Stubborn and in Love (Book Three)

9.

Work was closing at the office for the day, so I decided to go check on Jack. He'd been holed up in his office for hours now.

"Hey, I was going to go grab some dinner and see Angie on her late shift at the L&L Automat. Wanna come?"

"You go ahead Mel, I'll catch up with you later tonight."

I kissed his temple lightly while running my fingers through his hair before leaving. Once Jack was set on a task, there was no pulling him away.

At the automat, I slid into my regular booth and waited for Angie to take my order.

"Why if it isn't my favorite southern belle. What can I get ya?"

"I'll take a coffee and a tuna melt please."

She scribbled on her notepad and went to go place my order. I surveyed the small eatery, noticing a familiar face standing outside the door. It was Jack's sister, talking to a man I'd never seen before.

She smiled at the man and slipped him some cash. I squinted, trying to see the stranger's face. Unfortunately before I'd gotten a good look he turned away and headed down the street.

Sarah looked up and I waved to her from my seat. Her expression changed slightly, but soon she was joining me in the booth.

"So, what brings you to the city?"

"Oh, just some business to attend to. Nothing interesting."

I nodded and picked at my food uncomfortably. Although Sarah always appeared nice, I felt as if she didn't care for me. Maybe it was just my imagination.

"How is Jack doing?"

"He's alright, still won't let me move back to my apartment. Not that I'm complaining," I added quickly.

"That's Jack, always being overprotective."

"He's always been that way. Ever since I got shot-"

"You were shot?"

"Yes, on one of our first missions together. We were actually pretending to be a ritzy married couple. He even had me wear his mother's ring."

"Ah yes, our mother's ring. It's very beautiful, not to mention an expensive piece of jewelry. I was always asking to wear it when I was a little girl. The way it shined...I think that was the start of my obsession of all things sparkly."

I inched forward in my seat, finally feeling a warmness from Sarah.

"Diamonds are a girl's best friend!"

She chuckled softly and leaned forward, her eyes lighting up.

"Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, not to mention gold...I can't get enough of them."

I meant to continue the friendly conversation until I spotted Jack smiling fondly at me from the other side of the automat.

"Well, what do we have here?" Jack said as he approached us.

"Jack! It's good to see you!"

She stood and wrapped Jack into a hug.

"Good to see you too Sarah. Where are Gabe and Harris?"

"Back home with their daddy. I just had a few errands to run in the city, regular business stuff."

"I can't believe I've never asked you what you do for work Sarah. How can I be so silly!"

"It's no problem, I'm sure your line of work is much more interesting to talk about. I sell beauty products to dull housewives. I was just dropping off some sample products for a new customer."

I nodded, staring into my mug. Maybe it was just a customer outside of the automat earlier. Jack's hand brushed over mine, bringing me back to the conversation.

"Well, it was really nice to catch up with you two again, but I really should be heading to the train station."

Sarah stood up, hugging Jack and I before heading out the door.

We sat back down as Angie slid two sandwiches in front of us. As we ate, I couldn't help but notice the goofy smile that was playing on Jack's lips.

"What are you smiling about?"

"It was just nice to see you getting along with Sarah. She can be a little abrupt at times."

"Well, she lit up talking about your mother's ring. She seems really into the finer things."

"That's Sarah. Always demanding the highest priced items. My father was always soft with her, buying her whatever her heart desired. They used to be a lot closer than they are now. I'm not sure what changed."