“I have no idea.”
“I bet he did.” Her aunt studied her for a moment. “You’re going to lock this down, right?”
“Lockwhatdown?”
“This thing between you. Make a move on him, kid. What’s stopping you? You’re both home and single. Plus, you have a history.”
“A history asfriends. Jace and I will not be dating.”
Her aunt wrinkled her brow. “Why not?”
“The man had our entire high school career to date me. He never did. In fact, he dated everyoneexceptme, because he wasn’t interested.” Not only did he not date her, he’d also only kept in contact for the first couple of years. Two pretty big tells, if you asked her.
Jewel shook her head. “You’re both older now. He’s matured; you’re at a childbearing age.”
Elle scrunched her nose, not really sure how to respond to that, when her phone vibrated on the table. She looked down at the text.
Sadie: He sounds like he likes you. Why did you never date?
Jesus, now she was explaining herself to her auntandSadie.
“Who’s that?” Jewel asked, trying to peer at the phone from across the table.
“It’s Sadie. I texted her about what happened today and she’s on Team Jewel, asking why Jace and I never dated.”
“Oh…I’ll answer that.”
Jewel reached for the cell, but Elle swiped out of the text and lifted the phone so it was out of her aunt’s reach. “Absolutely not.”
She pouted. “Why not?”
“I can reply to my friends, thank you.”
Jewel rolled her eyes, making Elle grin. Her aunt was only twenty years older than her, but she’d always acted younger than her age.
She set her phone back down just as Harper arrived beside their table.
The other woman smiled. “Hey. Sorry I haven’t had a chance to come over and say hi. We’ve been slammed tonight.” Harper was fairly new to Misty Peak. She’d stepped into this bar on her first night in town and had been here ever since. Of course, that had everything to do with Cody, Jace’s brother and the owner of the bar. The two were inseparable.
“That’s okay,” Elle said. “We’re fine. I’m glad the place is busy.”
Harper laughed. “Yeah, a lot of locals but also a few tourists. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but I also like slower nights when I can slip out back for a sneaky kiss with Cody.”
Right on cue, Cody came up behind Harper, his hands sliding around her waist. “Did I hear my name and kiss in the same sentence?”
Harper blinked innocently. “No.”
“Liar,” Cody growled.
“Never.” Harper smiled down at Elle and her aunt again. “Shout out if you need anything.”
“We will.” When they’d left the table, Elle turned back to her aunt—only to seeherphone in Jewel’s grasp. “Hey!” She tried to grab it, but Jewel whisked it out of reach.
“Calm down. I’m explaining to your friend why you never dated.”
This should be good. If she was texting anyone other than Sadie, she would have snatched her cell straight back, but Sadie was a good friend who knew Aunt Jewel, so it didn’t really matter what she wrote. “At least tell me what you’re writing before you hit send.”
Her aunt’s fingers moved quickly on the phone. “I’m telling her that you never dated Jace because he was too tall. His dimples were too distracting. And he had far too many ab packs.”
