Page 61 of Of Literature and Lattes
He felt his face flush. He couldn’t believe he’d said that, but he also felt, after today, honesty was required—anywhere, everywhere, and especially now.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there today. I meant to be.”
“I’d say you were busy with more important things... Tell me more.”
Alyssa watched him and took a sip of tea without taking her eyes from him. “Honestly, my head’s about to explode. I’d rather hear about your day, if that’s okay.”
“It was a disaster... Can we go back farther?”
Alyssa nodded.
Jeremy took a slow breath and felt peace with the exhale. “I mentioned it last night, but it’s about today too... Remember how I said my parents died?”
Alyssa nodded again but said nothing. Her silent attention gave him the permission and the courage to continue. “They were killed in my dad’s boss’s prop plane when I was ten. My dad had an older sister, but I’d never met her, and when asked, she didn’t want me... Anyway, I got to eighteen by being passed around a few foster homes—two good, one great. Not so bad really. But I never remembered anything about my parents until today.”
Alyssa’s head tilted in question.
“Nothing. It was like there was a line I couldn’t cross no matter how hard I pushed... Until today.” He circled his hands around the warm mug, drawing comfort from it. “I messed up today. It was a disaster all the way around. Then this evening I took Becca to the park and all these memories came flooding back. My mom had hair a little darker than yours.” He gestured to Alyssa’s hair. “She wore it long too. My dad...” He grinned. “He was tall.”
Alyssa smiled. “I can imagine.”
“I broke my wrist when I was probably five jumping off the swings. That came back today too... And my mom...” Jeremy felt his eyes burn, but he didn’t care. “She carried me to the car. I even remember thinking I was way too cool for that, but secretly loving it at the same time. I did that to Becca tonight, carried her, and she acted just like I had. It was amazing. And my mom stayed with me until I fell asleep that night. Oddly, that came back too.”
“Moms are important.” Alyssa pushed out a small, sad, almost derisive laugh. “I’m only just now figuring that one out.”
“I need to stop fighting Krista about the move, don’t I?”
“What?” Alyssa refocused. “How’d you get there?” She looked toward the hallway as if imagining Becca sleeping in the room beyond. “Don’t discount dads, Jeremy. You moved for her, opened Andante to be near her.”
“Andante will close.”
Alyssa inched closer to him. Her knees, feet tucked under her, nestled across his lap. “What else happened today?”
“The police came for Brendon today. Arrested him right in the shop. Then arrested me.”
Alyssa stiffened.
“I’m not getting charged with anything. They just had questions, but in my panic I gather I was less than compliant at first. Customers filmed it all. Ryan said we were on Instagram before I even got loaded into the squad car. Heck, I’m sure the longer videos are on YouTube... Anyway, Brendon’s been selling drugs out the alley door, and he stole that five grand we’ve been searching for.” He paused. “But all that was after I practically accused Ryan of being a thief. So he’s gone now too.”
“Oh...” Alyssa gasped. “That’s my fault. I’m so sorry.”
“How is that your fault?” He rested his mug on her knee.
“Your credit card reader. That’s it... You never ‘lost’ the money.” Alyssa ticked her fingers into the air. “You had three accounts, set up either before or when you first bought the shop, but a fourth came online earlier this month and only received payments during your really high-traffic times. I didn’t see it until yesterday... I didn’t put it together fast enough. We spent all that time searching for an answer that was right there. Brendon set up the final account.”
Jeremy sighed. “It still wasn’t your fault. You mentioned four, and I didn’t even know that was one too many. And even if you’d told me, I had my own running story line and could’ve landed right where I did. Ryan was furious—no, he felt betrayed, and he quit. I can’t blame him.”
“Don’t give up, though. Please. It may all turn out in the end. Andante is a special place. You need it. Heck, Winsome needs it.”
“I love that you said that.” He smiled softly and toyed with her fingers now resting on his knee. Somehow batting that line between them had become, in so short a time, something incredibly special to him. “I lied to Krista tonight. I told her everything was smoothing out and I could take some time off to be with Becca over the next couple days.”
“You can’t?”
“No, that’s just it, I can. I can because I’m not reopening the shop... It’s over.”
Chapter 27
Seth pushed at Andante’s front door. It was locked. He cupped his hands against the window to peer in and saw Jeremy striding toward him.
