Page 33 of You Had Me at Merlot

“Well, you’re cooler than me. I never did,” Jamie said.

The stall opened, and the friend approached. She took the sink next to Jamie’s and turned on the water. “I never did either, I wasmore—” The comment died. Jamie froze mid-hand drying. The paper towel had gone still in her hands. Her brain took a minute to understand that her eyes were locked in the mirror with Leighton Morrow’s. A multitude of emotions charged her way and walloped her. Placed on momentary pause was her ability to speak. She’d imagined for years what she would say to Leighton if they ever ran into each other again. Here was her moment, and her words were gone.

“Leighton, everything okay?” Leighton’s friend asked from a few feet away.

“Yeah. Um, yes. All good.” A pause. Leighton clearly didn’t know what to do or say either. She looked like a teacher caught smoking in her car.

“Hi,” Jamie said evenly. She was nothing if not a cordial person and would remain that way, no matter the company.

“Hi,” Leighton said. “It’s been a really long time.”

“Right?” Another conservative smile. Just two people who were friendly for five minutes in a restroom. No big deal. They’d get back to their lives in a moment. Was Leighton even more beautiful now? Her hair was slightly longer and her brown eyes still big and expressive. That was certainly annoying. Dishonest people shouldn’t be rewarded. “Take care.” She backed away.

“Jamie.”

“Yeah?” She paused. So breezy.

“I don’t know.” She seemed to be stumbling just as much as Jamie. “I honestly don’t know. Just…how are you?”

For whatever reason, that comment kicked her into gear, and she advanced again.

“Great, actually.” She flashed a victorious smile. “The bar had a record year financially. I’m working fewer hours and enjoying every minute. I have an awesome girlfriend about twenty yards from here, too.”

Leighton relaxed and nodded. “I’m really happy to hear that.”

“Well, good. But it doesn’t erase the fact that you tried to put my business out on the street.” She offered a laugh as if remembering the good ole days. Okay, it was maybe unnecessary to go there. No need to be petty. A polite exit would suffice.

Leighton held total composure. Damn her. “It wasn’t quite like that, but I’m glad the bar was able to keep its location.”

The reality was that Leighton’s efforts on behalf of Carrington’s hadn’t paid off in the end. The deal had fallen through, and the Chelsea store never did come to be. Carrington’s found themselves caught in a great deal of red tape when it came to the preservation of landmark buildings and what could and could not be done to their exteriors. Apparently, vanity was a hidden agenda item in their mission statement. Jamie had celebrated when the news came through with a free glass of wine for anyone who’d stopped by that evening, putting out aWe’re Stayingnotice all over social media.

“Well,” Jamie said, “everything worked out the way it was supposed to in the end. Enjoy your night.”

“You, too.” Leighton remained right where she stood, a faraway look in her eyes.

On her way out, Jamie nodded and sent a polite smile to Leighton’s friend, whose gaze bounced between them in utter confusion. No reason the friend had to be caught up in this. “Maybe I’ll see you at the library.”

“Definitely,” she said and then moved straight to Leighton on a mission, surely full of questions.

Jamie hightailed it out of there, scanned the club, spotted Monique, and pretty much crowd-surfed her way back to the group, which was jumping in unison and shouting the lyrics to a song she’d never heard in her life.

“Hey, you ready to get out of here?” she asked Mo, whose face fell in response.

“Dude. Why can’t you just have fun with me? You really need to learn to play the good-time card more often, you know? Not really needing a babysitter.”

Drink four—or was it five now?—seemed to have added an aggressive streak to Mo’s personality. Jamie nodded. “So sorry. Just had a weird thing with someone I know.”

Mo frowned. “What? I can’t hear you. Tell me later.” She pointed at Jamie as she danced her way back to the jumping circle. “You’re fucking hot, though. Damn.”

Jamie nodded, understanding she was sentenced to who knew how much longer of this overly hypnotic music, while she tried not to think about the woman she’d just run into so very unexpectedly. Feelings warred and circled. Sadness, anger, grief. It had taken her so very longto move on from her confusing emotions for Leighton, only to have the dust kicked up again. She pressed her nails into the palm of her hand and took a seat on a stool at the bar, bopping her head ever so slightly to the beat in an attempt to look like everyone else.

Only a few minutes passed before she saw them, Leighton and her friend, settling a tab across the bar and heading for the exit. Lucky library people.

She didn’t want to watch. She shouldn’t have, but Jamie couldn’t drag her eyes away from Leighton as she moved—no,glided—through the crowded room. No one bumped into her. No one danced in her path. They simply moved out of her way as if ordained. Apparently, nothing had changed. Yep, Leighton had presence for days and owned whatever room she walked into. Several heads swiveled in Leighton’s direction as she passed, only confirming Jamie’s last thought.

“Yeah, I’d be careful there if I were you,” she murmured to the rest of the people in the club.

She turned back to Mo, hergirlfriendand the only one deserving of her attention. She was attempting to dance with a cocktail over her head and spilled a little on the guy next to her who turned around with an irate look on his face before moving away to safety. Jamie sighed because never had their differences been more on display. Was she noticing this even more because memories of the Leighton she once knew were swirling and swooping? What was the cosmos trying to tell her tonight? Was Venus lurking?

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