Page 58 of The House on Blueberry Lane

“You know what I’ve discovered from the time I’ve been with Todd is that men aren’t as forthcoming with their inner thoughts and feelings as women are. Jaye’s mother hurt him when she left. Her departure left him devastated. Maybe now he’s healed and realizes that he wants your love.”

Velvet released a deep sigh. “Jaye has always had my love, Ruthie,” she said, knowing she was accepting what her best friend had said earlier about her falling back in love with Jaye. Deep down, she knew she had never stopped loving him.

“Yes, but what if he’s trying to show you something, Vel?”

“Trying to show me what?”

“That now you have his love as well.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of.”

“Is it? Take time away from Jaye, like I suggested, to think about it. Then the next time you spend time with him, pay close attention to what he says, how he acts with you and treats you. You’ve even said he’s telling you more stuff now than before. For him, that might be a start.”

“I still don’t agree with your theory, but I do agree that Jaye and I need space between us if for no other reason than to keep me from jumping his bones whenever I see him. I’ve even dreamed of us making out in those blueberry fields.”

Ruthie laughed. “I can see it happening.”

Velvet could see it happening, too...but only in her dreams.

JAYE ABSENTLY TOSSED a paper clip on his desk while leaning back in his chair. Nearly a week had passed since he’d spent time with Velvet. She hadn’t shown up to go jogging with him, but he had seen her leave for work every morning and saw her when she returned in the evenings. As much as he’d been tempted to do so, he hadn’t sought her out but had given her space. Space she felt she needed because things were getting too hot between them and she couldn’t handle the heat.

This past weekend had been the grand opening for the water taxis and he’d seen her there. They’d even been on the same taxi from the cove to New Orleans and back, but she’d hung out with several teachers from her school, intentionally ignoring his presence.

In a way, he wasn’t surprised by her actions since he had a pretty good idea how her mind worked. She thought putting distance between them would solve the problem. It wouldn’t. Just like putting distance between them two years ago hadn’t solved anything, either. If she thought she needed time from him, then he would give it to her...up to a point. He refused to allow her to put distance between them too much longer. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, she would accept what he now knew. They were meant to be together.

Standing from his desk, he felt the need to get out of his office for a minute and breathe in a bit of fresh air. Although Velvet had never set foot in his office, he’d had many thoughts of her in here, and at the moment the intensity of those thoughts was consuming him.

He stopped at Ms. Carter’s desk to let her know he was going to lunch. The moment he stepped outside, he thought the temperature had gone down since that morning. While jogging, he’d worn an extra layer, but forecasters promised it would be a nice weekend.

He headed for the Witherspoon Café. He had a taste for something filling and he’d heard their seafood potpie was pretty good.

The minute he walked into the café, he smiled when he recognized the person in line in front of him. Evans Toussaint. He’d met Evans at Vaughn’s Super Bowl party. Since then, he’d run into Evans around town a few times and at the bank. He knew that, like many others, Evans had been born in Catalina Cove and since moved back to town.

Because of Evans’s strong background in finance management and logistics, Vaughn, who would become CEO of Lacroix when Reid retired later this year, had hired him on and put Evans in charge of handling Reid’s low-interest loans, as well as Lacroix’s new housing development. For that reason, Jaye often met with Evans and found him to be a likable person. He figured Evans was a year or two younger than he was.

“Evans, it’s good seeing you,” he said, shaking his hand.

“Same here. I see we had the same idea for lunch,” Evans said, grinning.

“Yes, appears we did. According to Vaughn, this place has the best shrimp potpie.”

“It does,” Evans quickly agreed. “I’m getting their crab mac and cheese. That’s my favorite and nobody makes it better than Chester Witherspoon.”

At that moment, he and Evans were next in line to be seated. Since the place was crowded, they had no problem sharing a table. Once seated, a waitress quickly came to take their order. Jaye recognized her as one of the single women who’d shown up at his house with a platter of blueberry pastries after he’d moved in. He had thanked her for them and then sent her on her way without letting her cross over his threshold. He’d taken the pastries in to work the next day and they’d been a hit with his staff.

Today, the woman’s huge smile was not for him but for Evans. After she took their orders, she looked at Evans with flirty eyes and said, “Anything for you, Saint.”

After she walked off, Jaye couldn’t help but grin at Evans. “Anything for you, Saint?” Jaye was aware that most people in the cove referred to Evans by his nickname, Saint.

Evans shrugged. “Cindy and I went to school together and nothing has changed over the years. She likes to flirt.”

For the next several minutes, they talked about sports, namely football and what team should have made it to the Super Bowl but hadn’t. Jaye had felt the Arizona Cardinals could have had a better season, and Evans felt likewise about his favorite team, the New Orleans Saints.

Cindy delivered their food, and when Jaye took a bite of his potpie, he knew Vaughn and Evans had been right. It was delicious.

“Are you going to the surprise party that Kaegan and Bryce are giving Vaughn and Sierra Saturday night?” Evans asked.

Jaye looked at him. “Yes, I intend to go. I understand Kaegan lives in the Bayou. I’ve never been out that way before, and I’m hoping I don’t get lost.”

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