Jane laughed as she set the pot of tea down on the table between them, sitting down in the chair across from Julia. Tilting her head slightly, she nodded to the plate of what used to be her famous chocolate scone. “Crumbling. You know that you’re not allowed to crumble my scones. Eating, yeah. Crumbling. Nope. Not permitted. This is a no crumbling zone.”
Jane added a second flowered cup to the small café table, then filled up both before leaning forward to glare at Julia. “Fess up. What’s wrong?”
Julia sighed, rubbing her hands on her denim clad legs. “Um…nothing.”
Jane tilted her head slightly, watching her friend carefully. “Yeah, that’s a lie. Try again.”
Julia laughed. “Think you’ve got the world all figured out, huh?”
“Not even a little,” Jane replied promptly. “If I had the world figured out, do you really believe I would have dated a guy who spends every spare moment of his life building fake civilizations online, only to go into battle and kill everyone living there?” She laughed, shaking her head at the absurdity of the guy who had taken her to a lovely meal, only to regale her about how to build an online civilization, complete with economy and corrupt politicians. “But I know you. And I know that you’re miserable at the moment, although you have been on cloud nine for the past several weeks.” She grinned. “Coincidentally, your good mood happened right along with the good mood a very handsome, incredibly talented chef that we all know and love.” She laughed. “I wonder if those two issues are related in any way.” She waited for Julia to confess, but when her friend just blushed, Julia’s mouth opening and closing like a cartoon character trying to explain something horrible, Jane laughed. “I know that something is wrong. So spill it.”
Leaning back, Julia stared down at the steaming cup of fragrant tea. Julia wasn’t even surprised that her friend knew about things heating up between herself and Tony. Long ago, she’d learned to never be surprised by the gossip channels here in LowPoint. Everyone knew everyone’s business. That was both good and bad, but it was what it was.
With a sigh, Julia pressed a hand to her temple. “I messed up big time.”
“Probably not,” Jane argued, leaning back and stretching her legs out. “But tell me what you messed up and I’ll tell you how to fix it.”
Julia’s eyes sparkled, amusement lurking in their blue depths. “You’re the oracle of all wisdom now?” Julia teased.
Jane fluffed her blond curls triumphantly. “Yep. And stop stalling.”
“How do you know I’m stalling? Maybe I’m just…”
Jane leaned forward, looked at her friend as if she were new to town. “Julia, I live in the same town in which I was born. I date maybe twice a year because…” she waved her hand in the air. “Well, that’s not important but suffice it to say, I don’t date a lot. But what I do is watch. And learn. I’ve learned a lot about people in my line of work. Being a baker is a bit like being a bartender. People tell me things. They buy a dozen cookies or cupcakes, then ask me what the secret to love is. I know when a marriage is in trouble, because the husband comes in for a special cake or chocolates. Or the ladies come in and want something special for a romantic night. On Valentine’s Day, I know who is dating who. I keep track of birthdays and anniversaries.” She paused and placed a comforting hand over Julia’s. “I know when someone is hurting.” They both looked down at Julia’s scone, which was a crumbled mess. “And I know when my friend is in pain because you aren’t usually this somber. So tell me, what’s wrong?”
Julia blinked back tears. “I messed up with Tony,” she finally admitted.
“How? I saw you two the other morning. You were walking home, hand in hand with Tony when I was opening up to start baking.” She smiled. “From what I could see, both of you were happy! Things looked…steamy!”
Julia shook her head. “No, thing are still good in that area. But…we were friends. And then,” she paused, taking a deep breath. “Then we were more than friends but we didn’t want anyone to know.”
Jane smiled gently. “You know where you are, right?”
Julia laughed. “Right. Everyone knows everyone’s business. How did you find out?”
