“I think it’syouwho doesn’t listen tome, Joel. Everything’s ready. It’s time for you to come home and fulfill your commitment.”
He almost laughed. How many times did he have to tell his mother that he’d nevermadea commitment? “I’m hanging up now.”
“Joel Henderson Dawson. Your father and I have done so much for you. It’s time for you to show your appreciation.”
“By giving up my future? That’s what you want in exchange for doing thebare minimumas parents? You just want the rest of my life?”
“You wouldn’t be giving up anything. You’d be gaining an entire life. A privileged life. And we didn’t do the bare minimum. We sent you to the best schools. We paid for you to do every extracurricular activity you wanted. We hired the best nannies money could buy.”
“That’s the thing that you and Dad have never understood though—not everything is about money. I need to go.”
He hung up, suddenly wishing he was outside and running again. But he knew better than anyone that there was no running from Martha and Grant Dawson. They were like parasites. If you gave even an inch, they would take until they had everything.
3
Polly wrinkled her nose at the sight of Jonah and her mother. They sat cuddled up on the couch by the bookshelf like teenagers.
When they leaned in to kiss, she looked away. Because good God, could they not get a room? Actually, they had a room, at home, but for some reason they were here, at Bloom, making their affection very public.
She grabbed a cloth and spray bottle and started cleaning tables. Scrubbing them so hard that her arm ached.
It was fine. There were five minutes left until the café closed. She could deal with it until then. The problem was, everyone else had left, even the girls who worked behind the counter, so there really wasn’t much else to look at.
She was on her fifth table when the café door opened and Joel stepped in. And, man oh man, he looked good. His blond hair was windswept, his tattoos peeking out of the end of his short sleeves.
She loved tattoos. Exactly why she had a few of her own.
Argh.
She forced herself to look away, and goddammit, she hated that it tookforce.
“Hey, Sunshine.”
She didn’t look up. Not at his words. Not when he stood so close she could smell the raw, earthy scent that seemed to linger on his body.
She scrubbed the table harder. “We’re actually closing in five minutes.”
“I know. I’m not here to order anything. I came to talk about your texts.”
“Texts?” She knew exactly what texts, because she remembered every word spoken and messaged to and from this man, but she was not ready to acknowledge why.
“The one where you asked about the missing women,” he said quietly.
“Uh, the question you didn’t answer.”
She moved to the next table. Had she cleaned this one already?
Joel lowered his voice. “Why did you ask?”
“You won’t answer my question but want me to answer yours?”
“I’m a cocky asshole like that.”
Dammit, she even found his honesty attractive.
A giggle came from the couch.
This time, she did look. Her mother’s head was tilted back, and she was doing that fake, flirty-laugh thing.
