Page 30 of Of Literature and Lattes
“Trust me,” Lexi whispered to her.
“Sure... Give me five? I’m a little shorthanded. My assistant isn’t here.” Jeremy headed toward the counters.
Lexi tilted her head to the paintings. “You’ve never seen your mom’s work before, have you?”
Alyssa fixed her eyes on Lexi, the one friend who knew everything—every harsh word spoken, every standoff, every angry, bitter thought, and every angst-filled longing. “Have you?”
Lexi nodded. “Only in here and at the bookshop. She did a series of book cover paintings they sold with a really cool book talk a few weeks ago. And there are the letters now circling the shop’s crown molding. Her work’s amazing, Alyssa, and I should tell you something else. She’s different. I see it in her face; I hear it in comments at the restaurant—it’s amazing how people gossip; and it’s so obvious in her art. Just... Just be careful.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Lexi shrugged. “As much as you used to say she didn’t see you, you never really saw her either. You might attack and later wish you hadn’t.”
Alyssa narrowed her eyes at Lexi, who tapped the table between them. Her lavender nails made tiny bullet-like clicks on the wood surface.
“Don’t give me that look. When you blew out of Chicago, I helped pack your bags. I’ve always stood by you, but don’t ask me to forget what she did for me or lie about what I see now. In a lot of ways, your mom was my mom. It’s not the same, I get that, but you know what my house was like, and your mom was always there for me... And things are different with her. Don’t ask me how or why, because I don’t know. She steers clear of me. I used to think it was because she was mad at all of us after your dad left, but I don’t think that anymore. I think she was ashamed and scared, and maybe she’d been that way for a really long time.” She held up her hand to Alyssa. “Don’t scoff; I’m serious. Just keep an open mind, okay?”
“Dad won’t let me stay with him. Refused right as I walked in the door. I’m living with her.”
“That’s why you won’t ask him for money.” Lexi laughed. “There had to be a reason, because I know he’d do anything for you.”
“Now you have it.”
“And your mom?”
Alyssa glanced to the door. “I just saw her studio in the back of the bookshop.”
“And?”
Alyssa shot forward. “When Dad described Mom’s friends, the two in the shop, I pictured three contemporaries sitting around complaining about their aching bones, the dissolution of their marriages, and the travesty of their little failing bookshop with its dusty chair in the window. Did you know Madeline is our age?”
Lexi burst out laughing. “Good to know you haven’t changed. At all.”
Chapter 14
Jeremy scanned the shop. He couldn’t find Brendon even though he’d been told to clear tables. He pushed through the swinging door to the office. Brendon was just coming in from the alley.
“Is Ryan back?” Jeremy asked.
Brendon looked back to the door then back to Jeremy in confusion and a little alarm. “Is he supposed to be out there? I was dumping the trash.”
“No. I just thought— Never mind.” He gestured to the front. “Come man the register for a few minutes. A customer wants to talk to me.”
“Sure thing.” Brendon offered that winning smile and followed Jeremy back through the swinging door.
“What’s up, Lexi?” Jeremy asked as he reached the table and dropped into the chair Lexi had moved over minutes before.
Lexi sat, arms crossed, like she was about to mastermind some great coup, but Alyssa looked as uncomfortable as he felt. Lexi could be a bulldozer, but she had been the first one to welcome him to town, and for that he’d be forever grateful.
The first day he unlocked the store, with no buzz and no fanfare under the red poppy hand-printed Daily Brew sign, she had walked in aloft four-inch heels with her wavy auburn hair and stretched out her hand.
“I’m Lexi Strahan.” Bracelets jangled at her wrist. “I’m your welcoming committee.” She looked around the store. “I see you haven’t changed anything.”
Jeremy shuddered. “I will. As soon as I figure out my plans I’m overhauling the whole space, but right now I’m just trying to keep my head from spinning off. I found out last night that the previous owner didn’t tell anyone she was selling. I feel like I’m the thief arriving in the middle of the night.”
Lexi had laughed. “Leave it to Mrs. Pavlis to sneak out the alley door. She probably thought it was the only way we wouldn’t chain her to the coffee machine. She’s pretty beloved around here.”
“You know her?”
