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"Where are we going?"
"Café. I'm hungry and you're taking my lunch hour to do"—she looked at him like he was dogshit on her shoe—"whatever it is you're trying to do."
"I'm trying to—"
He stopped when she pulled open the door of the café, forcing him to take a step back or get hit in the face. He followed her in, taking his cues from her. She sat down at a booth, and he took the seat opposite. Waiting for her to talk first, he took the opportunity to watch her as she looked over the menu. Fuck, she was more beautiful than he remembered.
"You're staring. Again."
Her words snapped him out of his stupor. He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry."
She made a small noise under her breath and went back to looking over the menu. Beau picked up his own menu and gave it a cursory glance.
"What can I get you both?" a shrill, too-happy voice asked.
Beau looked up at the waitress. "The pastrami on rye, thanks."
She jotted it down. "Anything to drink?"
"Coffee. Black."
Evangeline made a derisive noise in the back of her throat. Beau looked at her.
"And for you?" The waitress directed her question to Vee.
"A garden burger and an iced tea."
"You got it," the waitress beamed brightly before moving on to her next customer.
Evangeline placed her elbows onto the table and clasped her hands together. "You've only got fifty minutes now, so I suggest you start talking."
"Right. Fifty minutes," he said softly. "You look good, Vee."
She rolled her eyes. "I already told you I’m not going to sit here and listen to this for the next”—she looked at her watch—“forty-nine minutes."
"No, of course not," he replied, sitting back in his seat when the waitress reappeared. The woman placed down his coffee and her iced tea then walked away. "I came here to explain myself."
"Right," she replied in a slow drawl. "So, you'd better get talking."
He sucked in a breath and let it out. "I'm not sure where to start."
"How about at the beginning?"
Dumping three spoons of sugar into his cup, he stirred, then took a sip. "I'm sorry."
"It's too late for that," she replied.
"It's never too late to apologize for doing wrong to someone." He dropped his gaze to his coffee cup and rubbed at the mark on the edge with his thumb. He wasn't sure how he should start. "I had to drop out of school," he said softly.
"Had to? Just like youhad totell me it was over, that you didn’t want me anymore?"
He looked up, startled by the sharpness of her tone. "Yes, I—" He clenched his jaw tightly, making sure his voice was softer when he added, "My mom got sick.”
Evangeline looked chagrined for a moment. "Is she okay?" she asked in a soft voice. Beau swallowed down past the hard lump in his throat. His mom and Vee had been as thick as thieves from the moment they'd met.
Despite the small amount of time he and Vee had dated, their romance had been hard and fast, like a freight train with broken brakes. They would often fight, but when they made up, it was just as ferocious as whatever had driven them to argue in the first place. They were simultaneously good and bad for one another, and when he'd had to leave, he felt as if his shattered heart would never heal.
"Beau? Is she okay?"
