A Season for Hope (Sarra Cannon) (7 page)

I straighten my shoulders and tear my eyes away from his table. Yes, I was hoping she would take his order. I’m sure he’s only here because he’s used to studying here. Now that I think about it, it’s close to the labs, which is where I ran into him yesterday. He probably comes here because it’s convenient. It has nothing to do with me.

For the next hour and a half, I stay as far away from his table as I can. Whenever someone comes in and sits near him, I beg Sassy to take their order. I do my best to stay behind the counter and in the kitchen for most of the afternoon.

We close early on Saturdays, and as five approaches, I keep expecting him to leave. But he stays.

And stays.

Every once in a while, I catch him watching me. And every time that happens, I end up spilling someone’s drink or knocking over the salt or tripping over a chair.

If I can’t get it together, I’m going to have demand that he leave just so I can get my work done without turning into a walking bruise. At this rate, I’ll be fired before the shift is over.

When the last table pays out and leaves, I have no choice but to move close to him and clean the table next to him. It’s my turn to close and Sassy left half an hour ago.

My heart thumps against my ribs as I approach the table. I try my best to avoid his eyes, but I can only hold off so long before the magnetic pull of him demands my attention. I glance at him for just the tiniest second.

My hand bumps the half-empty water glass on the table and it knocks over with a clatter. I scramble to catch it, but the water spills over the top and off the side of the table. I collapse into an empty chair and lean my head dramatically against the table.

“I give up,” I say.

Judd’s laughter rings out in the deserted cafe. I can’t help but laugh with him. I’ve never had a more ridiculous day in my life.

I peek over at him. God, that smile does things to my insides. It lights up his eyes like they’re full of magic.

I smile back despite myself. “You’re going to have to stop coming in here or I’m going to lose my job,” I say.

“Who? Me?” he says, looking around.

I roll my eyes. “You’re distracting.”

He wiggles his eyebrows and I lift my hands up to hide the smile that’s attacked my face.

“You’re pretty distracting yourself,” he says.

“Yeah, I’m a regular clown,” I say. “I could keep people entertained for hours with my clumsiness.”

“I wasn’t talking about your clumsiness,” he says, his voice low and his smile fading into a serious look that makes my breath catch in my throat.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here today,” I say. “I figured after last night you’d want to avoid me for the rest of your life.”

He shakes his head. “Not a chance,” he says. “Besides, you’re the one who’s been avoiding me all afternoon.”

I stand up and start cleaning up the latest mess. I don’t know what to say to him. It’s true, but only because I thought it would be less embarrassing than having him turn me down yet again.

“Silence,” he says. “Does that mean you really have been avoiding me?”

I shrug, not wanting to meet his eyes. “Maybe.”

He turns in his chair. “Bailey, I had a great time last night,” he says. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

A tingle travels up my spine. “I acted like an idiot last night,” I say. “How can you possibly still be interested in me?”

“You were beautiful last night,” he says.

“You turned me down.”

“And it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” he says. “Trust me, it wasn’t because I didn’t want you.”

Warmth crawls up my neck and cheeks and I look away. “I was afraid I ruined everything when I asked you to take me home with you,” I say.

“You didn’t ruin anything,” he says. “I just didn’t want you to wake up in the morning and feel like you’d made a huge mistake. If I ever take you to my bed, I want it to be because you really want to be there. And I don’t want you to have any reason to regret it.”

I rest my elbow on the table and cover my mouth with my hand. I’m blushing and smiling like a little girl, and I can’t hide it. I’ve never met a guy who was so honest and direct. He doesn’t dance around the point. He just says it like it is.

“Will you go out with me?” he asks.

I bite my lower lip and look over at him. “When?”

“Now,” he says, straightening.

I shake my head and motion to my outfit. “There’s no way I can go out looking like this,” I say. “I’m wearing a freaking tent.”

“And you look hot in it.”

I roll my eyes. “Shut up.”

“I’ll just call you Barnum & Bailey,” he says, laughing. “Look what tents did for them. The Greatest Show on Earth.”

I laugh and the sound comes from way down deep inside. It’s like medicine to my poor, sad heart.

“Say yes,” he says. “I’ll take you to dinner.”

My face is all smile now. “Someplace dark and casual,” I say.

“Deal,” he says. “What time do you get off work?”

I look up at the door, then stand and turn the sign over. “Now,” I say. “Just let me clean up this last table and cash out. I’ll be less than ten minutes.”

“It’s a date,” he says.

I grab the plates and glasses off the table beside him and practically float toward the kitchen.

Chapter Eleven

Judd slings his bag over his shoulder, then reaches for my hand.

As our skin touches, I feel that same pinch of attraction deep down in my belly. We walk together across campus, and I feel like a different version of myself. I’ve spent the majority of my three years at Fairhope Coastal University as Preston’s girlfriend. Not once have I been on a date with a new guy or even so much as touched another guy besides Preston.

It feels foreign and wonderful and new all at the same time.

When I sprinted toward that door yesterday, I never could have imagined it would have brought me to this moment. It’s amazing how fast someone can enter your life and start to change everything.

Amazing and terrifying all at once.

“Where are you taking me?” I ask.

I look awful in this shirt. I can’t believe he didn’t want me to go home and change. From now on, I vow to always keep a fresh change of clothes in the bottom of my bag.

“I thought maybe we’d walk along the beach for a while,” he says. “It’s a really nice night out if you’re not too cold.”

I have my leather jacket on over my work clothes and other than cold cheeks, I feel good. I forgot to bring my gloves, but he’s doing a good job keeping one of my hands warm. I have the other shoved deep in my pocket.

“I think I’m fine for a little while,” I say. “But I am pretty hungry.”

