“Bacon?” she asked, immediately typing in my order.
“Absolutely.”
“Put this on my order.” My aunt’s voice came from behind me.
Good Lord. As if my morning breakfast date wasn’t already stressing me out, Lou was going to be the witness to this? Oh no. Nope. Not ready for this in any way, shape, or form.
That being said, I did love her completely, so I turned to find her standing behind me with Verdell, that saint of a man, and was immediately engulfed in her arms. The floral perfume she’d always worn immediately settled my nervous system.
You might not realize how affectionate Lou was if you didn’t know her well. Her quick wit and sarcastic nature, coupled with her salty language, were the first things I’d bet most people thought of when she came to mind. However, I knew her as one of the best huggers and most steady people in my life. She was an oasis of calm for me growing up. Especially with my mom’s flighty, if well-meaning, nature.
Lou’s hugs were a reset for me, and the fact that she and Verdell lived here was the number one factor in agreeing to move when my mom suggested it. Lou was in her seventies, and while I felt like she could potentially outlive us all, I knew in reality that I needed to soak up time with her and Verdell while I could. They were active and healthy, so I hoped moving here would give me many more years with them.
“Lou,” I mumbled into her shoulder.
Her arms squeezed me, and all the while she gave me shit. “You moved down here, and I still don’t see you enough, girl.”
I peeked over her shoulder. “Hey, Verdell.”
“Looking good, Jules,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “No more shadows under your eyes.”
Verdell was a tell-it-like-it-is kind of person. He didn’t have room in his life for bullshit, which is likely why he got along well with Lou. You never questioned where you stood with her.Even so, I was a touch mortified that it took my mom doing her elaborate freak-out to realize how run down I’d gotten. I mean, for Pete’s sake, I was thirty years old. You would assume I’d know when I wasn’t doing well.
You would be wrong. Or maybe denial was just my friend. Jury was still out.
At any rate, Verdell spoke the truth—Iwasdoing better.
I stepped back from Verdell and looked from him to Lou. “It’s good to see you both, but you don’t need to get my breakfast…”
“Of course we do—that’s the benefit to moving near family,” Lou said, giving me a look. “Besides, you can sit with us and we can catch up.”
“No need,” an alarmingly attractive and familiar male voice joined the party, coming from behind me. “I’ve already got her.”
I turned to see Noah stepping back from the counter behind me, credit card sliding into his wallet as he gave me a grin combined with a raised eyebrow. What in the world? How did he get from the spot by the window to the register all while I soaked in Lou with a hug? And what in the world was he thinking? No way Lou was going to let this slide without commentary. Did he know what he was getting into?
Lou’s sharp gaze pinged from Noah to me and back again. “What do we have here?” she asked with barely concealed glee lacing her tone.
“Lou…” Verdell’s tone betrayed his own warning.
Didn’t matter, I could see that she was positively vibrating with excitement. The train was out of the station, and we were the passengers. Dang.
“Morning, Lou,” Noah said, wading into the disaster with no heed for his own safety. “Jules and I had our dinner interrupted last night by the crisis of Addie’s missing stuffie…”
“Oh no, Ellie’s lost?” Lou asked, clearly able to switch from Queen of Gossip to caring grandma-like figure in a heartbeat.
“Waslost,” Noah said. “At any rate, we’re continuing our conversation from last night over breakfast since I had to race off to find said elephant.”
Oh, innocent Noah. Did you think simply telling Lou facts was the way to go? You sweet summer child. I wanted to groan and bury my head in my hands, but I worked to stand strong.
Lou’s gaze moved from Noah to me. “Hmm, Jules. Seems like we have more to catch up on than I thought. Did the girls invite you to Sunday’s book club?”
I looked at her in abject horror as my mind began to connect some dots. “You’re in Ivy’s book club?”
Verdell snorted.Snorted!I’d never heard that from the man. “In it? What’s your title, Lou? Smut Instigator? Queen Smut Leader?”
I was in danger of hyperventilating. Noah was watching me in fascination, but I was a moment from expiring. Lou needed to speak, to set this all to rights. Unfortunately, that was not in the cards.
“In it? I help pick all the books. The dirtier, the better,” she said with a cat-eating-the-canary grin and,shiver, a suggestive wink to Verdell.
