out a student loan and started nursing school, and he moved away. Haven’t seen or talked to him since.”
“Do you miss him?”
“No.” I shake my head. “That’s how I know we weren’t meant to be.”
“Juliette?”
“Yeah?”
“Brandon was an idiot. And an asshole.”
“All right,” Louise yells from the back porch. “Dinner is ready.”
We walk side by side to the house, neither one of us saying a thing.
It’s weird—we’ve only known each other for an hour, but I feel like I’ve known him for years. I can’t help wondering when I’ll see him again.
Will he want to see me again?
The thought shakes me to my core. I swore I wouldn’t put myself in a spot to have my heart broken again, and after an hour I already know Mason could have that power over me, if I gave him the chance.
“I better get going.”
“You’re not going to stay for dinner?” Louise asks. “There’s plenty for all of us.”
“Nah, I’ve got to get going. I still need to finish the book you interrupted,” I say, swatting Mason on the arm. “Thanks again, Louise. Mason, it was nice meeting you.”
He fidgets on his feet, seeming flustered that I’m about to walk away. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Let him,” Louise says. “Never stop a man from being a gentleman.”
“Thank you, Louise,” Mason says.
She pats Mason’s cheek, and I jerk my head toward my car. “If you insist on being a gentleman, who am I to stop you?”
“Glad you see it my way.” He holds out his arm. I shake my head and tuck my hand in his elbow.
“So, when will I get to see you again?” he asks as we stop beside my car.
“I don’t know.”
“How about tomorrow night? We could go to the diner and get some ice cream.”
My eyes dance around Louise’s yard before falling on his. “I don’t know.”
“Are you scared?”
“No,” I scoff. “Why would I be scared?”
Hell yeah, I’m scared. I haven’t even looked at a guy since Brandon, and then Mason slides into my car and has my pulse racing, my body heating up, and my mind wondering what it would be like if he kissed me. And what if he does kiss me and I like it? No, scratch that, what if I love it? And then what if he leaves like Brandon did? The men in my life haven’t always had staying power.
“Just asking.” He studies me for a few seconds. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Just wondering if your stay here is going to be permanent.” His knowing gaze penetrates mine, and I rush to explain. “It’s just… You’re just moving here. What if you change your mind in a week and decide small-town life isn’t for you?”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“It might.”
Mason grabs my hands. “Okay, how about this? I’ll meet you at the diner two weeks from today—six o’clock, because I don’t want to interrupt your reading time.” He smirks. “That gives you two weeks to warm up to the idea of me and gives me time to settle in.”
“I don’t know.”
“I do. Meet me there.” Mason takes a step back and then another and another, his smile growing as he moves away from me.
I ache to reach out to him, to continue whatever it is that’s building between us, but I don’t. My insecurities have me rooted to the driveway.
“Two weeks, Juliette.”
“Mason, wait. I—”
“Don’t stand me up.” He winks and disappears into the bed and breakfast before I have a chance to reply.
Dammit. This was completely unexpected. He was completely unexpected.
“Some of the best things in life are the things we don’t see coming.” Mom’s words ring loud in my head.
I open the car door and slide into the driver’s seat.
It isn’t until I pull into my driveway that I notice my book is gone.
FOUR
Mason
THIS HAS BEEN the longest two weeks of my life. I’ve looked for Juliette everywhere—on the street, in the coffee shop, and every other place through town I’ve explored—and each time I’ve come up empty.
Colin assured me she’s not avoiding me, but that’s all he would say. I know he’s talked to her, but the fucker has tight-ass lips. I love that she has someone watching out for her, but soon, if I’m lucky, that someone might be me.
A chime dings above the door as I walk into Millie’s diner. It looks the same now as it did when I was kid.
“Seat yourself,” a waitress says from across the room.
I nod and move