Page 59 of The House on Blueberry Lane

“No problem. You can catch a ride with me. I know my way. The Bayou is beautiful but it’s like a swampy wilderness at night.”

Jaye had thought of using attending the party as a way to catch a ride with Velvet but riding with Evans was even better. Velvet would probably be there early to help Bryce get things ready. Besides, since Velvet hadn’t mentioned anything about the party, chances were she didn’t know he’d been invited. He couldn’t wait until she discovered that he had.

“HEY, VELVET, WAIT UP.”

Velvet, who was walking to her car after picking up lunch, recognized the masculine voice and was tempted to keep walking and pretend she hadn’t heard Webb. However, she knew a few people had heard him call out to her and were glancing in their direction. It would have been rude to just keep walking.

She turned and moments later Webb came to a stop in front of her. “Yes, Webb?”

“How about going to the movies with me Saturday night?”

The man had to be kidding. Hadn’t she made it clear—and most recently a few weeks ago—that she wouldn’t go out with him? “I won’t go out with you, Webb.”

Instead of appearing disappointed or annoyed, he gave her a wide smile. It would have been a heart-stopper on the lips of any other man, but when you got Webb, you got the entire conceited package. “Come on, Velvet, you can’t still be mad at me for letting those other guys know where I stand with you.”

She crossed her arms, not caring if anyone seeing them could tell she was annoyed. “And like I told you, Webb, you don’t stand anywhere with me. Why can’t you accept that and move on? There are a lot of other single women living here, and I’m sure one of them will interest you.” She didn’t tack on that whether he interested them was another matter.

“You interest me. I figure sooner or later you’d realize that your teacher’s salary won’t give you all the things you want. I can. Take your car, for instance. It’s nice but wouldn’t you rather have a luxury vehicle? I’d get it for you.”

“No, thank you. I don’t need a man buying anything for me.” If only he knew just how true that was. She looked at her watch. “Look, Webb, I need to be going.”

“What’s the rush? How about joining me for a drink.”

The man just didn’t know when to give up. “I won’t go out on a date with you, Webb.”

He smiled. “No date, just drinks.”

“No, thanks. Like I said, I need to be going.”

“Okay and I hope you know I don’t intend to give up on you, Velvet.”

Velvet tilted her head, gave him a real serious look and said, “I really wish you would.” She turned and walked way, continuing to where her car was parked.

She pushed Webb from her mind, refusing to give him any space in her head. Now, pushing Jaye out of it was another matter. He seemed stuck, and no matter how she tried, he refused to go anywhere. Like those hot dreams she kept having where he always played a major role.

She’d had one every night since she’d intentionally put distance between them. However, she made sure that she was in her kitchen every morning to see him jog by the window, and she would inhale long deep breaths while recalling her dream of the night before. It would really be nice if in one of those dreams they finished what they’d started, but they never did. That only left her even more hot and bothered.

Jaye was usually home when she arrived, but he hadn’t tried to seek her out. All she had to do was glance out her bedroom window to see him in what he’d turned into a workshop, busy on those rocking chairs he was building. Usually, he worked well into the night. She knew the exact moment he would call it a day when that part of the yard would darken. Then she would hold her breath, wondering if he would forego what she’d said and seek her out, anyway. He never did.

VELVET HAD JUST finished teaching the last class for the week. She was looking forward to the weekend, which included the surprise party for Vaughn and Sierra. Velvet smiled at the thought that her friend didn’t have a clue. Vaughn’s sister, Zara, had arrived in town that morning and Sierra’s sister, Dani, had arrived last night. Both were staying on the outskirts of town at the lake house owned by Sierra and Dani’s parents. Vaughn and Sierra wouldn’t know their siblings were in town until they saw them at the party.

Velvet began packing up to leave. She wished there were somewhere else she could go instead of straight home. But then it would be just her luck to run into Webb Crawford again, and there was only so much of him she could take. She thought about going to the Green Fig to dine in, but if Sierra saw her, she might want to join her, and the last thing Velvet wanted was to let something slip out about the surprise party.

A few minutes later, she had called the Witherspoon Cafe for takeout. Tonight’s special was their mouthwatering pork chops, Cajun rice and lima beans. She was about to put her phone back in her purse when she thought about calling Jaye to see if he wanted her to bring him dinner as well. That would be the neighborly thing to do. Besides, he had brought dinner to her last week. But would he expect them to share the meal together like they had then? If he did, that would only be asking for trouble.

She released a deep sigh. It had been well over a week and a part of her wanted to connect with him in some way, even if it was with a text. She came up with a good reason to do so and began texting.

Jaye, the color I’ve chosen for the rocking chairs is blue.

Moments later he texted back. Blue? Not red?

She couldn’t help smiling at his response. He knew red was her favorite color. Blue blends in better with the house’s exterior.

Gotcha.

She waited to see if he would text anything else, and when he didn’t, she tucked her phone into her purse. Did she expect him to engage in any kind of conversation with her, even via text, when she’d told him that things were getting too hot where they were concerned, and that she couldn’t handle the heat and needed space?

Velvet finished gathering up her things when she noticed a writing pad on the floor by a desk. Evidently, one of her students had dropped it. Crossing the room, she saw it was an artist sketch pad with no identifying information on the front or back. She opened it up to see if there was possibly a name on the inside and was immediately amazed at the drawing she saw of what she knew was the statue of Jean LaFitte that was in LaFitte Square in the middle of town. She flipped through and saw other sketches that were just as impressive. She wasn’t sure which one of her students had done the sketches, but they’d done a great job. This person definitely had an eye for detail and—

---