I hesitated, rereading the message, and then typed back.
Celine
Could have fooled me. The damn dog jumped on me and licked my face. And that was after demanding hugs and kisses from all three of my kids.
Josh
No way. I spent years training him. He never jumps on people.
Celine
Wanna bet? I’ve got a paw print on my left boob to prove it.
Celine
How’s it feel to know your dog’s getting more action than you are?
The second I hit Send, I regretted it. What the hell, Celine? I didn’t know the first thing about Josh’sactions, and it definitely wasn’t my business. And if the teacher chatter and common goddamn sense were any indication, he did not struggle in that department.
Josh
I’m man enough to admit I’m jealous. But I’m also impressed by Wayne’s game. He’s getting extra bacon today.
The bell rang, startling me, and I put my phone on silent and stashed it in my top drawer just as the screaming of far too many children echoed down the hallway.
I was annoyed by my landlord. But my body felt lighter. Something that had been happening little by little for the last several days.
Not because life was suddenly easy, but because thingswere working. The four of us were almost thriving. And that felt like a small miracle.
Chapter 9
Josh
Ifucking hated meetings.
Whether they were in glass office towers or dusty gravel parking lots. Meetings were still meetings.
I thought I’d left them behind when I walked away from my corporate job. Should have known better. Today I was wearing clean jeans and driving into town to deal with the ongoing sap supply mess.
Same nonsense, different uniform.
I should have been fixing equipment, harvesting the kale that was growing into a jungle in the garden, and finalizing payroll. Instead I was wasting precious daylight hunting for a parking spot so I could at least properly caffeinate. If I had to be miserable, at least I could be alert.
The stop at the coffee shop should have been simple. Lately, though, it never was. The tourists had begun trickling back in, and while that was wonderful for the town, it set me on edge.
So did the unfamiliar questions murmured here andthere and the much more morbid interest than what visitors had shown in the past.
Despite the town’s attempts to sweep the tragedy and all the drama that came with it under the rug, none of it was settled. Like a board that hadn’t been nailed down properly. Solid until it’s stepped on wrong.
The line at Bean There, Sipped That wasn’t terrible, and despite the strangers wandering outside, my sister’s coffee shop was filled with warmth and familiarity. Wood floor that creaked in the right places, chalkboard menus smudged from daily revisions, and the low hum of the voices of the locals. And to top it all off, the air smelled like my mother’s maple scones. Jenn kept that recipe locked in her mind like a sacred text. Not even I was privy to the details.
As I settled in to wait my turn, she shot me a wink.
The tables were packed with locals and tourists, and the walls were covered with local artwork. Mel, Jenn’s wife, was behind the counter too, adding a fresh batch of donuts to the pastry case.
Damn, they looked delicious.
But today was not a donut day. It was a black coffee and ass-kicking day.