Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 122(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 122(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
“Briar Maxwell! Look at you!” A woman in her sixties approaches us. “Your mama and daddy said you were coming. It’s good to see you!” She wraps Briar in a huge hug. It’s been like this everywhere today, and I wonder if he knows how special it is. He really has the best of both worlds—a career in the city and somewhere special like this, with family and friends who adore him to come home to.
“Hi, Ms. Hattie. How are you?”
“Oh, as good as can be expected. Get some swelling in my feet sometimes, but you don’t want to talk about that. Who is this young man?” She looks at me.
“Hattie as in the name of the diner?” I ask.
“The one and only.”
I hold my hand out to her. “I’m Dawson Jones, Briar’s boyfriend. Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“Oh, I hoped you’d say that. Our sweet Briar deserves a good man. I’ve been hoping he’d bring someone home with him every year since he left.” She looks at Briar. “You know I love Mark, but he did you dirty back then. I won’t say you deserve better. The two of you just weren’t a match, but I won’t say I’m not glad for it either.”
Well, that can’t be comfortable to hear. It’s obvious Ms. Hattie doesn’t mean anything by it, but I’m sure Briar doesn’t want to be reminded of being dumped by the man he was supposed to leave for college with.
“He deserves the best. I won’t pretend I’m not glad it’s me who landed him.”
She gushes and swoons, while Briar gives me a fish face, mouth dropping open before he covers his surprise with, “I’m glad it’s you too.” When he reaches out and grabs my hand, I thread our fingers together.
Ms. Hattie tells us how cute we are together while leading us to a table.
“I agree with you. We’re adorable,” I tell her, which makes her gush about us even more.
The diner is pretty busy, but there are a few open tables. She seats us at one of them, me sliding in on one side of the booth and Briar across from me. Once she’s set menus in front of us, she slips away.
“Besides the pie, they also have the best burgers in the county,” Briar tells me.
I open my mouth to respond, but another Bright’s Hollow local pops up, followed by another. Just like the people we’ve met before, everyone’s kind, and it’s clear they all like and care for Briar, but I can’t help noticing how many of them either mention Mark or how nice it is to see Briar with someone, as if that’s so surprising or like his life wouldn’t be quite as fulfilling without a partner.
“I’m happy to be here with him,” I say to the next guy to come to our table. “He’s a good man with an accomplished career. In fact, he was recently awarded employee of the month for solving a huge issue for his company. I had my eye on Briar before he noticed me. The first time he came into my shop, I was drawn to him.” In my periphery, I see Briar’s head whip in my direction and feel his intense gaze on me. Goose bumps dart across my skin while I try to ignore him, try not to look at him so he doesn’t see how serious I am or how much I pay attention to things he tells me. It had been over a latte one of our Thursdays when he mentioned the award, but I don’t have many people in my life who pay attention to those kinds of things, so I try to for others. Maybe he’ll think it’s part of the show. “A lot of people are drawn to him, but I don’t think he notices. I’m just lucky he felt the same.” I clear my throat, paying more attention to my water glass than needed, feeling foolish about going off the way I did, and nervous to look at Briar.
“I’m lucky you did as well,” he replies, voice slightly huskier than usual.
“I hope I didn’t insult you. I didn’t mean anything by what I said,” the man tells us, and I immediately feel guilty.
“You’re good,” I say. “Just like to brag about my boyfriend.” I risk a playful glance at Briar. God, I’m such an asshole. I shouldn’t be here. He thinks this is all a game, but really, I want to be his boyfriend…and on top of that, what kind of brother does that make me?
“Scooch over, Wilson,” the waitress says. “You two ready to order?”
Wilson excuses himself, and my gaze finds Briar’s again. He’s still looking at me. What is he thinking? Does he know how I feel about him?
“I’m ready if you are,” I say.
“Um…yeah, sure.”
We both end up getting a burger and fries with blueberry pie for dessert. Briar doesn’t bring up what I said, and I don’t either. We’re able to finish our meal without many more interruptions, just one more person asking us if we’ll be at the festival the next day, which we say we will be.