He waited patiently, seeing her take a deep breath before she lowered her shield.
“Yes, I decided that getting coffee with you wouldn’t be a bad idea,” she rushed out. “If you still want to,” she added.
Did he still want to?Hell, yes.He also felt like cheering out loud that she’d given it thought and he’d come out in the positive somehow. But Julian knewthatresponse would be inappropriate, so he tried to school his features into a semblance of mild pleasure.
“I’d like that very much,” he responded, and damned if his voice didn’t crack.
Smooth, Jules.
“Just tell me when and where?” he added.
There.That came out better.
“Well, tomorrow’s Friday, so if you want to grab something before my shift starts at eight-thirty, we could meet down the street at the Bear’s Claw at say, seven-thirty. Or if you want to wait until Saturday, it’s a day off for me, so we could find a different coffee shop farther afield, and have a bit more time.”
Julian wanted both FridayandSaturday, but since Petula was asking him to choose, he’d start with Friday and move on from there if things went well.
“Tomorrow sounds perfect,” he responded joyfully, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.
“Okay.” She smiled shyly and backed up a few steps, gave him a tentative, four finger wave before spinning on her heel and double-timing it toward her van.
“Bye, Petula,” he called out.
She didn’t answer as she disappeared, but Julian didn’t mind.
This was so good. It was very, very good. She’d contemplated his offer, and decided to go for it. He barely refrained from doing a fist-pump.
Biding his time on the sidewalk until Petula’s van was out of sight, he finally drew in a deep breath and turned toward the shop to face the music.
Time to get the inquisition started.
“Well?” Tabitha was the first to attack him as he stepped through the door. She grabbed his arm and yanked him forward. “That all looked good. You both smiled a lot.”
“Who knew you had that in you, bro,” Spence snorted with a shit-eating grin. “All this time, and there’s actually a smooth operator in there somewhere instead of just the institutionalized dweeb we know and love?”
Trask punched Spence in the arm. “Don’t be a dick. Just because you grew up being a man-whore, doesn’t mean everyone else had to.” The eldest Sothard brother turned to Julian. “Just don’t blow this, Jules, because it looks good so far, and it seems like you’re really interested in our little UPS driver. Know that if you have troubles, or need any pointers, you can always ask those of us who have experience.”
He puffed up a bit, but seriously? Julian appreciated it. Trask had always been his champion.
Jett wasn’t having any of that. She elbowed both men out of the way and gestured to herself, Tabbi, and Sheila. “Yeah. One ofus. We’ll let you in on how to interpret any foreign, woman-speak, so you’ll know exactly what she’s saying and not saying, and how to move forward without spooking her. Because I gotta be honest with you Jules, that woman has some…issues.”
Jett’s mouth turned down in a speculative way. “You can see it in her eyes. Not everything has been all sparkles and giggles in her life. But don’t let that derail you,” she urged. “We’re already on it. Operation Paul is underway. We’ve reached out to Tex fora bio on your wanna-be squeeze, and he promises he’ll have info back to us, tied up with a bow, before you know it.”
“Uh, about that,” Julian speculated, wincing a bit. “I think we might be overstepping here. Invading Petula’s privacy. Maybe I can just find everything out about her organically, like by asking?”
Wasn’t that the way things normally went?
Tabitha huffed. “I’d say yes if she were any of the womenweattempted to fix you up with, but this being Petula…?” She sighed. “Let me put it this way. She’s someone that any number of people in your family have known since she started her route a bunch of years back. Jett and I have also been trying to chat her up, practically since we opened our doors because she looks like good friend material.”
“So?” Julian asked.
“So, other than weather chit-chat, and being an interested listener, she hasn’t been forthcoming, at all. She’s never given any of us a hint about anything, personally, even thoughwe’veall shared. And FYI, I’ve talked to Bobbie, Everlee, and your Mom, and they all say the same thing. Petula is a lovely person, but she’s also a blank slate. Which means she’s got some serious ghosts if she’s not willing to open up to even Ellen Sothard, who’severyone’sfavorite Mom.”
Jett had a point.
Julianmightbe out of his depth, so what could a little intel hurt? It wasn’t like he was going to use it against Petula, and it might answer a few things about the shadows that lingered in her eyes.
Still,everyonedidn’t need to be in the know.
