Page 430 of Seasons of Love
That was all I remember saying before I heard a few chuckles and let sleep take me.
There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky, the temperatures had risen to the kind of heat that makes you want to jump in the ocean, and I could swear the flowers on the small square next to El Pancito were smiling at me.
Gosh, what an afternoon followed by a long night of lovemaking could do to a man’s mood. It wouldn’t surprise me at this rate if those rabbits we saw all over the island suddenly jumped out from behind the bushes and started singing and talking to me.
I laughed to myself and crossed the road to my favorite bakery. I hadn’t seen Elena since the day of the earthquake, so I readied myself to be attacked by one of her tight hugs.
We’d messaged during the week, but with Mal and Jake doing all sorts of weird hours at the resort, I’d opted for working from home all week and got started on the first round of edits for my new novel.
Jessie was on her lead tied to the bike rack outside El Pancito. She stood up and wagged her tail as soon as she saw me.
I stopped in panic. How could I face Frank, knowing the things I’d done and how I felt about his nephew? The nephew he’d raised as his own son?
The topic of telling people about us hadn’t come up yet. Hell, we were still figuring it out ourselves.
I was about to turn to go back the other way when Frank waved at me from inside the bakery. I smiled and waved back.
Cross the road and talk to him like nothing happened.
I went straight to Jessie, who was impatiently waiting for me.
“Hey, girl, whatcha doing here?” I cooed, scratching behind her furry ears.
She let out a bark as Frank came out of the bakery holding a drink and a pastry bag.
“Griffin. How are you doing, son?”
“I’m good, Frank. How are you?”
“Well, this old girl keeps me on my toes, that’s for sure,” he said.
I stood up and leaned closer to him, and whispered, “She’s also a good excuse to grab one of Elena’s pastries, right?”
He winked. “Would you like to join us for our walk? I’d love to ask you about something.”
“Um…yeah, sure.” I coughed to cover up my nerves and said, “I’d love to.”
“Great. Go get your snack. We’ll wait here for you,” he said, and Jessie followed with her own bark of agreement.
As I expected, Elena near enough jumped from behind the counter. I had to apologize to the rest of her customers for her exaggerated reaction.
No, I wasn’t anyone famous. And no, I wasn’t dying.
Once that was settled, she returned to serving the customers while I waited my turn.
“So…tell me what put that lovin’ smile on your face. That has to be more than just a good dickin’ from Mal,” she said when I got to the front of the line. Fortunately, there was no one behind me.
“Good morning, my dear Elena. Could I have a coffee and a chocolate-pecan-caramel cookie to go, please?”
“You can ignore me all you want, but you’re gonna spill the beans at some point.”
She put the coffee and cookie on the counter and then her hands on her hips.
“Don’t give me attitude woman, I nearly died last week,” I said, sticking my tongue out at her.
“And for your efforts to stay alive, you’re getting that coffee and cookie. Now go off and be happy somewhere else if you’re not gonna share it.”
I laughed and blew her a kiss before I grabbed my things and left.
