Page 43 of The Coffee Bar on Camellia Court

Juno reached for the glass of water on her nightstand and took a slow sip, letting the cool liquid wash away the memory's bitter taste. Her phone still lay face down where she'd left it, Alex's unanswered text waiting on the other side.

Men who made promises, then broke them. Men who kept secrets. Men who left. Why was she drawn to men with darkness in their eyes?

Not that Alex would ever raise a hand to her—she knew that with bone-deep certainty. But hurt came in many forms.

Omission. Deception. Disappointment.

But Alex… well, even the messed up version of Alex that he claimed to be was nothing like her father. Alex apologized for drinking, for being a mess. He asked for help, for forgiveness, and he pursued restitution. Wasn't that why he'd, in such a bumbling, messy way, been outside her door Friday night? Coming to see her because he wanted to fix things?

Alex hadn't lied about Lena, not exactly.

But he'd committed the sin of silence. For years. He may not have known about Lena himself until she'd been five or six years old, but even the child knew she'd been a secret all this time. It was heartbreaking.

Restless, Juno plumped her pillow. She'd accused him of being a terrible father, and he'd tried to explain. Now, hours later in the quiet darkness, she attempted to recall exactly what he'd said.

I only learned about Lena three years ago.

There was more to the story. There had to be. But Juno had been too busy projecting her own childhood wounds onto Alex's situation.

Melissa hadn't let him meet his own daughter until he'd paid up.

But that wasn't the whole picture either. She'd seen that Lena loved her mother, heard her talk about the trips they'd taken, the places they'd lived. She wasn't an obviously neglected child.

The look on Alex's face when he watched Lena talking about books she'd read. The way he'd knelt in front of her, bad ankle and all, to steady her when she was upset. The absolute adoration in his eyes.

And Alex had never gotten her letters. He'd never known how desperate she'd been. He hadn't intentionally turned his back on her when she was in so much pain.

He wasn't Leonard Thomas. He wasn't Juno's father. Alex wasn't a monster, and Juno had to admit that she'd never really it of him.

The realization settled over her like a warm blanket. Alex Frampton, for all his flaws, was trying. He might be fumbling his way through fatherhood, might have made compromises he shouldn't have, but he was there. He showed up. He clearly loved his daughter.

He might be stumbling through rebuilding a relationship with Juno, too, but he'd been the one to show up at her door, to take that first step. A step that, she hated to admit, she might never have taken in his direction.

She let out a self-deprecating snort. Didn't that, on some level, make him the better person?

Juno drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She'd promised him he didn't have to face things alone. Had she meant it? Or was that just something she'd said to make herself feel better about helping a hungover man in her apartment?

"Whatever's going on, whatever it is that's harder now—you don't have to face it alone."

Her own words echoed back to her, and she realized with startling clarity that she'd meant every syllable. And not because she expected anything in return. No one should have to face their demons alone.

Alex needed a support system and she wanted to be a part of it. She wanted to be his friend, someone he could count on to remind him of how great a guy he was, that he was worthy of good things, of people loving him and standing by him.

With that resolution, Juno felt the knot in her chest begin to loosen. She slid back down under the covers, suddenly aware of how exhausted she was. Tomorrow she'd wake up, go to church, and then wait for Alex's call. She would listen—reallylisten—to what he had to say.

No judgments. No accusations. Just one friend being there for another.

She could set aside her own feelings—the hurt, the attraction, the history—and simply be there.

It would be enough. It had to be.

20

Alex

"Ofcourse,I'mstillhere." Alex rose from the sofa and followed her, keeping his voice low to avoid waking Lena. "Where else would I be?"

Melissa rolled her eyes. "Well, now I'm here, too, so you can go."

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