Chapter 2
2
JOHNNY
I pull my coffee mug closer to me, letting it hover along the edge of the table before grabbing a tiny pod of cream and ripping open the top. Tipping it above the mug, I watch the white liquid drip into the steaming coffee, turning it from black to a light brown colour. The sugar comes next, three pouches ripped open and hastily dumped into the beige liquid before getting a quick stir.
The coffee burns as I gulp it down, the long day having suddenly caught up to me. My energy is gone, leaving my limbs heavy and mind lagging.
Setting the cup down once it’s empty, I catch the eye of my waitress and nod eagerly when she lifts the carafe of coffee in a silent question from behind the long red counter. I flash her a grin, hoping my appreciation is obvious. I’ve got no problem walking up and asking for more, but Kristen’s a real nice girl. Too nice to make me come to her.
“If you’re that thirsty, I can just bring you some water,” she says once she arrives back at my table. “You drink more coffee than the old men who come in before dawn.”
“I’m an old man at heart, Kristie. Don’t let my smooth skin and healthy locks convince you otherwise. ”
She laughs while refilling my mug. “Is Daisy still meeting you?”
“Yup. Late as always, though.”
With another pod of creamer and three more packets of sugar, I make my third mug of coffee the same way I have the previous two.
“How’s school treating her?”
“She’s grateful to be on her last year, that’s for sure.”
“Daisy’s never loved school much. I’ve never understood why she’d want to go into teaching.”
Kristen is one of my twin sister’s oldest friends, which means she knows her pretty damn well. Knows the both of us well. You’d have to to confidently draw that conclusion about Daisy. She hated school when we were growing up, but once she went off to university, she learned how to love it in her own way. That doesn’t mean she isn’t about ready to graduate.
“She says learning and teaching are two entirely different things,” I say.
“Do you believe her?”
“I have to. If she didn’t love it, she wouldn’t be doing it. You know that. Plus, Daisy’s always loved kids.”
Kristen nods, her thick blonde curls bobbing with the action before she tucks them behind her ears and glances at the diner door. Her parents own the joint now, but years ago, it belonged to her grandparents. Just like every other business in Cherry Peak, Rustic Ridge has been handed down from generation to generation since long before Kristen, Daisy, and I were born.
“Fair enough,” she agrees.
One of the perks of a window table is being able to see out on the street, and the moment I get a view of my sister rushing down the sidewalk toward the door, I’m grinning like a fool.
Bells chime, and then Daisy’s rushing to the table. Her cheeks are pink and decked out in light brown freckles that have popped from long summer days in the sun. We’ve both always had terrible freckles in the summer, but they fit her better than they do me. Mine are chunky and spread oddly, mainly centred on and around my nose, while hers are thin and scattered evenly.
Her deep cherry-red-coloured hair, which in the evening looks almost black, and blue eyes that border on grey make us look eerily similar. But luckily, I’m far taller than her. I’ll continue to poke fun at her for it until the day I croak.
Our moms are utter saints for putting up with our shit for the past twenty-two years. Not to mention our other two sisters on top of just us.
“I fucking missed you,” I say as I stand and tug my sister into a tight hug.
She returns the hug just as eagerly, even as she tells me, “I’ve only been gone two weeks.”
“Is that supposed to matter? It’s been four years of you being gone all damn year, and it ain’t any easier to let you go.”
“I’m only three hours away. You could come see me more often,” she scolds, stepping out of the hug, brow already arched as she stares up at me.
“Yeah, yeah. Sit and tell me how you’ve been. Did you just get back?”
Daisy ignores me as I sit back into my booth and turns to her friend instead. “Hey, Kiki.”
“Hi, Didi.”
Their hug is quick but just as warm as ours was. This might be the fourth year that Daisy’s gone up to Calgary for school, but she’s not someone you can just let go of, especially not with the bond we have. It should be a crime for twins to be separated so often.
Once they’ve broken apart, Kristen moves to take the order of the man sitting behind me while Daisy slides into the booth across from mine and reaches for my coffee. Daisy drinks from the opposite side of my mug before setting it back down. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she shivers .
“You’re still drinking sugar instead of coffee,” she states before I glance down at the mug, finding it empty.
“And you’re still stealing it, knowing that it’ll be ungodly sweet.”
“Bad habit.”
I meet her eyes across the table, a heady sense of calm filling me. “It’s nice to see you.”
“You too, Jonathon,” she replies with a smirk.
My grin flips into a scowl. “Don’t make me take it back.”
She leans back against the booth and crosses her arms. It’s only been two weeks since she left Cherry Peak to get set back up in her Calgary apartment, but the bags beneath her eyes are already back. The fall semester starts sooner than I’d like, and I worry like crazy about her being over there all on her own. Growing up in a house full of only women has turned me into a bit of a protective beast. I’m not ashamed of it, but I know it drives my sisters nuts.
