15. Juno
15
Juno
The afternoon lull in the coffee shop gave Juno a chance to catch her breath. She'd been running on autopilot most of the day, her thoughts drifting repeatedly to Alex's unexpected appearance on her doorstep last night and this morning's conversation with him. Fifteen years of bitterness and brokenness between them, and suddenly, here they were, planning to have dinner together so they could talk about it all. She could hardly believe it.
She was sitting at the end of the counter going over the day's transactions on her tablet when Alex came limping through the doorway. She smiled at him as he approached, and he lifted a hand in acknowledgement. The walking boot made his gait awkward, but he looked remarkably better than he had this morning—freshly shaven, his hair combed, wearing a clean blue button-down and jeans.
"Hey," he said, sliding onto a stool at the counter.
"The usual?" she asked when he started perusing the chalkboard style menu on the wall behind her. He always did this; read over the whole menu, then ordered the same thing every day.
He nodded, flashing her his grin. "Been thinking about one of your shakes all afternoon."
Alex did love her Decadent Dark Chocolate shakes. They were pretty remarkable, if she did say so herself. She made her own dark chocolate base using maple syrup instead of sugar and an extra-creamy homestyle vanilla ice cream from a local vendor. She served her shakes in pre-chilled Mason jars with the rims dipped in the chocolate sauce, and then she drizzled more of the sauce inside each jar before pouring in the blended shake. Topped with whipped cream and two homemade pirouettes, she finished it off with more chocolate drizzle. Decadent, indeed.
Juno glanced at the clock on the wall. Almost five. "Dinner's in two hours. Don't go ruining your appetite now."
"I would never," he said, his smile reaching his eyes. He rubbed his stomach. "I promise to show up at your door ravenous."
She rolled her eyes but couldn't suppress a smile as she opened the ice cream bin and started dropping scoops into the blender cup. Something had shifted between them, an ease she hadn't felt in his presence in years. Maybe ever.
"Did you get over to the B&B today?" She asked over her shoulder. What she really wanted to know was if he'd talked to Ward yet. Alex seemed in a pretty good mood, all things considered, and she had a feeling that if he hadn't yet done so, he'd still be looking shame-faced. In fact, he probably wouldn't have shown up here.
"Nah. When I called Ward after I got home this morning, he said they were ahead of schedule and told me to take the day off." Alex watched her hands as she prepared the Mason jar. "Said the ladies had everything in hand, and were already talking about kicking him out, too." He chuckled. "In fact, he all but warned me to make myself scarce if I knew what was good for me."
Juno chuckled. "Yeah, Hazel and Penny, when they get their heads together, can be something to contend with." She waited, not wanting to ask if he'd told Ward about his relapse—now was not the time and place—and when Alex met her gaze and nodded, it felt like he was reading her mind.
"Ward snagged a couple of lemonades and met me down on the dock earlier this afternoon." His tone was conversational, but the look in his eyes was solemn as he said, "I caught him up on things."
Juno nodded in acknowledgement, then slid the shake onto the counter in front of him. "Enjoy."
Poppy emerged from the back room with a tray of freshly baked cookies, her eyes lighting up when she spotted Alex. "Alex! I didn't know you were here. How's your ankle doing?"
"Better every day. Thanks for asking."
Juno hid a smile as she collected her tablet and the folder of paperwork she'd been working out of. Poppy's crush on Alex was painfully obvious, but to his credit, he kept things friendly and appropriate.
"So, Poppy," Alex said as Juno tucked the items into a drawer under the counter, then moved to the sink to wash the shake machine paraphernalia. "You seeing anyone these days?"
The young woman's cheeks flushed pink. "No, not at the moment."
"You know, I work with a guy about your age. Ryan. Good guy, hard worker. I think you two might hit it off."
Juno almost dropped the stainless steel tumbler. Was Alex Frampton playing matchmaker?
Poppy, ever the good sport, leaned against the counter. "You should bring him in sometime. I'd love to meet him."
Alex nodded, taking a long sip of his milkshake. "I just might do that."
When Poppy moved to help a customer who'd just walked in, Juno stepped closer to Alex. "Are you actually playing cupid now?"
"Just looking out for Poppy," he said, then lowered his voice, speaking comically from one side of his mouth. "And making sure she knows I'm not available."
The implication behind those words made Juno's heart skip, even though he'd said them in such a lighthearted way. She nodded, biting back her smile. "Good for you. She's a great young woman, and some guy out there will be lucky to get her attention."
"Let's hope I haven't just thrown Ryan to the wolves. Or the wolf." He play-wiped his brow. "She's… intentional with her affections, isn't she? I'd say he'd be lucky to get her attention if he's prepared for the level of attention she gives."
Juno snorted. "Wow. Such insight," she teased.
"I know," he shot back, blowing on his knuckles then rubbing them against his shirt. "Pretty keen for a big lug, aren't I?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
Before she could respond, Alex's phone rang. The instant change in his demeanor when he checked the screen sent a frisson of concern racing up her spine. A smile of unadulterated pleasure that quickly turned to what she could only assume was panic. She watched as he pressed the phone to his chest, looked at the screen again, turned it facedown on the counter, then acted like he was going to shove the device back into his pocket.
