Chapter 13
Jade
I shouldn’t have been here. The whole scene was a little too nostalgic, set up in the old open-air market building, with wooden kiosks lined up in rows and the vendors only spending half their time behind the counters, mostly taking their time strolling around to the other tables, shopping and gossiping.
It was a cool evening, and I hadn’t even finished setting up my table when a knock rang from the other side, and I looked up at where Alyssa stood next to Daniela, Alyssa dressed in a long coat in a soft navy blue that made her eyes pop and a fuzzy wool hat, and Daniela in the flared yellow trench coat that was basically her official spring uniform at this point.
“Howdy, stranger,” Alyssa said. “Very tempting little shop you’ve got here. I think we could go for a candle, don’t you, Daniela?”
Daniela put her hands up. “Oh, god, I don’t know, these candles look so nice, they must be worth thousands of dollars. No way we can afford them. How much are these nice candles, esteemed shopkeeper?”
I gave them both a dry smile, folding my arms on the table. “Ten thousand dollars. You had it right.”
“Jesus, Jade’s gotten cutthroat,” Daniela said. “You win the lottery lately, Alyssa?”
“I wouldn’t tell anyone if I did. But there would be signs. Namely, fancy candles.” Alyssa smiled sweetly at me. “Thanks for coming, Jade. I’m glad to have more people I know here.”
That damn smile. She had to know the kind of effect it had, had to be using the thing on purpose. But it wasn’t like I could complain. What would I say? The nerve of that woman, having a beautiful smile. I looked at Daniela. “You’re not going to let her burn a candle in your basement, are you?”
“It’s fine,” Daniela said. “I’ll take a big insurance policy. Just don’t tell anyone I’m committing insurance fraud.”
“Ha. Well, guess you’ve got to commit a little fraud if you want to afford my candles.” I reached under the table, rummaged in a box, and I pulled out a bundle wrapped up in a towel, handing it over towards Alyssa. “Here. This is the final one we settled on.”
She lit up. “Oh, did you finish?”
“What’s the gossip?” Daniela said, leaning in closer. I put a finger to my lips.
“It’s a birthday gift for Nayla. Alyssa helped weigh in on the scent.”
Alyssa unwrapped the towel to reveal the candle, with textured brown against matte peachy-pink to make it look like wood paneling, wrapped with a small gold ribbon and pressed with my seal, and I admit to indulging in the expression she made—her expression softening and lips parting in a soft oh, her eyes shining.
She really did have expressive eyes. That was one thing I was picking up about her.
People could fake their interest, but Alyssa got that look in her eyes that could never be faked.
“Oh, god, it’s beautiful,” she breathed. “Can I touch it?”
“I trust you not to rip it apart with your hands, yeah.”
Daniela beamed while Alyssa ghosted her fingertips over the surface, feeling the texture. “Nayla would love that color combo.”
“It smells perfect,” Alyssa said, holding it up to Daniela. “Is that the oak and vanilla one? It smells a little more… something.”
“You’re perceptive,” I said. “I added the tiniest touch of coffee scent.”
“Oh, wow. It really ties it together.”
She and Daniela leaned close together, admiring it and talking in low voices, both feeling the textured surface, and I found myself staring at Alyssa.
She was… feeling better, I was pretty sure.
We’d been texting almost non-stop since she’d been over at my place, and I’d been witness to her slowly picking back up since her crash-out over Sawyer’s messages.
She’d even come and joined me and Cat in the park one time when I was on break from work, and she’d put some of her new signs to use, learning a couple more from Cat while we were there together.
Shared food and drink while sitting on a big picnic blanket under the lush canopy, and she listened to us sharing Paxton Ridge stories in between telling her own stories of job-searching.
And it had been clear then that she was getting some light back into her eyes.
She wrapped the candle back up and handed it to me, and she said, “I think Nayla’s going to love it.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate your help with it.”
“I don’t think I did that much,” she laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. Daniela nudged her playfully.
“Jade’s not the type to just lavish compliments for the sake of giving them. If she says it, she means it.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Oh, because I’m a mean bitch, is that it?”
Daniela laughed, hands up. “No! It’s because you’re very discerning.”
I laughed too, and it felt like it loosened one of the hundred of knots in my chest, getting to laugh about silly things together with Daniela again.
“It’s because I’m a mean bitch,” I said, turning back to Alyssa.
“But she’s right that I’m a mean bitch, so you can in fact take it as a real compliment. ”
Her jaw dropped. “Jade! Jesus. You are not a mean bitch. You take that back.”