“Tell me what I’ve missed in CP. Any news on your lady love?” she asks bluntly.
Kristen comes to our table and slides a tall glass of orange juice in front of my sister, along with two plates of pancakes, eggs, and hash browns, before ruffling Daisy’s hair and leaving again. I reach for the strawberry syrup while she grabs the blueberry kind beside it.
“No news. She’s still avoiding me,” I say.
“Do you want me to pretend to be shocked?”
“Not at all. I do expect you to show me some sympathy, though. Maybe.”
She drowns her stack of pancakes in deep purple syrup before glancing up at me, disbelief heavy in her gaze. “Sympathy? As if. I think a part of you loves having to chase after her for attention. Personally, I think it’s good for you.”
“You think it’s good for me to have to pant after a woman like a dog?”
Shrugging a shoulder, she answers, “You’re too used to getting your own way all the time. Aurora is putting you through the wringer, and personally, yes, I think it’s highly entertaining. But also, you need to struggle a bit from time to time. It builds character, you know?”
I choke on a startled laugh. “I have plenty of character already.”
“Clearly not. Maybe she thinks you’re boring.”
“Me? Come on, Daisy. We both know my being boring is not the issue here.”
She slices into her pancakes with her knife and fork before stabbing a piece and lifting it to her mouth, hovering it there. “Alright. Well, she could just not be into you like that.”
I’m shaking my head instantly. “Nah, that’s not it either.”
Chewing her bite of pancake, she lifts a brow.
“You weren’t there that night in Peakside. If you were, you would know that physical attraction isn’t the issue.”
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that night since. Four weeks is a long time to dwell on one single memory, but it’s all I have. Not for lack of trying, but because Aurora has avoided me like the plague since she slipped herself out of my arms and hightailed it out of the bar without looking back.
Maybe she’s forgotten all about it, but fuck, I haven’t. And I plan on reminding her as soon as the time is right. I recognized something there between us. Something incredible. A spark that I haven’t felt a single time in my life before then. Not with anyone.
I’m not going to let it go without at least speaking to her again.
Unfortunately, it’s a bit hard to speak with her when she makes an obvious effort to be everywhere but where I am. I’m one more Saturday night without her presence away from marching my ass down to the salon to take matters into my own hands.
Surely, I didn’t make the entire thing up. No . There was something there, and I’ll risk sounding like a complete weirdo by standing with that statement.
Daisy takes a swig of her orange juice before stabbing two pieces of pancakes with her fork. “Well, what are you going to do, then? I love you to death, but I can only take hearing the same story so many times before I want to slam my head into a wall.”
“I don’t talk about it that often. You asked me about her today,” I say accusingly.
“Yeah, that’s true. I did. I’m just not used to seeing you so knotted up. You’re supposed to be the calm, easygoing one of us. I’m too stressed to pick up your slack.”
I narrow my eyes, focusing on her mention of stress. “Is something going on? Outside of the usual?”
“No, you overbearing baboon. I’m just saying. If you need advice, I can give you some, but I don’t have a lot of experience with stalker-like men.”
I scoff, scooping a pile of pancake into my mouth while flashing her my middle finger. Once I’ve swallowed my mouthful, I say, “You’re a brat. I’m not a damn stalker. I don’t even know where she lives.”
She gasps, hand to her mouth. “What? Maybe not all hope is lost after all.”
“I’m going to get up and leave if you keep picking on me.”
Laughing lowly, she wipes her mouth with a napkin and settles back in the booth. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. For real, though, have you asked her friends for more info on her? Like why she took off on you and has avoided you like she’s scared you’ll give her a rash or something.”
“No. I wanted to try and figure it out on my own first.”
“And how’s that been going?”
I contemplate loading the spoon beside my plate up with syrup and flicking it at her before turning the idea down. “Yeah, I get it, smartass. ”
She cocks her head, smirking. “Your hair is getting a bit long.”
“I know.”
“So, you should get it cut.”
“Where is this conversation heading, Daisy?” I ask.
She huffs a breath, annoyed. “You said she works at the salon, right? So, go get your hair cut. She has to talk to you then. And if not, well, then I suggest you take the L sooner rather than later.”
I jerk forward in my seat, a rush of excitement shooting through me. “You’re a goddamn genius.”
“Yeah, I know.” She brushes invisible dust off her shoulder. “Now that that’s settled, can we focus on something more serious? Like the upcoming season of The Bachelorette ?”
I nod, too grateful for her help to put up a stink with this. “You got the list of contestants to share?”
She rolls her eyes and pulls her phone out of her pocket while I dig into my eggs. The next several minutes are spent scrolling through the men up next in our favourite reality show before I snake the bill and settle it. Daisy thanks me with a kiss to my cheek, and by the time I walk her to her car and make her promise to drive safe back to our mom’s house, I’m wondering how hard it’ll be to convince Anna to sneak me an appointment at Thistle and Thorn tomorrow.