Page 41 of Falling for the Enemy

I picked up the coffee. “That’s looking on the bright side.”

“I’ve decided to pretend it’s a tropical paradise. Makes the prospect of sitting on this lump of mud for another whole day a little easier.”

I sipped the coffee. Nothing worse than instant coffee made with rain water and sipped from a tin cup. “Can you work your imaginary magic on the coffee and breakfast fare as well?” I closed my eyes to pretend the next sip tasted better. “Boy, do I miss my sister’s coffee.” I opened my eyes. “Aria owns WhisperCove Café in our hometown. What I wouldn’t give for a slice of cheesy quiche.”

Jack sat back. “Quiche? Bacon or ham?” I could almost see slices of bacon floating in his dark eyes.

“Depends on what they have. Usually bacon with gruyere cheese. And the cheese hangs in little melted strings, and don’t get me started on the buttery crust. Dex is a master crust maker.”

“All right. We have to stop. I’m going to break down in tears if we keep talking about cheesy quiches and buttery crusts. Is Dex the chef in the café?”

“He is and he’s wonderful. He’s also Aria’s boyfriend. Dex is very protective of all of us. He makes the most delicious—” I shook my head. “There I go again. I guess the hunger and the surviving on rehydrated food is getting to me. I think I’ll go and look for some breadfruit. We can chop up the breadfruit and fry it in the skillet like potatoes. Anything is better than that horrid dried food.”

“I’ll go with you,” Jack said.

My face snapped his direction. I hadn’t meant to have such a profound reaction to his suggestion. I supposed yesterday’s moment after finding Buster’s mom had stuck with me.

Jack shrugged. “What am I going to do here? Mow the lawn?”

“It’s fine. I welcome the company.”

“She said between gritted teeth. Look, Lo, you’ve made it clear that you plan to go right back to square one with our relationship when we get back home, so don’t worry about me. I’m just tagging along out of boredom and to climb trees for the choicest fruit if need be.”

I tilted my head at him in annoyance.

“And again, I’ve stepped in it. What did I say this time?”

“I never said I wanted to go back to square one. If I can avoid the grumpy Professor Sinclair for the rest of my life, I’d be very pleased.”

“You say that as if the tension between us was always coming from one side, my side.”

I crossed my arms and looked plainly at him. “On my first day at the university, Brimley called all staff members in for a meet-and-greet and introduction. You stood at the back of the room scrolling through your phone as Brimley introduced me. Everyone else came up afterward to greet me personally and introduce themselves, but you walked out without a word.”

Jack’s chin moved back and forth in thought. “Hmm, probably not my finest moment.”

“But it was your best moment, when it came to me, because at least you left the room without a scowl or snide comment. It really went downhill from there. So, pardon me if I never smiled or wished you a good morning after that. I take that back. One time, I saw you walking down the hallway toward me, and there were no empty classrooms to duck into, so I steeled myself to pass you in the hallway and then, at the last second, I decided to greet you with a cheery ‘good morning,’ and you answered?—”

“‘What’s good about it?’” Jack dropped his head slightly. I supposed it could have been construed as shame, but I was probably giving him too much credit. “If it helps, I did feel a slight twinge of regret afterward.”

I rolled my eyes. “Let’s go and see if we can rustle up some breakfast.”

“Oh, do you think we’ll find a tree that’s growing quiche?”

“Yes, sure, it’ll be right next to the biscuit and gravy shrubs.” I kept walking and realized he had stopped a few paces back. I turned. “Change your mind?”

“No, I’m coming. It’s just I’m feeling a little tight in the chest thinking about biscuits and gravy.”

I laughed. “And you’ve never eaten Dex’s. He uses bacon grease to make the gravy, and his biscuits are even more flaky and buttery than his crusts.”

“Stop, I beg you, stop.”

We stopped by Norm’s hut to check on him and let him know we had big plans for a fruity harvest. He didn’t seem too interested.

Jack had cleared a nice path on our earlier trek to return Buster to his mom. We decided to head that way to check on the pair. We strolled between the fallen branches, ferns and hanging vines. The landscape was alive with creatures of every size, shape and color again. The storm had sent them all scurrying for shelter, and now, like us, they were out enjoying the sunshine. We stopped at the cluster of cecropia trees. Shielding our eyes, we stared up into the branches.

Jack tapped my shoulder and pointed to one of the trees. “There, about a third of the way from the top.”

“There they are. Oh my gosh, I miss Buster, but I’m so glad we reunited him with his mom.” I smiled at him. “I guess no matter what happens when we get back, we’ll always have Buster.”

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