Evers & Afters (Dare With Me #2) - J.H. Croix Page 0,34

that. Plus, you’re worth someone like her.”

I heard Diego’s words, but it felt as if my own doubts were charging at me, ready to trample over his voice. He said it with such faith.

Chapter Fifteen

Cammi

I was zooming through a busy morning at the coffee truck. My thoughts were split between wondering when Elias might stop by, my plan to meet at the bank with Susie today to discuss a proposal to purchase Misty Mountain Café, and the text I’d received only moments ago. Truth be told, the text was occupying all my thoughts right now. I just didn’t like admitting it.

Sorry about your tire. Fran knew it was your SUV. I’d love to see you. I’m really sorry about the way everything went down. I never should’ve lied to you.

Stupid fucking lying Brad-slash-Joel. Of course, I had blocked the number I knew to be his, but clearly, he’d either gotten a new number, or signed up for some bullshit burner phone. I contemplated reporting him and his wife to the police for property damage, but it wasn’t worth it. It hadn’t cost me a penny because Elias was still refusing to let me pay him back. Not to mention the sheer mortification involved in showing up at the police station and filing a report about the man who’d lied and pretended to be somebody he wasn’t and who I’d accidentally had an affair with. The very end of that ridiculous story was that his wife apparently stabbed my tire. It was all messy and embarrassing.

Diamond Creek was such a small town that the newspaper printed all police reports every week. The only time they cut them short was during tourist season. They left out names, but people would know. Then, if there were actually charges filed, the names would be in the court reports, which were also printed weekly. Fuck my life. My cheeks got hot simply contemplating the situation.

“Here you go,” I said, handing another coffee to Amy. I was faster at making coffees, and she was turning out to be great with customers. She didn’t even care when they were rude to her. She just let it roll right off her shoulders. I mostly did too, but she had a sunny, cheerful nature that would serve her well in life until she got cynical.

Just because my morning needed to be more annoying, I then heard Brad’s—excuse me—Joel’s voice.

For the first time ever, I wished Amy would be a total bitch. She wasn’t. Le sigh. She greeted him cheerfully. “Hi there, what can we get for you this morning?”

I kept my head turned away, busy wiping down the espresso machine. The task most definitely needed to be done, so it wasn’t idle cleaning.

“I’ll just take the house coffee with a shot of hot water added to it,” Joel said.

Oh, right. Way back when, I should’ve known he was an idiot. My house coffee was delicious, but he preferred it weaker than it was. That pretty much said it all. Even his coffee preference was half-assed.

I stole a glance at Amy. She managed to keep smiling, but I could see the hint of horror in her eyes. I almost snorted a laugh and had to bite my cheeks.

“Hi, Cammi,” Joel added while Amy was ringing him up.

I glanced up briefly. “Hi.”

The second my eyes bounced past Joel, I wanted to disappear and wished I had the power to make it so. Because Elias was pulling into a parking spot. Just my luck. Sure, we could all agree that Joel was a total ass, but it didn’t change how idiotic I felt for stumbling into that situation.

There was a family behind Joel, so Elias had to wait. I ignored Joel, even when he stepped over to the side of the window to try to talk. “Did you get my text? I was hoping we could talk.”

“Yup, I did, and no, we won’t be talking. Please don’t text me again.”

I actually handed his coffee to Amy to serve him rather than giving it to him myself. He was still there when Elias got to the front of the line. I absolutely couldn’t resist lifting my eyes to look at Elias. His shaggy dark blond hair looked windblown, and his eyes were waiting for me. I sensed he recognized Joel from that night in the reception area at the lodge. Even though I was embarrassed because I didn’t like being reminded of the biggest mistake I’d ever made—one made worse because it caused