“Alyssa!” another voice called, and I stiffened at the sound—Charlie’s voice.
Specifically, the woman who had shut down any chance of Cat getting her way with the Birdhouse, and the one who’d been right at the forefront of spreading all the nasty stories about Cat bullying Drew.
Drew had insulated himself from the fallout, but Charlie and I had gotten into a shouting match at one point, when I’d lost my temper arguing over the situation, and I hadn’t seen her since then, which put her right at the top of my list of people I didn’t want to run into here, and here we were.
She came up to the three of us with Linda on her arm, Linda’s permanent scowl softening at the sight of Alyssa and Daniela, and at least she didn’t scowl again when she saw me there.
Charlie, on the other hand, suppressed a small flinch when she saw me, but she plastered on a fake smile and turned back to Alyssa.
“Hello, dear,” she said. “Hi, Daniela. I’m so glad you came out to the market after all, Alyssa. Have you found anything nice?”
Alyssa forced a smile, eyes flicking between me and her. She seemed concerned about me and Charlie in a way she wasn’t about me and Linda, which meant… she’d probably heard about the fight. From someone who probably wasn’t taking my side. And she’d still stuck around to talk to me?
“Hey, Charlie,” she said. “Daniela and I actually just got here. We made a beeline for Jade’s table first. But her candles are amazing, so I think they qualify!”
Charlie flashed a thin smile at me. “I’m glad to see you could make it out for this one, Jade.”
“Ah, well…”
Alyssa cut in. “I pressured her into it,” she laughed. “I wanted to get a chance to shop her candles! So you can blame me.”
Charlie gave her an odd smile. “So you two are friends, then?”
“Yeah,” Alyssa said, not missing a beat, and it made something splinter in my chest. Christ, she knew I was a social plague at this point, knew what Charlie thought of me, knew how it could risk her other friendships by being seen with me, and she still described me as a friend without hesitation.
Like it was something she was proud of. “I helped her do some candle-making the other day, and it’s such a meticulous process, such a…
labor of love. I’m glad I got to be part. ”
“Mm…” Charlie looked between the two of us before she settled back on Alyssa. “Well, I’m glad. You really do have a knack for making friends with everyone.”
“Ha. I don’t know why, if I’m being honest,” Alyssa said.
“None of that,” Daniela laughed, nudging her. “It’s because you’re charming! Of course you are, you’re my friend. I wouldn’t claim just anyone.”
“Well,” Alyssa said, standing taller. “Do you mind if I tag along, Charlie, Linda? You can show me your favorites around here? While Daniela is doing a little candle-shopping for our house?”
Linda was on it in a heartbeat. “Let’s get you a scarf from Kim.”
“Oh, we should!” Charlie said, and Alyssa beamed at me.
“I’ll see you again in a bit, I’m sure, Jade! You and Daniela don’t get up to too much trouble.”
“I assure you we’ll get up to all the trouble,” I said, watching after her as Charlie and Linda led her away through the market. Daniela followed me gaze, watching the three of them, before she spoke quietly.
“She’s a good one, isn’t she?”
“Yeah…”
She leaned against the table. “I guess it’s probably pretty obvious she did that so I could get a second to talk to you.”
My stomach tightened, fight-or-flight reflex tensing my muscles. Alyssa wouldn’t have convinced me to come to this market just to get me cornered in with Daniela telling me to suck up and apologize to everyone again, would she? “I’m listening,” I said, frostier than I needed to be.
“I just wanted to say sorry,” she said, looking down at the stone floor underneath us, dusted with little leaves and twig pieces from the plant vendors who came through earlier.
Her voice was small as she continued. “I feel like I’ve been arguing with you every time I see you, and I swear I’m not trying to, I just… ”
I stood up from the seat on my side, my hands tense on the table. “You just want me to walk everything back.”
“No. I just suck at talking about these things.” She rubbed her forehead.
“I just… miss you, is all. And you know how I am. I see a problem, I try to fix it. I know I shouldn’t.
But I see that you’re a million miles away, and I want to make it better in what seems like the simplest way.
But I don’t… really… mean it, I guess. Not like that, anyway.
I just wish we were hanging out like we used to. ”
I stared at her for the longest time, my thoughts struggling to catch up and sort out, and slowly, I sank back into my seat. “I’m not that far away,” I said quietly. “Everyone has my contact. Everyone knows where I live.”