Page 17 of Craving You

“Seriously? Coffee too?” she mumbled, quickly fishing a piece of peppermint gum from her purse and popping it in her mouth. Thankfully, it worked.

“Hailey! You made it!” Billie called out from behind the counter. She came around and hugged her, smiling the entire time. “I really wish you would have let me pick you up from the airport. It seems silly for you to pay for a rental when there are so many of us available to help you out.”

“I appreciate that, but I didn’t want to be a bother. This was all very last minute. I’m just so thankful you didn’t mind me asking to come and visit. It feels like it wasn’t that long ago that we were all here for your wedding!”

“It wasn’t!” Billie said, laughing. “Come on. Let me get you something to eat.” They walked over to the counter and Billie stepped behind it. “What can I get you? Crumb cake? A muffin? Coffee?”

“Everything looks so good!” she said, studying the display case. “But you know I’m going to have to have a slice of Grandma’s lemon pound cake. Please.”

“It’s definitely a favorite around here. What about coffee?”

“Um…can I just get a cup of tea? Ginger or peppermint if you have it,” she added.

Her cousin looked at her oddly for a moment before nodding. “Coming right up!”

Just then, Jade walked out of the kitchen and smiled brightly. “Hailey! Hey! It’s so good to see you again!” She came around the counter to hug her too. “How was your flight?”

“They were both good. I had a short layover in Atlanta, and thankfully, everything was on time. How are you doing? How are Levi and the boys?”

“Everyone’s great! Cal is finally walking—well, running—all over the house, so he’s keeping us very busy.” She laughed softly. “But it’s a good kind of busy.”

“Well, I hope I get to see him soon.”

Billie placed her order on the counter. “You will. Everyone’s coming for dinner this weekend at our place. I thought it would be fun to just get to hang out without it being a big event like a wedding.” She winked. “Let’s go sit. I’ve got some stuff in the oven, but I’ve got another ten minutes before they’re done.”

Once they were seated at a table in one of the quiet corners, Hailey sighed happily. “I’m just so happy to be here. Thank you for inviting everyone over, but I feel like I’m already being a major inconvenience to you and Marcus. You’re still in your honeymoon phase and here I am, barging in on you already.”

“Nonsense. We’re family.” She paused and seemed to consider her words. “Does your being here have something to do with my new brother-in-law?” she asked sweetly.

“Um…kind of?”

Nodding thoughtfully, Billie took a sip of her coffee. “I swear I’m not usually this nosy, but I can’t help being wildly curious,” she said quietly, even though no one was sitting close enough to hear them. “Obviously we all know that you and Max hooked up at the wedding, but have you talked to him since?”

Nodding, she said, “He texted me Sunday afternoon. After you asked if you could give him my number, I kind of expected to hear from him sooner. I told him I’d call him when I got in and got settled.”

“Okay. I planned on inviting him to join us for dinner tonight—you know, just the four of us—but if you’d rather not…”

“No, no, that’s fine. I’m totally fine with seeing him. I don’t want this to be weird for you and Marcus. You’re already hosting everyone for dinner this weekend, and now you’re having more people over for dinner tonight…”

“To be fair, Max lives in the apartment over our garage. It’s only temporary, but basically, I’ve been taking pity on him and having him over for dinner every night has just sort of become a thing. We can go out if you’d prefer. There’s a good steakhouse here in town, and a really nice restaurant up at the resort that we can see if we can get reservations at.”

“Dinner at home sounds a little more appealing. I was up super early to get to the airport, so I’m happy to just have a quiet evening in.”

After a minute, her cousin leaned back and studied her. “Look, no pressure, but…are you okay? Like…really? The unplanned visit, Max, the peppermint tea…it’s fine if you don’t want to tell me, but I just want you to know that I’m here for you.”

“Thanks. I’m just tired, I guess. Travel days and all that,” she lied. The truth was going to come out soon enough, but Max deserved to hear it before her cousin did.

In the background, a timer went off and Billie smiled as she stood. “Time to get the last of the muffins out of the oven. Once that’s done, we can head over to the house. But take your time and enjoy your breakfast.”

Once Billie was gone, Hailey let out a long breath. This was all much harder than she thought it would be. In her mind, she was going to come here and be completely cool and casual and just bide her time until she could talk to Max privately. Instead, she was a nervous wreck who couldn’t even make it through one conversation with her cousin without nearly falling apart.

And the takeaway was that she was going to have to talk to Max right away and just blurt it all out. There was no way she was going to be able to get through dinner with him if she didn’t talk to him beforehand.

Then, as if she’d conjured him up himself, he was there, standing beside the table.

And looking better than she remembered.

“Hey,” he said, smiling. He surprised her by leaning down and kissing her cheek. “Can I join you?”

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