“Shut it.” I turn my attention back to Avery. “I get bacon extra crispy, two eggs over medium, and hash browns—unless it’s Friday, and then I add a cinnamon roll.”
Avery laughs, moving away from my hold. It’s a smooth move, but definitely intentional. “I’ll just have a cheese omelet, if that’s possible?”
“Done.” Claire nods and scurries back to the kitchen.
I pull out a chair beside Matt and the one next to it on the other side. Avery takes the one not by Matt, and I couldn’t be happier about that.
“Have you checked out the library yet?” I ask Dane as I move the two cups of coffee Claire poured in front of Avery and me.
He shakes his head. “Not yet. Meredith did call first thing this morning and seems happy with what you guys have been doing. She thinks you have about a week left. Does that seem right?”
“Yeah, probably.”
Dane looks at Avery. “I hear you’re an artist.”
She winces. “Not really.”
“Yes, you are,” I tell her. “Don’t sell yourself short.”
Dane grins, settling back in his chair. “You know, I didn’t believe it until I saw it for myself. But Hell has frozen over.”
“Don’t say ‘Hell,’ Dad. We just discussed this.”
“Mia . . . hush,” he says.
She stops coloring and looks up at him with absolute seriousness. “You just lectured me about saying Florida was hot as Hell, and I meant it as a proper noun. Is it okay or not?”
Avery giggles. “You’re a smart little girl.”
Her hand drops to my thigh under the table. The innocent touch sends fire through my veins. If this keeps up, we’re going to have a problem.
“I am. I—Haley!” Mia scrambles out of her seat again and launches herself toward Haley. “I missed you.”
Haley stands next to Trevor. In all the years I’ve known her, I never had her pegged to be with a guy like Trevor. He’s nice enough, I guess, and he knows construction. That’s a plus. But there was a time where I thought I was going to have to kick his ass. Wouldn’t have taken that long by the fancy shirts he wears, and I wouldn’t have minded it much either. But since Haley is happy and Trevor seems to keep himself in check, I let him live.
Haley’s eyes land on Avery. She gets Mia back in her seat as she comes around the table.
“These boys don’t have any manners, and I apologize for them—except for Penn. He can apologize for himself,” Haley teases.
“Good morning, Haley,” I say as sarcastically as I can.
“Good morning.” She extends a hand to Avery. “I’m Haley, but you probably know that by now. I’ve been fixing to come down to the library or over to Harper’s and say hello, but I haven’t been able to get away from the shop long enough to have a conversation.”
Avery shakes her hand. “I’m Avery, as you know. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Trevor said he met you the other day. Said you’re really talented.”
“Thanks.” Avery looks at the table. “I’ve been wanting to stop in and see your store. It’s so pretty from the outside.”
“Oh, do. Come by. Or we can meet up here one morning and have our own girls’ brunch without the boys. We can ask Claire when they’ll have their caramel-topped doughnuts. They’re the best.”
“Sounds good. Count me in,” Avery says with a laugh.
I sit back in my chair, coffee in hand and knee resting against Avery’s, and watch her interact with my friends. It’s effortless. Besides the introduction part, no one watching would even think she’s just meeting them.
Dane catches my eye. There’s something pensive, maybe even proud, about the way he’s watching me. It reminds me of how their dad looks at him or Matt when they’re building something and aren’t paying attention.
I shrug. Dane smiles. And for whatever reason, I needed that.
Every time I start to feel comfortable, my nerves kick in. This is all really different, something I’ve never done before, and my propensity to mess it all up is pretty high.
I have to get out of my head.
“What’s everyone doing today?” I ask.
Mia makes an exaggerated, wide-eyed face at me. “I’m getting ready for Dogwood Day this weekend. It’s only my third—fourth favorite day of the year,” she says. “After Christmas, my birthday, and the Summer Show, Dogwood Day is the best.”
Matt leans against the table. “It is the best. Who doesn’t like cotton candy and bouncy houses and games that cost ten dollars to win a fifty-cent prize?”
“Right?” Mia misses the point. “Will you get your face painted with me, Penn?”
“What do I want my face painted for?”
“Because it would be awesome. I will get a butterfly and you can get . . .”
“A princess,” Dane teases.
I fire him a glare.
“No,” Mia hisses. “What about a giraffe?”
“I do have a long—ouch,” I say as Avery elbows me in the side. “Memory. A long memory.”
Mia shrugs and goes back to coloring with these expensive markers that Dane buys online like the sucker he is. I mean, I’d probably buy them for her, too, but still.
Claire comes back and sets our food in front of us. “Do you two lovebirds want anything else?”
My stomach drops as my head whips to Avery. She places her hands in her lap and steadies her gaze on Claire.
“We’re fine. Thanks,” she says slowly.
“Lovebirds?” Mia looks at me like she does when she knows I have a candy bar in my truck. “Are you two in love like my dad and Neely?”
“No,” I say much too quickly. “We’re . . .”
I look at Avery. She’s watching me with wide eyes. I don’t know what to say, especially to a ten-year-old.
“We’re friends,” I say finally. “Avery and I are really good friends.”
Dane leans forward and grabs Mia’s glass. His gaze pins me to my seat. “Mia, finish your milk before it spills.”
My friends start talking, jabbering about Dogwood Day and where Neely’s purple bag disappeared to. I tune them all out.
I watch Avery chat with Claire, her head falling back in laughter, and wonder why this is so tricky.
Maybe getting off six times in the last fourteen hours is making me weak.
Or maybe it is because Avery fits so easily into my life without complicating it too much.
There’s one last possibility, one I don’t want to really consider. Is this feeling I’m experiencing the same one Dane feels about Neely, and I’m too scared to admit it?
Nah, I think. It can’t be that. You haven’t gone more than a week without sex for a long time. That’s what this is. Sexual satisfaction. Exhaustion. That’s all.
I bet my aura is a pale orange this morning.
Avery looks at me, and I wonder what color her aura would be today. Just as I’m about to ask her opinion, she grins.
“How are you, good friend?” she asks.
“Um, fine. You?”
She takes a piece of bacon off my plate. “Just pondering what it would take to be classified as a great friend.”