Page 26 of Seeing You

“It wasn’t a big deal; we were just goofing around. Anyway, he bumped into Marcus and then he hung out with us for a little while at the arcade and then we all went on the mountain coaster. That’s it. Nothing else.” She rinsed the pan and placed it to the side to dry before facing Jade again. “So, you see? Nothing to it.”

“Uh-huh…”

“Jade…” she whined.

“Look, I just think it’s wild that a week ago, you were raging about seeing him and having an openly hostile interaction. Then you run into him up at Summit Ridge, and you invite him to hang out.” Taking a slow sip of her coffee—probably for dramatic effect—she waited for Billie to defend herself.

Only…she didn’t have a defense.

She replayed that one hour with Marcus over and over in her mind for the rest of the weekend. But the part that stuck out the most was how he thought Silas was their son. Did he really think so little of her that she wouldn’t have let him know she was pregnant at the time? How could they have gone from loving each other so deeply and knowing each other so intimately, to the less-than-polite strangers they currently were?

“You know the part that gets me wondering,” Jade went on as they walked back out to the counter. “Is…what could he have possibly said to make you want to extend the conversation? I mean, all Silas had to do was apologize and the two of you could have been on your way—no harm, no foul.”

Did she want to tell Jade about the mistaken identity factor?

Hell no.

Shrugging, she began wiping down the counter. “I don’t know what to tell you, Jade. It just sort of happened. Marcus is probably on his way back to D.C. as we speak, and it will be another ten years or more before we see each other again.”

The bell over the front door rang, and Jade practically glued herself to Billie’s side. “Or maybe ten seconds!” she whispered.

“Wait, what?” But when she looked up, she saw Marcus walking toward her.

Seriously?

“Hey, Billie,” he said softly, and she wanted to kick herself for getting the fluttering in her belly at the sound of his voice.

“Hey! On your way out of town?”

I hope.

“Actually, I’m staying for a few more days. Dad’s at a doctor’s appointment—I just dropped him off—and I figured I’d come in and pick up some cake and whatnot for him.” He shrugged. “And I was seriously hoping to get one of the banana chocolate chip muffins if you have any—and if you could put it in the box with the rest instead of smashing it in my face, that would be great.”

He was grinning and she knew he was teasing, but she still felt herself blush.

“Um, yeah. Sorry about that. Not my finest moment.”

“For what it’s worth, I totally provoked you. I’m kind of surprised you didn’t do worse.”

That made her relax a bit. “My weapon options are rather limited, but you’re the only one I ever had to use a muffin on.”

They both laughed at that and it felt…good.

Really good.

“Listen, I know this might be a stretch, but…maybe we can get together sometime and…talk? I’d say meet for coffee, but I have a feeling when you’re done for the day, this is the last place you want to go to relax.” Then he glanced over at Jade and smiled awkwardly. “Plus, it might be nice to…you know,nothave an audience.”

Sadly, she had to agree.

“I don’t know, Marcus. I don’t think it’s a good idea. We both have powerful personalities and equally strong thoughts about what happened. It was nice to just be…well…nice to each other on Saturday. I’m not sure I’m willing to risk going anywhere and fighting. What good would it do?”

“Closure,” he said gruffly. “After all this time, I think we deserve it. We already know we’ll have to agree to disagree on some things, but I think we didn’t really communicate very wellat the end of our relationship. I know I have some questions, and…maybe you do too?”

All she could do was nod because…she did.

“How about we go to that restaurant up at Summit Ridge? I think we’re both mature enough not to get into a shouting match at a fancy restaurant.” He chuckled. “Right?”

Even though she knew he was teasing, she couldn’t help but get in a little dig. “I know I can, but can you?”

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