followed.
“There is no you and me. Not anymore.” His voice left no space for negotiation. “I can’t make that any clearer.”
“You did make that clear.” Hurt cut across her face, and she glanced away before looking back at him. “How do I fix this?”
“You can’t. The damage has been done.”
“Are you kidding? We’ve been friends for over a decade. Good friends.”
“And then you kissed me without my consent while I’m dating Maggie. She saw it. You hurt her. You hurt me.”
Jay shook her head, clearly frustrated. “Why do you even love her? You have nothing in common. She broke your fucking heart! Do you know how easily she could do that again?”
“You don’t need to know the why behind it. You only need to know that I do. And because I do, I would take the risk of loving her again and again.”
Pain and confusion swirled across Jay’s face. “I guess that’s that then. You choose her.”
She started to walk away…but he called her back.
“Jay.” He waited for her to meet his gaze. “I need to ask you something about that night at the bar, eleven years ago. The night Maggie broke up with me.”
“What about it?”
“I couldn’t find my phone for a few hours. You were the one who eventually found it and returned it to me.”
“So?”
He stepped closer. “Maggie had texted and called me that night, but none of that was on my phone when I got it back.”
She straightened. “What are you trying to say?”
“I’m not saying anything. I’m asking. Did you delete those texts and clear the missed phone calls?”
It was small. A slight tightening of her eyes. A quick inhale of breath.
Shit. “You did.”
“I thought I was doing you a favor. You barely saw each other. She moved to LA instead of following you to Coronado. You needed to let her go.”
“That wasn’t your fucking decision!” Goddammit, he was angry. Beyond angry, so furious he saw red. “We’re done.”
“Ethan—”
“You don’t call me again. You don’t text me. As far as you’re concerned, I don’t exist.”
“Come on!”
He stormed back into The Pancake Bar without a backward glance.