“We both know he’d follow Autumn anywhere.”
“Didn’t know sh
e was running.”
“Neither did I,” Judd grumbled. But at least she was being smart about it. No outright sprinting. And honestly, Autumn was never reckless with her health. She just seemed to worry about it a lot less than he did.
“Not sure you can call what they’re doing running,” Mitch observed as they disappeared from view.
Judd turned to make his way to the opposite corner, across from Sweet Magnolias Bakery, aware of Mitch falling into step beside him.
“Man, you look like warmed over death this morning.”
“Thanks for that. Coffee hasn’t kicked in.” He drained it on the walk, feeling a rush of gratitude that Autumn had thought of it. With all his herding of people this morning, there hadn’t been time to go by The Daily Grind himself.
“You gonna make it to poker night next week, now you’re finally off nights?”
“That’s the plan. But I’ve gotta work on digging myself out of the dog house with Mary Alice. I’ve been working my ass off and neglecting her lately.” Longer than lately, if he was honest with himself.
“Man, buy her something shiny. Never met a woman who couldn’t be appeased with jewelry and flowers.”
“Jewelry’s never been my style.”
“Even better,” Mitch declared, thumping him on the back. “She won’t expect it and it’ll be a surprise.”
“You sure?” Judd asked. Didn’t gifts of jewelry come with certain expectations?
“Absolutely. Go by Sanderson’s and ask Rosanna about the doghouse special. She’s got a good selection of options.”
Judd spared Mitch a glance. “You sound like you have a lot of experience with this.”
“Well, I’m still friends with all my exes.”
There.
Autumn came into view, moving with the same unhurried jog she’d had at the start. Boudreaux trotted obediently beside her, periodically looking up at her in complete adoration. Her cheeks were flushed from exertion, but not alarmingly so. She was okay, exactly as she’d said she’d be. The tension in his muscles drained out, and Judd could practically hear her in his head, See there, Grandpa.
Turning back to Mitch, he said, “But they’re exes.”
“Only because I got out before any of them got too serious. Talk to Rosanna. She won’t steer you wrong.”
What the hell? It couldn’t hurt.
“We need a plan of attack.”
Autumn looked with affectionate forbearance across the table at her best friend. “It’s shopping for birthday presents, Judd, not a war.”
“Same difference. There are people.” His sharp blue eyes narrowed on the word.
She smiled into her coffee. “You’re just grumpy because you haven’t recovered from FountainFest and all those extra shifts you’ve been pulling.”
“Hell yes. Ergo, I want to get through this whole process as quickly as possible.” He inhaled a quarter of his tall stack of pancakes in about three bites, as if to prove the point.
“We could have done this sooner if you weren’t working all the time,” she chided.
“Couldn’t be helped. Chief Curry’s been leaning on me pretty heavy lately.”
“Which is exactly what you wanted.”