Page 48 of Craving Cooper

“Okay.”

“See you there,” he says and we end the call.

I already feel a little better, just knowing I’ll be able to talk to Brady. I’m sure he’ll make sense of what’s going on… because I certainly can’t.

All I can do is fix myself another coffee and take a shower.

It’s about all I’m capable of.

It’s not as warm today as it was yesterday, so I’m wearing jeans and a sweater, and so is Brady, when I join him at the coffee shop. He arrived just a few minutes before me, but hasn’t ordered, and I sit opposite him at one of the tables by the window.

“Flat white?” he says, getting to his feet, and I nod my head, watching as he makes his way over to the counter.

There’s a new guy working here. I think his name’s Owen, although we haven’t been formally introduced. That’s probably because I don’t come in here very often anymore. I used to come with Brady, from time to time, but that was before he got together with Laurel and became a family man. Owen’s helping Everly behind the counter today, and he seems like a nice enough guy. Annoyingly handsome, but nice enough.

Brady brings the drinks back with him, setting them down before he sits and stares across at me.

“Did you get the shelves finished?” I ask, taking a sip of scalding coffee.

“Yes.”

I nod my head and glance around as Everly comes out from behind the counter to clear one of the tables. She’s got to be around six or seven months pregnant, I guess, and I have to say, it suits her.

“I wonder why Everly didn’t tell Seth about the baby,” I whisper, and Brady turns, glancing at her before he looks back at me.

“How do we know she didn’t?”

“You mean, you think she told him and he didn’t wanna know?”

“Who can say? We don’t know what happened between them. Although I think Seth was the kind of guy who’d have stuck around.”

“You can’t be sure of that,” I say.

“Yeah, I can. Just like I can be absolutely certain you’re trying to dodge talking about Mallory, even though that’s why we’re here.” He moves his cup slightly to one side and leans in a little, lowering his voice. “Tell me what’s happened. I know something has. You left the festival yesterday to go talk to her.”

I think about how true that is. I practically ran out on Brady and Laurel, barely bothering to say ‘goodbye’, in my desperation to see Mallory.

“I know.”

“And?”

“And what?”

He rolls his eyes, like he’s finding this hard work. “Well… according to Laurel, Mallory likes you, so…”

“Laurel told you that?” I sit forward, interrupting him.

He shrugs his shoulders. “She refused to give me too much information, because she thought I might tell you, but from what I could gather, yeah… Mallory likes you.” I let out a sigh, staring at the space between us. “You’re not gonna tell me you don’t like her, are you?” he says. “Because if you are, I won’t believe you.”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Good. Because it’s fairly clear to me that you’re in love with her.”

I look up at him, and he smiles. “Is it that obvious?”

He chuckles. “No. But I’ve known you nearly all your life, and I don’t remember you ever asking to talk to me about a woman. Not once.”

“That’s not true, and you know it. I’m almost always talking about women.”

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