Page 52 of Coffee Shop Girl
But why had he left so quickly?
Professional boundaries, probably. At leasthehad some. Clearly, I didn’t. We maintained careful distance over the following days. The work continued, and so did the tingling in the pit of my stomach every time he said my name. But I kept a careful amount of space between us. Distance was the only safety.
Because the last thing I needed was to get used to his touch. Work aside, Maverick kept himself a mystery. Would he leave once he fixed up his grandfather’s house? If he did, where would he go? Was this his career, or was there more?
And who the crap was Mallory?
When I wasn’t stewing over my unfortunate crush on the Viking, my thoughts alternated between Dad and the coffee shop. Sometimes, I could think of Dad and laugh. Sometimes, I felt nothing. When I did feel my grief, it crashed like a wave. All-encompassing. Terrifying. As if itwantedto drown me.
The low rumble of Maverick in my office filled the background, far easier on the ears than any radio. It had a soothing effect on the whole shop. I found myself excited to see him in the mornings. Eager to hear him start a call so I could turn down the radio and just hearhim.
“Mama loved pepperoni, especially with stuffed crust.”
Lizbeth stared at the pizza I’d picked up for lunch from Carlotta’s, a wistful expression on her face. Ellie looked up, her gaze haunted. I leaned back against the counter.
“I know. She imparted that love to me.”
“Me too.”
Lizbeth locked eyes with me for a second, then turned back to her pizza. Ellie stayed glued to Lizbeth’s other side, chewing.
Grateful tonotbe cataloguing ways to troubleshoot the cash register if credit card charges didn’t go through, I snagged a second slice. People fail, but pepperoni and melted cheese do not.
“Do you remember”—I tore off another bite—“when Mama took us swimming in that pond not far from your house? I was fourteen, so you would have been seven.”
A smile appeared on Lizbeth’s lips. “You had leeches stuck to your legs,” she said. “Ellie thought it was really cool, so she kept pulling them off, and you were yelling at her to quit. Mama couldn’t stop laughing.”
Despite the vivid memory of those suckers on my leg, I giggled. Tears had run down Mama’s cheeks from laughing so hard.
“You were only two, Ellie, so you may not remember,” said Lizbeth.
Ellie frowned.
“Mama was never afraid of bugs,” I said. “She would kill any spider, cockroach, whatever.”
“She set them free sometimes,” Lizbeth said. “I think she vented her inner wild child through Ellie. Mama is the reason Ellie loves being outside so much.”
For a moment, Ellie melted into an eleven-year-old puddle. Her bright eyes darkened, and her expression fell. Mama had been everything to Ellie. Lizbeth had always had friends and books and dreams and other things to focus on. But Ellie?
Her whole world had been Mama. Mama and the woods.
Ellie straightened, cocked her head, and scuttled behind the counter. She slipped into the dim pantry without a word. She’d made a sort of bed out of massive bags of coffee beans back there that couldn’t be comfortable, but she seemed happy with it. Lizbeth and I ignored her erratic behavior. It had grown to feel so normal that I didn’t really notice anymore.
My thoughts swirled on Mama and Ellie for a moment before a jangle at the door caught my attention. I glanced up as Millie Blaine walked into the coffee shop, her blonde hair billowing in curls around her shoulders. The unmistakable scent of hairspray followed her in.
“Please tell me you haveallthe caffeine,” she said.
“For you, I haveallthe caffeine.”
Millie replied with a gleaming-white smile.
Devin trailed in, grinning shyly at me. I brightened. Ellie had been spying on him since the girls arrived ten days ago. Maybe this would be my chance to get rid of that nasty old blanket. Then again, there was no forcing Ellie into anything she wasn’t ready for. If she wanted to meet him, she’d probably just introduce herself.
A head of dark hair poked out from the pantry right then, as if she could sense his presence.
“Get me my usual,” Millie said, “but this time as large as you can. I have eight cuts and a highlight today, so it’s going to be nonstop.”
“I’m on it. Hey, Dev. How are you?”
