Page 34 of Something Borrowed

Chapter Thirteen

Tossing in bed,Adrianna grunted before giving into her sudden state of alertness and opened her eyes. Rolling onto her back with a sigh, she focused on the blue glow of the number on the cablebox.

Three eighteen in the morning.

“Maybe,” she said to the empty room as she snagged her phone from all the nightstand. The bright light was glaring in the blackness of the room and she squinted before the screen came into focus. “Nothing,” she exhaled and dropped the phone back onto thebed.

Six weeks after Jaxon had left and they hadn’t deviated from their setup plan of FaceTime dates. Text messages were far and few between – a good morning or good night text was typically all they were awake for at the same time without the other being atwork.

That hadn’t stopped her from hoping there would be a random missed call or text from Jaxon when she looked at her phone. Most days, she was distracted enough that she didn’t realize he was gone until she was crawling into bed and missed his warmth curled around her. On days when she did notice it, Kailey had helped to distract her along with some of her college friends. She had been able to focus almost entirely without upset for so many weeks.

“So why in the middle of October is it all falling apart?” There was no one there to answer, but that didn’t stop her from asking.

Years ago the ferry into the Quarter never stopped. Unfortunately, with the downturn in the economy during the Great Recession the ferry had been sold to a company that not only charged, but stopped running ridiculously early. Too bad that didn’t change what she knew she needed todo.

Throwing the covers off she got up from the bed. There was only one thing she could do when her mind raced and that was sit down with a warm mug of coffee and a trio of beignets to people watch. Without bothering to change she scratched Lionel, her Pomeranian, when he rubbed against herleg.

“I’ll be back, boy.” She looked around the room but didn’t seen Scarface, the battle wounded Pit Bull she’d adopted a few yearsback.

Walking from her room she felt the final hint of sleep drain from her body. With a last yawn, she grabbed her keys off the counter along with her purse and walked outside to get to the detached garage. The loud noise of the electric garage opening made her cringe, but she knew it was unlikely her neighbors couldhear.

The drive into the Quarter was eerily without thought. She drove as if on autopilot, down General Meyer, onto the 90 west and finally, through the streets until she reached her typical lot on Decatur, next to Jax’s Brewery.

“Huh. I wonder if Jaxon was named after this place,” she’d never thought about it before but made a note to askhim.

Walking down the street in the middle of the night in October wasn’t terribly oppressing humidity wise, but she did find herself verging on breathless from the humidity that was in the air by the time she’d treaded the short distance to Jackson Square. It was quiet, but illuminated despite the locked black gates on all four sides of the garden area. Café du Monde glowed with a warm yellow hue and at least fifty people sat under the awning, enjoying the pastry desert.

New Orleans was a place for tourists, especially in October so close to Halloween. She wasn’t surprised by the amount of noise or the crowd as she walked and sat down at a power sugar covered table.

Her favorite part of coming in during the night was how speedy things were – and how amusing the drunks were to watch.

“What can I get for you, ma’am?” A college-age girl asked as she leaned forward and wiped a wet rag over the sugary table.

“One order of beignets and a coffee. Black.”

As the server wandered off to bring back the ungodly unhealthy treat, she leaned back in her chair and just looked around her. Families and friends lingered at tables, laughing and teasing one another as pound after pound of white sugar coated them as they ate. People shouted just across the way, and there were even two psychics left setup just outside the square – both with clients despite the latehour.

“Aid?” A woman’s voice calledout.

“Mom?” she shook her head in disbelief. Her parents had given her the house in Algiers before moving out to Slidell for a quieter lifestyle in their retirement years. “What are you doinghere?”

Her mother laughed, her graying hair tossing from side to side. “I just had to have some beignets.” She pulled out the chair and sat down. “I guess it was mother’s intuition.”

“Here you are,” a plate of white coated mountains of dough was set down before her. “May I get you something as well?” She asked Adrianna’s mother.

“I’ll take exactly what she ordered.” Her mother smiled and paid both for hers and Adrianna.

“Thanks, Mom.”

She carefully picked up the hot donut and shook the excess powder off before bringing it to her lips and taking a large bite. It was like heaven in her mouth and instantly, she was more concerned with how many orders she could get away with instead of missing Jaxon.

“Of course. But I know you. You come here in the middle of the night when you’re upset.”

Nothing got past her mom even though it had been nearly eleven years since she’d lived withher.

“I woke up and decided I wanted to see a message or call from Jaxon. There wasn’t one and for some reason it annoyed me.” She hadn’t realize that was what she’d felt at home until saying it out loud. “I have a life here, and I don’t really message him when it’s not planned so I don’t know why it irked me so badly.”

“Because you’re in love with a man who isn’t here,” her mom thanked the server as a second coffee and plate of beignets were set down. “Never in a million years would I have thought you’d give Jaxon the time of day, let alone fall in love with him.” Her mother smiled around a bite, sending powered sugar falling.

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