"Are you going to answer that?" she asked drolly?
Alex glanced at her in surprise, almost as if he'd forgotten she was there, then looked down at the still-ringing phone. "Uh… yeah. Yes." He nearly dropped it trying to hit the button before it went to voicemail. "Hey. Hi. It's Alex."
Juno's brows shot up. Breathy. He sounded breathy ! Like a nervous schoolgirl. Or like a man hearing from someone he really, really wanted to hear from. Who on earth would elicit that kind of response from Alex Frampton?
Juno busied herself wiping down the shake machine, trying not to eavesdrop but unable to completely tune out his side of the conversation.
"Tonight? Um, wow. Well, I kinda have plans." His voice was low, tension evident in every word. "No, no. Of course I want to see—" He stopped speaking abruptly, like he'd been cut off by whoever it was on the other end of the call. A moment later, he continued. "I wasn't expecting you until next week."
He glanced at Juno, then stood and hobbled toward the door, where he continued the conversation on the sidewalk. Through the window, Juno could see him gesturing, his face a mask of warring emotions.
Her heart skipped a beat. Summer sizzler trouble? But this didn't seem like his usual behavior with the women he dated. This was something different. He looked really upset.
After several minutes, Alex returned, his expression a mixture of frustration and anticipation. He sank back onto the stool, staring at his half-finished milkshake.
"I was about to clear that away," Juno said lightly, trying to ease whatever tension he'd brought back inside with him.
When he didn't respond with his usual banter, she carefully asked, "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, sure," he replied quickly, but clearly it wasn't.
I kinda have plans, he'd said into the phone. Juno squared her shoulders and offered, "Hey, if you need to reschedule tonight, I understand."
Alex shook his head. "That's the problem. I don't want to reschedule dinner with you."
"But?"
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I—I'm going to try to work things out, okay?" He pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "I need to go. I have to meet… someone at the book store."
"At Claire's?" Juno frowned, glancing across the street to The Cracked Spine. "Why not just have her come here?"
Alex tensed when she said 'her', but he shook his head. "It's... complicated." He fumbled for his wallet, avoiding her eyes. "I'll be there tonight, Juno. Don't give up on me, okay?"
Warning bells rang in Juno's mind. After their morning of honesty, after what felt like the start of clearing the air between them, here he was, obviously hiding something. "Alex, what's going on?"
"I can't explain right now. I need to go." He placed a ten on the counter and stood. "Can you put the rest of that in the tip jar for me? I'm sorry."
What exactly he was apologizing for, she didn't know, but she didn't care for the way this was all unraveling. She nodded, but said nothing, then watched him leave her shop and cross the street with his uneven gait before he disappeared into the bookshop. A knot of dread formed in her stomach.
She considered calling Claire. Maybe her friend could keep an eye on him, give Juno a heads up on what was going on inside her shop, but immediately dismissed the idea. First of all, she hadn't told anyone that she and Alex were even on speaking terms, so her sudden interest in his behavior would raise alarm bells in her friend, and Claire, being Claire, would start asking questions that Juno wasn't sure she had the answers for. Besides, she wasn't going to spy on him like some jealous teenager. If this was the kind of behavior she was up against, better to know now before she invested any more in whatever might have been between them.
She'd intended to leave by six, to let her capable staff do their thing until closing at ten, but she still hadn't heard from Alex. She stuck around, finding one excuse after another to linger, her gaze drifting back to the bookstore time and time again.
By twenty minutes after the hour, Trevor was practically pushing her out the door. "Go home, Boss. Put your feet up. We've got this."
Giving in to his urging and trying very hard not to give in to her disappointment, she removed her apron and tossed it into the hamper in the back closet. She pushed through the swinging doors from the kitchen to say goodnight to the two baristas working the front counter… and to get one last look at the bookshop across the street.
At that moment, the door to The Cracked Spine opened, and Alex stepped out, holding it wide for a woman who followed. Tall, slender, expensively dressed, with blonde hair that shone in the fading sunlight. She was stunning in a super model way, and she seemed remarkably comfortable with Alex as she turned on the sidewalk and said something to him, then reached up and patted his cheek affectionately.
Alex still held the door open, and a moment later, a child scampered out of the bookshop after them. A girl, maybe eight or nine years old, with blonde hair streaked with the same caramel highlights as Alex's.
Juno watched, frozen, as the woman leaned up to kiss Alex's cheek, then hugged the child before walking to a sleek silver sports car parked nearby. The little girl slipped her hand into Alex's, tugged hard on it as she wiggled with barely restrained energy, and looked up at him with a smile that was brutally, unmistakably familiar.
Without conscious thought, Juno found herself crossing the street. Alex spotted her approaching, his eyes widening with something like panic.
"Juno." His voice strained. "Hey. I was just getting ready to call you."
She stopped a few feet away, her gaze moving from Alex to the child, who watched her with curious eyes. "Who's your date?" The question came out before she could think better of it.
The little girl giggled. "I'm not his date. I'm his daughter." Then she clapped a hand over her mouth and lifted wide eyes to Alex's face. "Sorry." It was muffled behind her palm.
The world tilted slightly beneath Juno's feet as the child confirmed her suspicions. "Your—your daughter?"
And why was the little girl apologizing for saying so?