she’s smart, she’s not a psycho.”
Silence.
Then, “Fine.”
“Fine,” I said, as if that was that, even though I thought I was getting the worse end of the deal. Not that Vic had any idea of why or how complicated the situation really was. But I didn’t want him worrying about me anymore, and I didn’t want him sitting around the house night after night doing nothing but watching TV.
Vic deserved a life, too.
So I went to the dance with Chance, and I watched his brother make out with Becka on the dance floor, and some part of me died inside because until that moment I hadn’t known or wanted to admit I loved just one of the brothers Murphy, and it wasn’t the one I was there with.
Chapter 13
F orget love making the world go round, it’s all about the sugar and the caffeine, baby. We had three different specialty drinks that changed every week, along with the normal coffees, and fresh-baked desserts that had arrived that morning, including rich fudge brownies with inch-thick icing, chocolate muffins, and a truly stellar apple-crumb muffin that liked to call my name.
And then…there was Meredith.
I’d been half hoping she wouldn’t come in that day. Worried that she wouldn’t. I shouldn’t have been concerned. She breezed in the way she always did, with a smile for everyone and an extra special one for me.
“What’s good today? Other than your pretty self?”
In the past I’d blown off her flirting as fake, given it back to her in a way she couldn’t construe as anything but a joke. Today I didn’t quite have it in me. “We have the peppermint mocha lattes, early this year. Back by popular demand. They’re good.”
“Sugar-free?”
“Sure.” I gestured at the menu board, though of course she’d been in dozens of times and probably could’ve recited the items on it as well as I could. “The caramel macchiato’s good, too. But we don’t have that in sugar-free—we ran out of the syrup. Sorry.”
“I’ll take a peppermint, then.” She leaned over the counter. “And come see me when it’s ready.”
My boss could be ten kinds of a cranky bitch, but today Joy was in the back placing stock orders, or maybe plotting new ways to make life miserable. I mixed up Meredith’s latte the way she liked it, adding an extra pump of syrup without charging her because I liked to do that for my favorites even when they didn’t know about it.
She’d taken her usual seat between the front window and the self-serve coffee station, and she was staring out the glass when I put the cup down in front of her. Her smile took a few seconds to follow her eyes. She wrapped her hands around the cup with a sigh. “Mmmm.”
“Taste it. Make sure it’s okay.”
“I’m sure it’s great.” She sipped anyway, saying “mmmm” again, this time with a low, breathy sound, almost like a moan.
I paused in refilling the napkin canister to look at her. The Morningstar Mocha had emptied, though the evening rush meant that would change soon enough. Meredith made eyes at me over the rim of her mug.
“Sit down with me, Tesla.”
I gave a quick glance around first. I shrugged and pushed the napkin holder back into place. “I can’t.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“I’m listening.” I bent to pull open the cupboard to check for more packets of sweetener. “But I have to work, too.”
“Have you thought any more about what I asked you?”
The bell over the front door jangled and Carlos came in, with a nod for me and a wink for Meredith before he slid into his favorite seat. Sometimes watching the customers in here was like overseeing an elaborate ballet—this one liked this seat and was out of it by a certain hour so another could come in. Woe to the person who overstayed his time or messed up the seating chart. Carlos preferred the table closer to the right front window, because it was near an outlet for his computer and also, strangely (so he said) didn’t pick up the internet as well. Less
Silence.
Then, “Fine.”
“Fine,” I said, as if that was that, even though I thought I was getting the worse end of the deal. Not that Vic had any idea of why or how complicated the situation really was. But I didn’t want him worrying about me anymore, and I didn’t want him sitting around the house night after night doing nothing but watching TV.
Vic deserved a life, too.
So I went to the dance with Chance, and I watched his brother make out with Becka on the dance floor, and some part of me died inside because until that moment I hadn’t known or wanted to admit I loved just one of the brothers Murphy, and it wasn’t the one I was there with.
Chapter 13
F orget love making the world go round, it’s all about the sugar and the caffeine, baby. We had three different specialty drinks that changed every week, along with the normal coffees, and fresh-baked desserts that had arrived that morning, including rich fudge brownies with inch-thick icing, chocolate muffins, and a truly stellar apple-crumb muffin that liked to call my name.
And then…there was Meredith.
I’d been half hoping she wouldn’t come in that day. Worried that she wouldn’t. I shouldn’t have been concerned. She breezed in the way she always did, with a smile for everyone and an extra special one for me.
“What’s good today? Other than your pretty self?”
In the past I’d blown off her flirting as fake, given it back to her in a way she couldn’t construe as anything but a joke. Today I didn’t quite have it in me. “We have the peppermint mocha lattes, early this year. Back by popular demand. They’re good.”
“Sugar-free?”
“Sure.” I gestured at the menu board, though of course she’d been in dozens of times and probably could’ve recited the items on it as well as I could. “The caramel macchiato’s good, too. But we don’t have that in sugar-free—we ran out of the syrup. Sorry.”
“I’ll take a peppermint, then.” She leaned over the counter. “And come see me when it’s ready.”
My boss could be ten kinds of a cranky bitch, but today Joy was in the back placing stock orders, or maybe plotting new ways to make life miserable. I mixed up Meredith’s latte the way she liked it, adding an extra pump of syrup without charging her because I liked to do that for my favorites even when they didn’t know about it.
She’d taken her usual seat between the front window and the self-serve coffee station, and she was staring out the glass when I put the cup down in front of her. Her smile took a few seconds to follow her eyes. She wrapped her hands around the cup with a sigh. “Mmmm.”
“Taste it. Make sure it’s okay.”
“I’m sure it’s great.” She sipped anyway, saying “mmmm” again, this time with a low, breathy sound, almost like a moan.
I paused in refilling the napkin canister to look at her. The Morningstar Mocha had emptied, though the evening rush meant that would change soon enough. Meredith made eyes at me over the rim of her mug.
“Sit down with me, Tesla.”
I gave a quick glance around first. I shrugged and pushed the napkin holder back into place. “I can’t.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“I’m listening.” I bent to pull open the cupboard to check for more packets of sweetener. “But I have to work, too.”
“Have you thought any more about what I asked you?”
The bell over the front door jangled and Carlos came in, with a nod for me and a wink for Meredith before he slid into his favorite seat. Sometimes watching the customers in here was like overseeing an elaborate ballet—this one liked this seat and was out of it by a certain hour so another could come in. Woe to the person who overstayed his time or messed up the seating chart. Carlos preferred the table closer to the right front window, because it was near an outlet for his computer and also, strangely (so he said) didn’t pick up the internet as well. Less
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