I didn’t know if I was suddenly warm because of the fire burning in front of us, or because I was spending the day with Adelaide Edington tomorrow.
Either way… I was warming up in ways I couldn’t explain.
Chapter Thirteen
Adelaide
“Hey there, sweetheart. Where are the girls?” Mae Stone asked me as she dropped a menu off in front of me.
“Hi. I’ll be here with the girls tomorrow. I’m actually meeting Jett here for breakfast today.”
Her entire face lit up. “Really? He didn’t mention it. But I was asleep when he got in last night, and of course I left long before he rolled out of bed this morning. I swear that boy could sleep all day.”
The Rusty Pelican was the oldest diner in Willow Springs. There were views of the water out the back wall of windows. It always smelled like blueberry muffins and maple syrup. Mae looked a lot like her son, with chocolate brown hair and dark eyes, and a strikingly gorgeous face. Although she was petite in size, I knew she was a strong woman. She worked long days and had raised her son by herself. I respected her, and she’d always been so nice to me.
“I’m taking him on an old-fashioned tour of Willow Springs. He can’t seem to get out of this town fast enough, so I’m going to show him why I love it here so much.” I chuckled, dropping the menu beside me because I had the whole thing memorized.
“I think that’s a great idea. Good luck with that. I swear that boy has been planning his escape for years,” she said just as Jett came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. He towered over her, and I found myself short of breath as I took him in. Thick brown hair tousled on his head, a sharp jaw, and a perfectly angular nose. Jett Stone was carved to perfection in every way. His tall, lean frame was surrounded by strong arms and cut muscles. I’d found myself entranced during his fight last night. I’d told my own little white lie, as Coco hadn’t even invited me to go see his fight. I’d invited myself because I’d hated the way we’d left things at the lake yesterday, and I wanted to make sure his fight went okay.
We were spending an awful lot of time together. More than I’d ever spent with Alec. Oddly, I spent more time talking with Jett than I’d ever spent talking with Alec over all the years I’d known him.
He’d become a friend.
A good friend.
“Hi, Ma.” He moved to sit in the booth across from me.
“I hear you’re getting the full tour from Addy today,” Mae said, brushing down the front of her apron, pressing out the small wrinkles.
“Whatever. She’s got zero chance of changing the way I feel about this place, but I’m down to let her try.”
“She? Her? You do know I’m sitting right here?” I said, raising my brow in challenge.
“So easy to infuriate. Can’t say I don’t enjoy it sometimes. And yes, I see you sitting there with a shit-eating grin like you think you’re going to change the world today. Just don’t want you to be disappointed, Ace.”
Mae rumpled his hair. “Watch that mouth, Jett. So, do you know what you want?”
“I’ll take the special.” I handed her the menu and Jett said he’d have the same thing as me.
His mother left us alone and I turned to face him. “Don’t you worry about me being disappointed.”
“Whatever you say. So where are we going?”
“Leave that to me.”
We made small talk and he told me he was dreading his meeting with Kylie tonight. We talked about Sherman and his dozens of text messages from the night before. We laughed about the fact that Sherman had apologized to me about my breakup with Alec, because he and Sadie Fareweather were actually dating now and he felt bad that I was single.
Mae set our food down and we both dug in.
“That dude is madly in love with you, you know that, right?” Jett said over a mouthful of pancake.
“He is not. He and Sadie are super cute together.”
“So how many times did dickhead blow up your phone after you got home? I thought he’d piss himself when he realized you were out there last night. And sitting by me of all people. The horror,” he said dramatically through his laughter.
Jett was funny.
And charming.
And warm.
And trustworthy.
He’d become an important person in my life over the past few weeks.
“He called a few times and I sent him to voicemail and then he started texting. I texted him back and said I wasn’t upset with him at all and was totally fine with him and Karina doing their thing. That led to, I don’t know, another fifty texts. I’d turned my phone off and gone to bed, but I found all the messages this morning. How did I not see how out of control he can be?”
“Because you always did what he wanted before. Now that he’s not getting what he wants from you, you get to see the real Taulson. That’s the guy I’ve known for years.” He pulled out a wad of cash and dropped a twenty-dollar bill on the table.
“No. It’s on me,” I insisted, pulling my wallet from my purse. “I invited you.”
“Do not offend me, Ace. My mom won’t let us pay for breakfast, and I’m leaving the tip,” he said, moving to his feet.
He was also a gentleman which surprised me for a boy his age. Alec was totally fine with going dutch or taking turns paying. Which I’d never minded, but it was nice that Jett wanted to cover the tip for his mom.
“Thank you. I appreciate it. I feel like I owe you because you’ve let me take over your whole man cave lake area.” I followed him out and he paused to hug his mother. I waved goodbye and pulled my coat closed. It was a chilly December morning, and I tugged my hat over my head once we stepped outside.
Jett wore a hoody under his black leather coat and slipped on a pair of gloves. “My man cave is your man cave, Ace. So where are you taking me?”
“First stop, Violet’s floral shop.” Violet was one of my favorite people in Willow Springs. She owned the local floral boutique and I always loved visiting her there. It smelled like pine and cinnamon when we walked in.
“Addy Edington, say it isn’t so.” The older woman had to be pushing eighty years old, but she didn’t act like it. Her gray hair was slicked back in a tight bun, she wore a red sweater with brown reindeers on the front, and sparkly pom-poms were sewn on to give it some pizazz. “And is that Jett Stone? Well, I’ll be damned. What did I do to deserve being graced by two amazing youngsters?”
Jett laughed and I beamed up at him before he rolled his eyes at my excitement. “I’m taking Jett to all my favorite places in town today. Mama asked me to stop by and pay for an order she placed with you yesterday.”