Page 38

“Yes, thank you.”

She pours.

I look at her. She sighs. “You always look like you already know what people are gonna say.”

“Usually, I do. People are very predictable.”

She studies me carefully. “Must be lonely to think that way.”

I don’t react. I cut into my eggs instead.

Ellie winces. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” I say. “Accurate observations are efficient and show intelligence.”

She preens slightly while Casper snorts. “If that was supposed to be a compliment, Ashby, it was the worst one I’ve ever heard. Where’s the romance?”

I swallow a mouthful of eggs before answering, “I’m not in the business of romance.”

“Clearly. You’re in the business of structure.”

“Structure holds things together,” I counter, forking up more food. “Or at least it gives the illusion that it can.”

I learned that young.

My father believed in future solutions. Next week, next month, next opportunity. My mother believed in numbers. What we had. What we owed. What we couldn't pretend away.

I chose her system to live by.

The bell over the café door rings.

I look up and notice attention gathering.

Lorna pauses mid motion. Ellie turns. Ruth lifts her head. Henry lowers the paper completely.

A woman is standing just inside the door, looking around uncertainly.

Something about her seems familiar, yet I don’t know her.

Shiny, shoulder-length black hair, loosely tied back from a pale, delicate face. She’s well put together; her understated, tailored clothes and expensive leather boots scream class. She’s tall, willowy, with an air of control about her, and she carries herself with the confidence of someone used to managing outcomes.

But her eyes…

Her eyes are tired.

She scans the room once.

“Laurel,” Ruth says with a smile. “Good to see you again.”

Lorna moves around the counter eagerly. “Well, I’ll be. Look at you. Ruth said you were back in town.”

Laurel gives a small, controlled smile. “Hi, Lorna. Hi, Ruth. Good to see you again too.”

“You’re too thin,” Lorna says immediately, looking her up and down.

Laurel blinks once as if wondering how to react to this personal critique.

I almost smile. It must be quite an adjustment for her being back in Redwood Run where people don’t pull punches.