Page 4 of Fifty-Fifty

I shake my head while feeling like I’m having a major déjà vu moment when the girl interrupts, again. “I can take it from here, Mr. Harold.” She turns to me. “I know Beau. I might be able to pass along the message.” Her accent is thick and lilting, bringing a certain charm that I never would’ve expected. Usually, it reminds me of nails on a chalkboard, but with her? With her, it’s different. Almost soothing. Which is exactly what I’m needing, considering how uptight I’ve been since coming here.

Cautiously, I assess her before asking, “You know Beau?”

She smirks. “Better than anyone. Now, how can I help?”

Licking my lips, I can’t help but scan her up and down once more.

She must be the girlfriend.

Beau’s a lucky bastard.

“Beau and I seem to be having a disagreement.”

“What kinda disagreement?”

I clear my throat, trying to contain my frustration. I don’t like gossip. And I don’t like nosy people. If it were anyone else asking me, I would’ve already walked away. But the girl in front of me is mesmerizing enough to keep me in my seat, and I don’t like how out-of-control I feel when I’m with her. Like I’m a puppet on a set of strings. Strings that only she can control.

“I’m afraid that’s private,” I murmur.

“Then I’m afraid I can’t help ya,” she returns.

I grit my teeth at her sass. “Look. Did you know James Jamison?”

She sobers as soon as the name leaves my lips. The entire coffee shop goes eerily quiet.

“Yeah,” she breathes, “we all knew Jay.”

I nod, feeling like a billion sets of eyes are on me. “Well, I’m Jay’s grandson, and I need to speak with Beau.”

Her brows furrow before heating as my words sink in. “Yer Noah?”

“Yeah.”

She folds her arms across her chest. “Facinatin’. I find it a tad funny that you came all this way down to Love because of a disagreement with Beau, yet you couldn’t attend the funeral for your granddaddy last month. Ain’t that awful convenient, Mr. Harold?”

The old guy grits his teeth. “Sure is. Awful convenient.”

My hands clench around my coffee mug. “Look. I’ll get out of your little town as soon as someone can tell me where the hell Beau is.”

The girl licks her lips. “This is about the bed n’ breakfast, ain’t it?”

I nod. Finally. We’re getting somewhere.

“Then I assume you’ll be at the meetin’ with Mr. Jenkins later today, am I right?”

Another nod.

“Then I think that’s it for us. You can voice your concerns with the lawyer present. Nice to meet ya.”

She stands from her seat before grabbing a toddler that I hadn’t noticed until now. The little girl has the same blue eyes and toothy grin with a bow in her curly hair. I’d be an idiot not to see the resemblance. Apparently, little miss spitfire has a kid.

Well, damn.

They both head to the door, about to disappear from my sight.

“Wait!” I start, shocking the hell out of myself.

Slowly, she turns back to me while shifting from one foot to the other and popping out her hip. The little girl is gripping her mama’s thigh and peeking up at me. Her bright eyes shine with curiosity.

---