Page 129 of American Hellhound
“Morning,” Maggie responded, smiling in turn. “Orange juice would be great.”
“Me too,” Ava said.
“Two orange juices, right up. No coffee? Cappuccino?” He asked the last of Maggie, with an expectant look. She loved their cappuccino here, and he remembered the fact well.
“No, thanks.” She didn’t tell him she was off coffee because of the baby. She was here to lay the groundwork for some things, but Stella rushing out with flour-covered hands to touch her belly and exclaim wasn’t one of them.
“I’ll be right back,” he assured, and whisked away with a swish of apron and a whiff of fresh dough.
It was a cool, overcast day, the clouds pressing low, a handful of rain drops scattered across the café’s windows. It smelled like a real downpour was coming. A shift in the weather, things about to get colder, messier, less pleasant.
Fitting, Maggie thought.
Ava flipped idly through her menu. Despite their errand, Maggie figured she was enjoying a kid-free morning to linger over breakfast in peace. Relative peace.
“When he brings the drinks?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Maggie said. “To lay the first seeds.”
Around them, patrons sipped coffee and worked on Stella’s perfect, giant muffins, scents of cinnamon, chocolate, and pumpkin rich in the air. Conversations ebbed and spiked. They would have privacy. Though, if someone overheard, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
Ghost hadn’t tasked them with this, per se, but last night, when she asked if there was anything she and the other girls could do, he’d half-jokingly said, “Yeah, you can get the city on our side.”
“Okay,” she’d said.
He’d looked at her disbelievingly, but Maggie had been, andwas, dead serious. She couldn’t put bullets in people – well, shecould, technically, though it wasn’t her first choice of task – but she could put her social training to good use on his, and the club’s, and her family’s behalf.
Ava was pretending to read her menu and took a surreptitious glance around the dining room from beneath her lashes. Barely moving her mouth, she said, “There’s a group of old ladies over there shooting us curious looks.”
Maggie had spotted them when they walked in. “Mrs. Jackson. We get our hair cut at the same salon. She knows who I’m married to.”
Ava nodded. “Does she like you?”
“She likes everyone. Total sweetheart. And a total gossip.”
“Perfect.”
The other patrons, Maggie noted, consisted of mothers with children too young to be in school yet, and a handful of college students with laptops and giant cups of coffee.
Julian returned with two glasses of OJ balanced on a tray of bagels, all of which he set on their table. The bagels, Maggie knew, were complimentary.
“Here we are,” he said. “Now, what can I get you for breakfast?”
They were already drawing casual glances just thanks to Julian’s special attention. Who were they, others were wondering, and why did Julian care about them? It was an ideal setup to her delivery, the exact reason this was her first stop of the day.
After they’d ordered, before Julian walked off, Ava said, “Hey, Mom, do you think Julian and Stella would know anything about it?” Curious tilt to her head, practiced half-frown of wonder. On some level, Maggie should have been disturbed by how well her girl was taking to this whole manipulation thing, but she figured it was a skillset she’d need since she was married to a Lean Dog.
Julian’s interest was immediately piqued. “Know about what?”
“Oh nothing,” Maggie said. “Just some rumors about a new…” she dropped her voice a notch, a stage whisper, “clubin town.” She leaned on the word and lifted her eyebrows so he’d catch her meaning.
His own brows shot up in response, worried crease sprouting between them. “Oh. Really? I haven’t heard anything.” And then, conspiratorially, “Anoutlawclub?”
Maggie noted several pairs of eyes trained their way. The city knew some things about the Lean Dogs, some of it true, most of it not. “Well, it’s just rumors,” she said, leaning toward Julian. He leaned in too; they were conspicuous at this point. “But what we’ve heard is that yes, it’s an outlaw club. They even came by Dartmoor.”
“No,” Julian gasped, scandalized.
“A whole bunch of them,” Maggie continued. “Cuts and all.”