“My mother and I start baking around four each morning. The rest of the staff coming in about four-thirty. So when you’re sneaking out of Tony’s place to head back to your apartment at four o’clock each morning…” she shrugged, leaving the rest of the explanation hanging in the air between them. “Well, I just happened to have seen you with a huge smile on your face the other morning. And Tony is pretty happy too. Even Marilee commented on it the other day when she brought the kids in for cookies.”
Julia cringed inwardly. So much for trying to keep things a secret, she thought. “So everyone knows?”
Jane shrugged. “I don’t know about everyone, but…well, Skye might have mentioned it when Marilee commented.”
Julia stared. “How did Skye find out? She’s going to be furious that I didn’t tell her myself.”
Jane made a rude snort. “You’d better be more worried about me than Skye. But she knew because Mark sees you and Tony walking home from the restaurant every night. All the deputies know, which is how Emerson knows too, by the way.”
Julia rubbed her forehead. “So if Emerson knows, that’s how Marilee found out. And if Marilee knows, then she’s told Daisy and Ivy.”
“Which means that those three are probably interrogating Tony right about now if they haven’t already.”
“Small town life is crazy!” she groaned.
Jane shrugged. “Remember when Emerson bought condoms with Marilee at the grocery store several years ago?” The fact that it was still “A Story”, was a perfect example of what life in a small town was like. Buying contraception should not be “A Story”. But here in LowPoint, it was.
A laugh escaped Julia for the first time that day. “Yeah, that news traveled pretty fast.”
“Exactly. Just don’t go to Doc Powell’s office for birth control or everyone will know about that too!”
Both women shuddered. Old Doc Powell was a fabulous doctor – if you had a sore throat or some other ailment. But Betty, the front desk receptionist knew everyone and told everything. There was no privacy with that doctor’s office, which was why everyone went to Louisville for their regular medical needs, but went to Doc Powell for strep throat or minor ailment issues. Doc Powell’s nurse was the one who accidentally announced to the entire reception area that Skye was pregnant. That news had traveled like wildfire!
“No way!” Julia agreed.
“You are on birth control, right?”
“Absolutely!” Julia answered with enthusiasm. “Skye taught us well.”
Jane leaned back with a smile on her lovely features. “Yeah, but things turned out pretty well with her and Mark.”
That comment only made Julia’s heart ache more. “Yep,” she wrapped her hands around her cup of tea. “They are a great couple.”
Julia could feel her friend’s concerned eyes on her, but couldn’t look up, afraid she’d burst into tears at the slightest provocation. “I just…”
She stopped when Jane laid a hand on Julia’s arm. Looking up, she noticed that Jane’s features had paled as she stared out the window while her fingers tightened on Julia’s arm. “What’s wrong?” Jane asked, looking in the direction where Jane was staring.
Jane was silent for a long time, then she shook her head. The beautiful, bouncy baker looked like she’d seen a ghost but…then she shrugged it off.
“Uh…nothing. I just thought…” she looked out the window again, her eyes narrowing. “I thought I saw an old boyfriend.” She laughed, the sound coming out harsh and brittle. “Crazy, right?”
Julia watched Jane carefully. “An old boyfriend?” She thought back to previous conversations. “The only guy you’ve ever really cared about…you’re not talking about Caleb, are you?” Jane had mentioned the high school sweetheart to Julia and Skye a while go as an explanation for w
hy she wanted more from a guy than just a lukewarm romance. Apparently, Jane had experienced the real thing, the fireworks and explosions, the red-hot love-making as well as the despair when…well, when things hadn’t worked out.
Another laugh, this one self-conscious as Jane avoided eye contact. “Yeah. Silly, right? I mean,” she took a nervous breath and looked out the window again, “Caleb and I dated years ago! He was in medical school back then. My mom and I were struggling to keep the bakery open and…” she stared again, blinking several times.
“He’s the guy you were in love with?”
Jane shrugged, trying to shrug off the issue. “Yeah. We were in love. But that was a long time in the past.”
“You never told me what happened.”
