“It’s a little hot. Be careful.”
I handed Colby his and his eyes met mine. “Thank you.” And I felt the sincerity to my core. Little did he know how much I wanted to take care of him.
I moved to Landon and he gave me the widest grin. “Thanks.”
I smiled back, knowing exactly how much he loved Grandma’s cooking. “No problem. I have juice for you too.” I grabbed the juice and set one near each guy, then settled in the recliner. “How long have you guys been sick?”
“About three days,” Colby said. “But I really am starting to feel a little better.”
Landon blew on a spoonful of soup. “I’m a day behind him. He got me sick.”
Colby shook his head. “Nobody told you to eat my leftovers. The way I see it, that’s what you get.”
Landon chuckled. “Lesson learned.” He glanced at me. “So how did you know we were sick?”
“Taylor mentioned it.”
“Are y’all hanging out more?” he asked.
“Not much. We were trying to make plans but seems like our work schedules don’t want to cooperate. I think we may hang out at the beach Saturday.”
“Maybe we’ll join you. We should definitely be better by then.”
“I sure as hell hope so,” Colby muttered. “But I may have to work. Dad promised not to tell Mom I was sick if I ran this weekend’s charter and picked up a few more shifts at the Bait ’n’ Tackle.”
“I’ve noticed the boat isn’t moving much lately. Has it been pretty slow?”
He shrugged. “The fall always slows down to weekend-only runs, but add in the weather we’ve had lately and we’re getting a lot of cancellations and reschedules. People even hear the word hurricane and they freak. But the stormy season is almost over. Then, of course, it’ll be winter. It probably won’t pick up again until spring.”
“I bet you miss the summer.”
He opened his mouth to say something then glanced at Landon. “It’s nice to have a little break. And Dad has plans to keep me busy at his store. I’ll be back to waking up early every morning and being out on the water before sunrise in no time.”
He was guarded with his answer in front of Landon, though I had no idea why. I decided to file that away as something to discuss later with him. “Well, you’re both welcome to meet us at the beach on Saturday if you want. Maybe you can mention it to the other guys and we can have a bonfire or something.”
“Hell, if you want we can just do it here.”
“Will your neighbors mind a bonfire? It can get pretty smoky. And they’re, like, old.”
Colby and Landon both burst into laughter.
“God, that sounded awful! I meant they are elderly and the smoke might bother them, breathing-wise or something.” They were still grinning at me. “You know what I mean.” I settled back in my chair, deciding silence was my best argument at the moment.
“I know, and you’re probably right.” Landon set his empty bowl down on the coffee table. “Let’s just stick to the public beach.”
“If I can make it, I’ll bring you s’mores stuff.” Colby smiled at me.
“Oh my god, that would be perfect.”
Landon glanced at Colby. “I can pick it up, just in case.”
Colby looked at him, his smile faltering slightly. “Yeah, that’d be good. Never know.”
“Or I can bring the stuff myself?” I glanced between them, trying to figure out the unspoken words they were exchanging with those looks.
“No.” Colby was quick to shoot down my suggestion. “Let me…us do this. After all, you brought us soup. We can at least provide your favorite food.”
“It’s your favorite?” Landon asked.
“Second to french fries,” Colby and I said in unison.
“Whoa.” Landon laughed. “That was creepy. Word for word. Exact same timing.”
“I talk about food a lot. Half the town probably knows how much I love to eat.”
“Yet I had no clue.” Landon studied me. “Clearly, I need to pay better attention.”
This time I laughed. “It’s okay, Landon. I don’t care if you know my favorite food.”
“But maybe I do.”
And there it was again. The awkwardness I’d sensed on the phone. Problem was, it seemed one-sided. Like only I felt uneasy with our conversation. My gaze flicked to Colby, hoping I could find something in his expression that also suggested the confusion I felt, but instead he had that look again, that weird sad-and-defeated combo, as he stared at Landon. Then his eyes shifted to mine and he smiled. It was like déjà vu from the other night. The expressions were exactly the same. What in the world was going on?