Page 121 of Fragile Heart

The same barista brings me a mug a few minutes later rather than call my name.

“Here,” she says. She sets a plate beside the mug, full of three different pastries. “On the house.”

Tears well in my eyes as I glance up at her. She offers another smile, this one more vulnerable than the last. As she turns back to the counter, the lights above us catch on a silver scar just behind her ear, right where my tattoo is.

My breath catches. She pauses, glancing over her shoulder, and I drop my gaze.

Damn, I’m a mess.

I eat one of the muffins even though I’m not particularly hungry. When I go to wipe off my hands to keep them from messing up the embroidery, I find a small note written in the corner of the napkin.

Even the darkest nights end. It’ll be okay.

I let my eyes flutter closed and focus on my breathing. Goddamnit, I will not cry. Not yet. After a count to thirty, I grab the flowers and start on them again. I lose track of time, my mind finally quieting.

A small voice has me practically jumping out of my skin.

“‘Cuse me,” a boy says. “Can I have this chair?”

“Go for it,” I say without glancing up.

There’s a long pause, only interrupted with the scrape of the chair’s legs on the tile floor, and then he says, “Thanks, Mommy Bri.”

My gaze snaps up, my composure thrown out the window when my eyes lock on his bright blue eyes, a kid-sized to-go cup in his hand. I glance around the cafe, but I don’t see either of his fathers anywhere. Maybe he’d come with Emily?

“You okay, Cam?” I ask.

He doesn’t seem to notice the shakiness of my voice.

Swinging his legs, he says,“Daddy said he’s grabbing something and for me to not go anywhere else. Papa promised whipped cream when he gave me this.” His tongue sticks out a bit as he works to get the lid off. His grin is huge before he cackles, licking a large piece of the whipped topping off the drink. “There’s sprinkles, too. This place is kind of cool.”

The bells jingle again, a singular set of steps throbbing like a heartbeat in my ear. The unmistakable mint scent ofhimsurrounds me, and my breath catches in my throat, a presence behind me that has my heart racing.

“Brielle,” he murmurs, and my heart skips a beat.

Chapter Fifty-Three

BRIELLE

Icling to the fabric, trying with everything I am to keep my hands from trembling. The silence stretches, long and heavy, but I refuse to break it first. Another set of steps cuts through the quiet, and then there’s cinnamon, too, mixing together until I’m half a second away from becoming a puddle on the floor.

“Here’s the snack,” Caleb says. He crouches beside Cam, setting a baked good from the cafe’s display on the table beside the drink. Camden smiles and kisses Caleb’s cheek.

“Thanks, Papa,” he says.

I force a swallow, trying to understand what’s happening. He was on a fire. Had he flown back? Why had he flown back? I chance a glance out the windows, still not looking at the man I know stands behind me. Is it better to try and run now or wait a few minutes?

I haven’t even decided what to do with the Council’s paperwork, with the process I started that’s only halfway complete.

Did they happen upon me on accident? Did Caleb force him to come? God, the last thing I want is to have a forced apology, something twisted out of him by Caleb. I’d rather he not apologize at all, not talk to me at all, than have something like that.

I’m getting ahead of myself. There’s no way to know that’s what they’re even here for. My heart races, so loud it drowns out the noises of the cafe. My eyes unerringly focus on Caleb again.

He’s dressed in a set of jeans and a shirt that says “Flying for All” in a white font, a circular logo of a vintage plane just below it. It clings to his chest and stretches over his back as he twists toward Camden and runs his hand through Cam’s blond hair.

“You all right?” he asks, and Camden nods.

He pulls the muffin from the bag and smiles before he attacks it with the ferocity of a starved hiker, giggling the entire time. It’s so endearing, I can’t help but smile just a bit. Caleb takes a deep breath and drops his hand, twisting until his gaze focuses on me.

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