“Boy, you know those coffee pots are off,” a gentle southern voice called out to them. “If you think you’re going to sweet talk me into feeding you right now—” She stopped abruptly as she got close enough to see Elaine. Davis knew Caroline was the right person to help, but it didn’t mean this wouldn’t get weird for a little while first.

“This is Elaine,” he stuttered out. “She had car trouble.”

“Did the car try to eat you?” Caroline asked, scanning the girl like an X-ray machine.

“It’s a long story,” Elaine offered, but Caroline looked far from convinced. “I’m kind of stranded here. I don’t have anything. No money or clothes.”

“Isn’t that a pickle?” Caroline sighed. “Well you came to the right place. Are you hungry?”

“I am, but you just said . . . I mean it sounded like a headache to have to get food out.”

Caroline laughed in the way only she could. It was smooth like jazz, rising and falling in all the perfect spots. Unpredictable, a little frantic but perfect. “That was only for Davis. He knows better. You’re new around here, and you’re clearly in need. It’s my pleasure to fill your belly. Have a seat over there, and I’ll bring you out something.”

“I should get going,” Davis said, tired from a long day’s work and nervous Elaine could end up in tears any moment. Something he was wholly unprepared to deal with.

“No way,” Caroline ordered, pointing at the nearest booth. “You aren’t off the hook. This young lady is going to need a place to stay tonight.”

“I know,” Davis said, his face twisting with confusion. “That’s why I brought her to you.”

“This is a café, not a hotel. I don’t have any room at my place. You on the other hand have a bunch of dusty old rooms at your house.”

“She can’t stay with me,” Davis shot back quickly. “What would Lucille say about a scandalous, juicy rumor that I’ve got a strange woman sleeping at my place?”

“Since when do you care what the town gossip has to say about you? If you were really worried about Lucille, I’d think you’d have indulged her and taken her up on one of those blind dates she’s always needling you to go on.” She turned to Elaine. “Now listen here, I’m going to feed you; I have a pair of sandals you can wear, and in the light of day I’ll be happy to help you figure out what you need. But it’s late, and I don’t have any space for you. Davis will put you up for one night.”

“I don’t even know him,” Elaine whispered and for the first time it struck Davis how intimidating his arrival might have been. How intrusive, maybe even scary, his insisting might have seemed.

“Darling, if you drew a circle a thousand miles around Indigo Bay, there wouldn’t be a man I’d trust more than Davis Mills. He’s an honorable man of his word and a true gentleman to his core. You don’t need to know him; I know him enough for both of us. Now”—Caroline flipped a dish towel over her shoulder and headed for the back of the café—“let me get you fed and on your way.”

“I can pay for a cabin for you,” Davis said, fishing his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call Dallas and set it up.” But the phone only rang and rang until Dallas’s voice mail picked up. “He must be sleeping.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, swallowing so hard her throat bobbed up and down with emotion. “I got myself into this mess. I’m not your responsibility.”

“I highly doubt you got yourself into this mess,” Davis challenged, dancing the line between respecting her privacy and needing to know what could have possibly transpired to make her run so far so fast. No one just got in their car and ran away from their life unless something serious had happened.

“You don’t give me enough credit.” She laughed. “I can screw things up pretty bad. That might be another reason you don’t want to get too mixed up in this.”

“Maybe I should have kept driving tonight when I saw you sitting on that curb,” he said flatly, and he watched her face fall a little before she remembered to look tough. “But then I wouldn’t be sitting here about to eat one of the most delicious desserts this side of the Mason-Dixon line. Silver linings can come in the form of cobbler.”

“The best cobbler in the world might not make up for the trouble that follows me everywhere. I promise I’ll sort this out and be on my way tomorrow. I’ll get the bank to mail me a new credit card. I’ll put more gas in the car and keep driving.”

“You do know if you drive south long enough you run out of road. Unless that car turns into a submarine, you might need a new plan.”

“I’ll figure it out.” She shrugged, her finger tracing nervously along the mosaic tile pattern on the table.

“I don’t know what you’re running from or why you needed to,” Davis said gently, “but what I do know is Indigo Bay is the perfect place to hide out. You’re safe here.”

“All right,” Caroline sang loudly as she balanced two plates on a tray, “sandwiches are the best I can do this time of night. And you know there’s cobbler too so don’t be giving me those eyes, Davis.”

“Yes ma’am,” Davis said, biting his lip and dipping his head apologetically. “I should have known better.”

“I have a pair of sandals here for you . . . What’s your name?”

“Oh gosh,” Davis said, the realization hitting him like a punch in the jaw. “I never asked your name.”

“Elaine,” she whispered as though she was sorry to give up the anonymity. “Thank you so much for the food and the sandals. I’ll get money sorted out in the morning and come back to pay you.”

“No need,” Caroline said, waving the idea off like it was a bothersome fly buzzing by her head. “Davis here will cover you.”

“I will?” Davis asked, furrowing his brows playfully.

“Of course you will because this is the closest thing that resembles a date that you’ve been on in over four years. That means you’ve got plenty of money saved up to spend a little on a pretty girl’s dinner.”

“Four years?” Elaine asked in a hushed voice as Caroline hurried off. “You haven’t been on a date in four years? That’s kind of sad.”

“Remind me to get you some window cleaner,” Davis said, cutting his sandwich in half. “I want to make sure you can see from your glass house when you start throwing rocks at me.”

“Noted,” Elaine said, finally cracking a smile. The dim light of the café barely lit her face, but he could see a spark. Looking past the red rims of her eyes that had been crying too long, he could see the bright ice blue sparkle he’d missed. Her features were delicate, appearing more fragile from the shadow cast from the pain. “I should be the last one judging anyone right now.”

“Are you going to eat?” he asked, gesturing with his chin at her untouched plate of food. “That chicken salad is best in the county. Five years running actually.”

She laughed, looking down at the sandwich as if it were a wild animal about to pounce. “I haven’t had this many calories on my plate since freshmen year of high school. “I almost forget what real mayonnaise tastes like.”

He pushed the plate closer to her. “Heaven,” he said, making a funny face at her. “It tastes like pure heaven.”