Jane’s breathing became labored as she thought back to that painful period in her life. “I went to Nashville to surprise him and…” she stopped, looking out the window once more. “Well, things just didn’t work out. Long distance relationships are too difficult.”
Julia suspected that there was a great deal more to the story, but she kept her hand over Jane’s, squeezing gently to let her friend know that she understood, even if she didn’t have the details. “That must have been painful.”
No response. Obviously, Jane still felt a great deal for this man, even if it was just pain and resentment.
A moment later, Jane shook it off, forcing a smile. “Well.” Another deep breath. Another smile. “He’s a brilliant doctor now. A trauma surgeon.”
Interesting comment, Julia thought. “How do you know this?”
A blush and then Jane’s amazing smile returned. “I might have looked him up online. And I might have sort of, kind of, stalkishly followed his career over the years. But I stopped several years ago, thinking that my online stalking of an old flame might have something to do with the fact that the guys I was dating never really did a whole lot for me.”
Another interesting comment. Especially since Jane still hadn’t found anyone that really excited her. She’d date a guy for a couple of weeks, maybe a month or two, then tell them that it just wasn’t working. Julia fully understood since she’d had a hang up about Tony for about the same length of time.
“Maybe that’s the reason we’re such good friends,” Julia teased. “We’ve both had hang-ups for guys that were unattainable since we were eighteen.”
Jane laughed, wisps of blond hair escaping the bun she’d pulled it back into earlier in the day. “I’m not still hung up on Caleb. He’s just…”
“An old flame that you followed online for years and now think you’re seeing everywhere?”
“Not everywhere,” she argued, then shook her head as the truth sank in. “Not really.”
Julia made a disbelieving noise. “Remember last week, when we were running with Melanie?”
Jane groaned. “Don’t remind me! That woman is getting to be as tough as Ivy!”
“Yeah, well, you thought you saw someone passing in a car that day that looked familiar.”
Jane froze, thinking back to that day. “You’re right.”
“Did that guy look like this Caleb person?”
“Yeah,” she sighed, then dropped her head into her hands, rubbing her temples. “Okay, maybe I need therapy. I’m losing my mind.”
“I doubt that,” Julia replied. “Keep in mind that you’ve had a string of bad dates lately and this guy was the last man that really…”
“I loved him,” Jane interrupted, looking right into Julia’s eyes. “I loved him so much that it hurt when we weren’t together.” She looked down at her coffee. “I thought he’d felt the same way, but apparently, I was mistaken.”
“Did you talk to him? Did he feel the same way?”
“There wasn’t really anything to discuss,” Jane hedged, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. “Besides, that part of my life is over.” She glanced out the window where she’d thought she’d seen the man. “I’ve moved on.”
“Except that you’re still not over this man several years later.”
Jane cringed. “Sounds a bit pathetic when you say it like that.” Then her eyes sharpened. “And also a really good way to change the subject. We were discussing you and Tony. Not me and my sad, non-existent love life.”
Julia laughed. “Yeah, but it’s so much better when we’re discussing someone else’s problems rather than mine.”
“You’re still avoiding the subject. What’s going on with you and Tony? Why are you hiding your relationship?”
Julia’s smile disappeared. “Because Tony…he is amazing and wonderful and…”
“And you love him,” Jane filled in.
“I don’t…” Julia couldn’t finish that statement. She couldn’t lie. Sighing, she slumped down in her chair. “Yeah. I love him. I love every moment of our time together. But I know it isn’t going to last and I don’t know why.”
“You should talk to him.”
Julia smiled weakly, knowing that was exactly what she should do, but also knowing she wouldn’t. “Yeah. I’ll do that.”
Fear, Julia thought. Fear of what Tony might say, that he might end things if she asked about a future with him. Fear of losing him.
Jane eyed her friend with disbelief. “Julia, don’t end up like me. I’m still stuck on a guy that I broke up with too many years ago to count. Do you really want to end up just like me?”
