He shrugged and brought the pan of eggs over to me. “It’s the least I could do. I figured you wouldn’t let me pay you, so I thought cooking breakfast would show my appreciation.”
I gasped. “Money? You never mentioned anything about paying me.” When he looked at me and laughed, I held out my hand. “You have plenty. I’ll take some.”
Jake fetched the plate of bacon and held it out to me. “How much do you want?”
Rolling my eyes, I grabbed two pieces of bacon and set them on my plate. “I could never take your money.”
He chuckled and piled his plate high with food before sitting down beside me. “I still owe you two dinners for predicting my tournament wins.”
That made me smile. Predicting his wins was one of the things I added to our past. It was still strange to comprehend that in a matter of two dream-filled nights, I’d changed so much.
“Yes, you do,” I said, stuffing a forkful of eggs into my mouth. “But you made me breakfast, so that’s good for one. Now, you only have to owe me one more meal.”
My phone beeped and I looked over to see Max’s name on the screen.
“Is that Violet saying she’s working today?” Jake asked.
“No, but I do need to call her,” I said, picking up my phone. I clicked on the text, and Max’s words made me smile.
Max: Good morning. I hope you have a great day! I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.
I texted him back.
Me: Good morning! I hope you have a great day as well. Tomorrow will be fun.
Once the text was sent, I set my phone back down and took a bite of bacon.
“Actually, it was a text from Max,” I replied, grinning over at Jake. “He said he hopes I have a great day and that he can’t wait to see me tomorrow.”
Jake smirked. “Nice. What do you know about him?”
I shrugged. “Not much. I met him at my nana’s retirement home two years ago, and I recently ran into him again. I think my grandmother likes his grandfather.”
Jake’s eyes widened. “Wow, that’s got to be something. After your grandfather died, I was worried about her.”
My heart hurt just thinking about it. “We all were. But she’s different now. There’s a spark in her eyes that hasn’t been there for a long time.”
Jake finished his food and smiled. “I’m glad to hear it.”
Once I was done, he took my plate, and surprisingly, cleaned the dishes. I’d known Jake my entire life, but it just occurred to me there was a lot I probably didn’t know about him. I had no clue he knew how to cook.
While he straightened up the kitchen, I called Violet. Her voice sounded much better when she answered the phone.
“Hey, sis,” she answered. Before I could speak, she kept going. “I’m walking downstairs now to open the gallery. I feel so bad that you had to do it alone the past couple of days.” The sound of her door slamming echoed through the phone.
“It wasn’t a big deal at all, Vi. But I’m happy you’re feeling better. The reason I’m calling is to see if you’d mind if I came in a little later. Jake’s in town and he wants me to look at houses with him this morning.”
Violet squealed. “Jake’s in town!”
Anyone from a mile away could’ve heard her through the phone. Jake laughed and shook his head. “Tell her I’ll stop by the gallery this afternoon to see her.”
Violet shrieked again. “I heard him. Sounds good to me. Have fun looking at houses.”
“Thanks, Violet.”
We said our goodbyes just as Jake finished wiping the counters. “We ready to go?” I slid out of my chair, and he handed me one of my red Christmas travel mugs, full of coffee. “It’s not Sarah’s crème brulee concoction from the café,” he said, taking a sip out of one of my other Christmas travel mugs, “but I know you love hazelnut with a dash of creamer.” He lifted his mug in the air. “I think I have a new favorite. Hazelnut’s not that bad.”
“It’s one of the best. I’m honestly surprised you remembered I liked it. It’s been a long time since I ordered coffee around you.” I sipped the coffee, which had just the right amount of creamer.
