Page 24 of Love and Loathing

Alex patted him on the back. “Chin up now. We’ve got lunch with your sister today, remember? We’re meeting her in a few hours, and we need to have our game faces on.”

* * *

Alex and Charlie took Roxy to Blue Shadow Café. It was an off hour, two p.m., so there weren’t a lot of people there. She requested one of the outside tables by the sidewalk—perfect for optimal attention. And to make matters worse, she’d dyed her blond hair a light pink since he’d last seen her. Between ordering and getting their food, Roxy and Charlie had taken photos together with half a dozen enthusiastic fans and signed double the amount of autographs. He thought he was doing a good job of keeping it together, until Charlie snapped.

“Roxy, this is ridiculous!” Charlie stood up and headed to a table halfway back on the terrace, where he plopped down in a seat. “We’ll never get to eat at this rate.”

Alex chuckled, smirked at Roxy, got up, and followed with his own drink. He sat facing the street, leaving the only remaining chair facing away from the street. Roxy grumbled but followed, then scowled when she realized she’d have her back to her fans. No one would recognize her with her pink hair. Alex pulled his ball cap down further over his face to make it harder for people to recognize him too.

Roxy dug through her purse. “What’s gotten into you, Charlie? You’re so grumpy.” She pulled out a lip gloss and smeared the shiny stuff all over her lips. Alex thought it looked sticky. Unlike Jessie’s lips, which always looked silky smooth.

Charlie took a swig of his drink. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

Alex rolled his eyes. So much for game face. In the sixteen years he’d known Charlie, he’d rarely seen him grumpy. The last time he could recall was when the tabloids had reported that Alex and Roxy were getting married. Charlie had thrown a fit, ticked that his best friend and sister hadn’t even had the decency to tell him they’d been dating. It’d all been nonsense, and as soon as Charlie figured that out, he was happy as a Labrador retriever again. But now, he was stressing over something infinitely more important to him. Love.

As soon as Alex had left the trailer this morning, he’d called Steve and Kevin. They’d agreed to drop to fifty homes, but Alex had the feeling that was the number they’d wanted all along, and that they’d just proposed a hundred to negotiate down. But fifty up from eight wouldn’t fly with the people of Harvest Ranch. They’d still be losing the bulk of the river on the west side, and he’d been down there. The land didn’t technically belong to the town, but people had built up docks, and tire swings over the river, and picnic tables. It’d been just what Jessie said: an area well loved and used by the town. They’d never had to worry about anyone buying it all up and kicking them off until they’d come in. Jessie would really hate him if they went through with it.

Alex sighed.

“Oh, for the love,” Roxy said. “What is wrong with you two? I was in a perfectly good mood before you showed up, and now I’m just as cranky as you are. Neither of you said a thing about my hair or asked me how I’m doing.”

Charlie frowned. “I’m sorry, Rox—”

She lifted a hand. “I don’t want to hear it. I’m going to the ladies’, and when I get back, I want you two to be little freaking rays of sunshine.” She slammed her hand down on the table and almost made Charlie’s drink topple, but he grabbed it first. “Got it?”

Alex and Charlie nodded. No point in fighting with her when she got like this.

She left, and silence followed. Oh man, they really needed to pull it together. Charlie slumped in his chair and leaned his head over the back of it, staring up at the red umbrella over the table.

Alex caught sight of an old-fashioned Schwinn bicycle with a big leather banana seat, and aqua and cream painted metal. It leaned against the brick exterior Life on Canvas. As if the universe were dumping a steaming pile of karma on him, several incredibly beautiful paintings of a river that looked a heck of a lot like the Southern Run took spotlight in the big front windows. He groaned.

The doors swung open, and out stepped Jessie. A lightness filled him, his troubles receded at just the sight of her, and what had been a bad day now suddenly seemed a lot better. He hadn’t realized how much he’d actually missed her face until now. How much just seeing her seemed to make things seem just a little bit more optimistic. He hadn’t been prepared for what seeing her again after weeks’ absence would do to him. Emotions long repressed rose like the sun in the east.

A light breeze blew her hair out of her face and made her loose T-shirt wave, even though she had tucked into her skinny jeans. She scrunched her nose as she stared at something in her hand, and how he wished he was close enough to see the freckles there. She stepped back from the building, her every move arresting his every thought, and turned to face it. Her hair hung in long, soft waves down to her mid back. She held her arms out in front of her and slowly moved the length of the building. It took him a moment to realize she was filming.

Then he remembered he hadn’t texted her back yet. Before the idea, or his courage, passed, Alex pulled his phone from his pocket and shot off a text.

Alex: Hi.

He hit send, then immediately typed out a second and sent it.

Alex: I can see you.

He sat tall in his seat and peered across the street. She pulled her phone from her pocket, turning halfway toward him in the process, and read the messages. Her head popped up, and she glanced around. When she didn’t find him, he sent another.

Alex: You’re getting warmer.

She looked at her phone again, and her lips pulled up in one corner. His heart picked up speed. Had he just made her smile? She typed in a message, and it beeped through a moment later.

Jessie: Are you stalking me? Cuz if you are, I’m not kissin’ you.

He laughed out loud. She wasn’t kissin’ him, huh? A rush of challenge coursed through him. He’d have to see about that. He liked this woman. Maybe more than liked her. Why had he been dragging his feet?

Charlie groaned from the seat next to him but stayed slumped down. Alex went back to his texts.

Alex: Shoot, I guess I’ll have to stalk someone else.

Jessie: Where are you?

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