Julia laid a warm hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I would be proud to end up as amazing as you, Jane.”
Chapter
“Hey there,” Tony greeted Marilee, Ivy and Daisy as the three of them walked into his kitchen. “Are you hungry?”
All of them dumped their purses and bags on the floor. They looked at him, all three with a stunned expression on his handsome features, then at each other before nodding. “Of course we are.” They each pulled up a stool as Tony walked over to a fridge and pulled out more food.
Daisy was the first to comment. “You’re cooking early today. What’s up?”
Tony started chopping. “Nothing.”
The three friends looked at each other, a silent message going between them. “Oh Tony.” Daisy sighed. Tony only worked faster.
Ivy sighed. “Tony, what’s wrong?”
He didn’t look up at them. “Nothing. I’m just making lunch for my three favorite ladies.”
Marilee’s mouth twisted. “You only cook like this when something is bothering you. So ‘fess up. What has you so frazzled?”
He stopped and stared at Marilee. “Where are the kids?” he asked, noticing for the first time that his three friends were alone. Normally, they had at least one of their brood around them.
“The men are watching the kids today. Stop changing the subject,” Ivy ordered. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he repeated, huffing a bit before he went to the fridge to grab more ingredients, leaving several of the items he’d started prepping moments ago only half finished. He never did that and all three of them knew it. Tony was a perfectionist when it came to cooking. Food was precious. Food was life, love, and laughter. It was never left half chopped!
The smell coming from one of the ovens wasn’t right. “Tony,” Daisy began, all three of them staring wide-eyed at the oven where smoke was billowing. “Honey, I don’t think it’s supposed to do that,” she commented as she pointed a finger towards the smoking oven.
Tony spun around, muttering curses as he grabbed a dishtowel, pulling the now-black-something out of the oven and dumping it onto the counter.
All four of them stared at the burned, unrecognizable mess, unable to speak.
Finally, Ivy said what they were all thinking. “You’ve never burned anything before, Tony,” she whispered in shock.
Daisy nodded, her eyes wide with horror. “You’re scaring me.”
Marilee simply stood up and walked around the counter, wrapping her arms around Tony. “Honey, what’s going on?”
Tony sighed, closing his eyes as he leaned into Marilee’s
embrace. “I promise…” She only squeezed tighter when he started to deny that anything was wrong so he stopped speaking, unable to lie to these ladies anyway.
Opening his eyes, he looked at Daisy and Ivy, then down at Marilee. “I love her,” he admitted.
The three women waited for him to continue, but when it seemed that he was going to stop there, Marilee pulled back, but nudged him in the ribs. “We know that you love her. You’ve loved her for years. We know that you are looking for a National Manager and Julia is perfect for the job. We suspect that you’re going to offer her the job, but we still don’t understand the bigger problem.”
He rubbed his forehead and stepped away from Marilee, pacing the length of his kitchen. “You don’t understand. We…” he hesitated. He didn’t want to betray the privacy that he and Julia had together. But he needed his friends’ help. “We’re more than friends now.”
Daisy laughed. “If you’re trying to tell us that you and Julia are intimate now, then there’s no need.”
He stared at them. “How in the world would you know that?”
Marilee lifted her hand in the air. “Married to Emerson, remember? He sees and knows everything.”
Tony said nothing, but grunted a bit as he turned to Ivy and Daisy, waiting for their explanation.
Ivy shrugged. “Marilee is our friend,” she said, as if that explained everything. “We’ve been waiting and wondering when you were going to tell us. But now we’re really concerned.”
They all looked down at the black mess. Tony cooked when he was happy. He cooked when he was angry. He cooked to relax.
In all the years they’d known him, no matter what emotion he was dealing with, he’d never, ever, burned anything.
“Talk to us,” Ivy urged gently.
Tony looked at each of them, then shook his head. “You ladies already know the problem.”
Seduced (The Lottery Winners Book 8) Page 10
