Page 26 of Under an Endless Moon

“You brat. I thought I was going to have to deal with a disgruntled customer at six-thirty in the morning. On a Sunday, mind you.” She kept her voice low so the few tables already in the restaurant wouldn’t overhear, her brown ponytail swishing around her shoulders as she shook her head at my antics.

Sienna had moved to town about a month ago and had gotten a job here soon after the café had opened.

I was all about welcoming new friends.

I’d struggled with it for a long time.

Friends.

Being confident enough to open myself up to new people.

Terrified of trusting.

A pang of grief nearly consumed me when I thought of what I’d lost. How closed off I’d been after I’d lost the first true friend I’d ever had. The one person I could confide in. Dream with and laugh with.

It’d all started when I’d taken a leap when Charleigh had come to town and had moved into the apartment above Moonflower. There’d been something about her that had made me do everything in my power to befriend her. It was the best thing I’d ever done, and now that I’d started, I didn’t intend on stopping.

“I’m sorry,” I said around my laughter.

“You are not.” Sienna gave me a death glare that was completely faked.

I shrugged. “I couldn’t help myself. You were ripe for the picking.”

“And here I thought you were one of the nice ones, and it turns out you are just plain mean.” She went back to prepping the gourmet coffee she’d been making, her voice light with the jest.

“What do you expect when I hang out with my brother and his friends all the time? Giving someone shit is our love language.”

“Aww, you love me?” Touching her chest, she set the cup on the counter so the server could pick it up.

“Of course, I do. Just like you love me. Adore me. Can’t live without me.”

I let my voice get more outrageous with each word that fell from my mouth.

“I told you that I was the best around and you absolutely had to be friends with me, didn’t I?” I laid it on thick.

“Only about thirteen times,” she deadpanned.

I laughed before I asked, “Speaking of, when are we hanging out next?”

We’d met a couple times, once to get coffee and another to grab a cocktail. She’s been super nice, and it was fun. She wasn’t afraid of getting giggly and goofy with me. It wasn’t like she was going to replacemy Charleigh or anything. No one could slide into the spot reserved for my best friend who’d basically become my sister, but it was cool to have someone else to hang out with since Charleigh spent so much of her time with River and Nolan now.

I moved to the nook at the end of the counter where the owner, Neena, asked me to leave the flowers each day.

“Whenever it is, let’s make it soon. This girl needs a little bit of fun,” Sienna said.

“Then you’ve come to the right place,” I told her with a shimmy of my shoulders. Then my eyes went wide when the awesome idea occurred to me. “You should totally come to Otto’s birthday party in two weeks. It’s going to be at Kane’s, and everyone will be there. I’ve been wanting you to meet my family and friends.”

Excitement toppled around in my stomach. It was going to be a big bash. Dancing and drinking and celebrating the man who’d come to mean the most to me. Even our friends from Redemption Hills were going to be there.

Her expression turned conspiratorial. “If that means Theo is going to be there, then you can count me in.”

Theo had apparently come in one morning to have breakfast. She hadn’t stopped talking about him since.

“He’ll absolutely be there, but you probably shouldn’t count that as a bonus. That boy will chew you up and he won’t bother to spit you out…he’ll just swallow you whole,” I warned her, only half joking.

Because Theo would.

He totally would.

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