Page 39 of And I Love Her

“Her college friend Barbara lives in New Jersey, and they haven’t seen each other in ages. They could go out on the town, have some fun. Mom hasn’t taken a trip out of the Bay Area since…”

Her voice trailed off.Since before Dad died.

Callie brushed crumbs off the counter and tossed them in the trash. She knew intellectually that her mother could take care of herself, and that she’d likely enjoy a trip to New York, but unreasonable fear burned low in her gut.

“We can do the high-tea thing when she gets back.” Rory patted Callie’s shoulder and turned to take a white box from beneath the counter. “Or we can find a place for her and Barb to have one in New York. Aria and I are going to plan for all the highlights—Broadway, the museums, the Grand Central Oyster Bar, the Met. Give them a girls’ weekend to remember. Are you okay with that?”

“Sure.” Callie sounded unconvinced, even to herself.

“I’ll write up a tentative itinerary.” Rory licked her finger and picked up cookie crumbs from her T-shirt.

A reluctant smile rose to Callie’s lips. She envied Rory a bit. Her younger sister had always marched to the beat of her own drummer, and she had an inner core of steel that had helped her through ten years of highs and lows in the technology industry.

Rory had quietly excelled in all her STEM classes and was offered a full-time job before she’d graduated from college, but she’d also had to contend with the rampant sexism of the field. In many of the companies she’d worked for over the years, there had been an unspoken expectation that as an attractive female software engineer, she needed to work twice as hard and prove herself over and over. She’d also had to fight countless derogatory remarks and propositions, but she’d never wavered in her commitment to her work.

After their father died, Rory showed up in Bliss Cove one day and said she’d left a job recently and was back to help out. Mired in dealing with their father’s estate, their mother’s grief, and her antagonism with Aria, Callie had never been more grateful for Rory’s steady, level-headed presence.

She’d relied on Rory even more after Aria had gone off to Colorado. And while Callie knew that Rory would move away again—she was far too smart and talented to be working at Sugar Joy and taking contract work—she was in no hurry for her sister to leave.

Even if Rory was messing with their mother’s birthday plans.

“Speaking of trips…” Rory tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, her voice brightening. “We were thinking you could use one yourself. Why don’t you take some time off, head up to Seattle or even San Francisco for a week or two?”

Suspicion lanced through her. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

“It’d just be nice for you to get away, give Mom some space. Maybe you need a reminder that there’s still a world out there.”

“When was the last time you looked up from your computer and saw it for yourself, geek girl?” With agotchasmirk, Callie turned her attention to a tall, broad-shouldered man wearing a Metalworks Hardware T-shirt who approached the counter. “Hi, Joe.”

“Callie. Rory.” Nodding at each of them in turn, he dug into his jeans pocket for his wallet. “I’ll have the usual. Plus a croissant.”

Rory and Callie exchanged glances. When had Joe ever ordered anything except a bran muffin and a black coffee?

“You mean, your usual whole-wheat bran muffin plus acroissant?” Rory shook her head, as if she hadn’t heard that right.

“Yeah.” Joe squinted at the bakery display. “Why don’t you give me one of those cherry danishes too?”

“Wow.” Rory bent to take the pastries from the baskets as Callie rang up the order. “You’re really mixing it up today, Joe.”

“It’s not all for me.” Methodically, he counted out the exact change.

Rory nudged Callie’s leg under the counter. Callie shot her sister a“leave it alone”glare, even though she, too, was dying to know if Joe was purchasing the extra pastries for Destiny. The Moonbeams shop owner considered herself in charge of divining everyone else’s love lives, but she didn’t seem to have gotten an accurate reading on her own. Her longstanding crush on Joe had yet to come to fruition. Maybe Sugar Joy pastries would light a spark.

“Have a good day, Joe.” Callie put the money in the register and poured the coffee.

“Enjoy the croissant and danish,” Rory added. “Or, you know, tell someone else to enjoy them. Or enjoy them together. Or—”

Callie pinched her sister’s arm to shut her up. Joe gave them a nod of thanks and headed out.

“Did Mom say anything about the plumber?” Callie turned her attention to her phone.

Rory blew her breath upward, stirring her dark bangs. “Unless she’s dating him, I neither know nor care.”

“What do you mean,dating him?”

“Oh god, you are such a freak.” Rory rolled her eyes and strode past her to the cold case. “What about the plumber?”

“He was supposed to fix her leaky faucet.” Callie swiped the screen, her heart jumping at the sight of a text from Jake.

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