“I’ve got that covered,” he says.

“Okay,” I say, assuming he’s going to take me to one of the many bars or restaurants near the pier.

He shocks me when he walks up to the hotdog cart on the corner at the end of the boardwalk.

“You can’t be serious?”

“What? You don’t like hotdogs? You asked for something dark and casual.” He elbows me and when I look up, his eyes are dancing in the dim light.

“I like hotdogs just fine, but I never had a guy take me out for hotdogs on a first date,” I say.

“Trust me, these are the finest dogs in town,” he says. He lifts his head in a nod toward the guy standing behind the cart. “Hey Alex, what’s up?”

The man nods back and reaches his hand out to Judd. They give each other a sort of slap, high-five, hand-shake combo. “What’s up, my man? Who’s this gorgeous lady?”

“This is Bailey,” he says. “Bailey, this is Alex.”

I take my hand out of Judd’s so I can shake hands with the cart owner. “Nice to meet you,” I say.

He takes my hand in his and gives it a soft kiss. “My pleasure,” he says, his Spanish accent thick. “What can I get for you, my dear.”

“I’ll take a hotdog with mustard and relish,” I say. “I don’t think I’ve had one of these since I was a kid.”

“You’re kidding,” Judd says. “Hotdogs are a college staple.”

“Says you,” I tease. “And you’re a med-student? I thought you’d be eating nothing but health foods. No offense, Alex.”

“None taken,” Alex says with a laugh as he fixes my hotdog and hands it over to me.

He doesn’t ask for Judd’s order. He just pulls out two hotdogs and loads them up with chili, onions, ketchup, mustard and pickles.

Judd hands him a wad of ones and thanks him. We walk over to a wooden bench that faces out toward the shore and sit down.

“Do you know everyone around here?” I ask. He seems to relate to people easily. Something about that smile makes him very approachable and easy to like.

“Not everyone,” he says. “I just like my routines I guess.”

I take a bite of my hotdog and a dollop of mustard slides out the back and onto my jeans. I stare at it, not believing I just did that. I close my eyes and feel like giving up.

Judd laughs and pours water on his napkin, then cleans up the blob on my leg.

“I’ve never been so accident-prone in my life,” I say. “I swear to god.”

He smiles. “I believe you,” he says. “I think it’s kind of cute, though.”

“This,” I point toward my mismatched, stained outfit, “is not cute.”

In response, he just lets his eyes roam over my body. Nervous energy buzzes through me.

“I think you could wear just about anything and look good,” he says.

Warmth spreads up my cheeks. I continue eating my hotdog, but scoot just a tiny bit closer to him on the bench.

“So, hotdogs,” I say, laughing. “Is this a nightly ritual for you?”

“A couple times a week. Hotdogs might not be healthy, but they’re fast and cheap,” Judd says. “I’m on scholarship here and it’s awesome, but I don’t get much of a stipend and I don’t have time to get a job. I’ve got a special project going on right now and it’s taking up a lot of time.”

Disappointment shoots through me. If he doesn’t have enough time for a job, he’s definitely not going to have time to have a girlfriend. But then I stop myself. This is exactly what I always did with Preston. I was always getting way ahead of myself when it came to our future. I actually thought he was close to proposing to me, and instead he was ready to completely cast me aside.

Judd kisses me once and takes me on a hotdog date and suddenly I’m ready to be his girlfriend. I’m so lame.

“I never asked you where you’re from,” I say, trying to keep conversation moving so I can stop daydreaming.

“A small town west of here,” he says. “Cochran. Have you heard of it?”

“I think so,” I say. “Is that near Macon?”

“Not really,” he says. “Maybe forty-five minutes drive from there.”

“What brought you to Fairhope?” I ask. “The scholarship?”

“Yes,” he says. “I went to UGA for undergrad, graduated with honors and applied to a bunch of med schools all over the South. Fairhope offered me the best deal. Plus, it’s on the beach. That doesn’t hurt.”

I smile.

“What about you?” he asks. He’s already devoured one of the hotdogs and is starting on the second. “Where are you from?”

“You’re looking at it,” I say.

“You’re a townie?”

I scrunch my nose. “You make it sound so dirty,” I say. “And yes, Fairhope born and raised.”

“That makes sense,” he says, nodding. He makes a strange face.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

He clears his throat. “It didn’t entirely escape my notice that you’ve been dating Preston Wright for a long time,” he says.

I draw in a tense breath. I guess the subject of Preston was bound to come up eventually, but I wasn’t expecting Judd to bring it up tonight. Still, there’s a part of me that’s surprised he’d noticed me enough before yesterday to know who I was dating.

“I’m pretty sure discussing ex-boyfriends on a first date is listed in the rule book on the don’t side,” I say.

He laughs. “I’m not really one for following the rules,” he says. “I’d rather just get it all out in the open, anyway. I want to get to know you, and it’s obvious he’s been a big part of your life. There’s no reason to dance around it.”

I’m surprised by his honesty and the fact that he doesn’t mind talking about something like this so early.

Still, my heartbreak is so fresh, I’m afraid he’ll hear it in my voice. And I don’t want to ruin tonight the way I did last night. It’s rare to get a second chance at any relationship. A third would be way too much to ask.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” he says.

“It’s okay,” I say. I take a deep breath, not really sure what to say. “Preston and I got together senior year in high school. He’d been dating one of my best friends and she left to go to school up north.”

I don’t mention the fact that they were still together when I started sleeping with him behind Leigh Anne’s back. Being the other girl and betraying one of my friends like that is one of the most shameful things of my life. I definitely don’t want Judd to know that about me. Ever.

“Ouch,” he says. “That had to be complicated.”