Chapter 23
“Breakfast in five, Libby.”
She couldn’t help the smile at the knock that followed those words. She’d been living with Klaus and Lea Becker for two days now, and they treated her like she was their child. Libby loved it.
Did she miss living at Ryder’s? Yes, but only because she didn’t get to see more of him. Didn’t get to sit on his sofa while they ate what he’d cooked and talked or debate about things like they had. But this was for the best. She and Ryder had their relationship back to where it should be. Boss and employee.
“Be right there, Lea.”
The sleepout was small and cozy, and for a woman who had lived in rooms five times this size her entire life, it was wonderful. The walls were wood, and at one end there was a rocking chair with a knitted blanket. Libby had sat there for a few hours before she fell asleep and read a book from Klaus’s home made bookshelf last night.
Her mattress was soft with thick covers she snuggled into each night. There was a small bathroom stall, which had everything she needed. This room was nothing like what she’d left behind. There was no closet full of expensive clothes. No cosmetics or skincare products lining the counter in her bathroom. “But I like it more,” Libby whispered.
How was it possible she’d found peace here in Lyntacky when her life was in turmoil? When this life was the opposite of what she’d always known.
Libby had made more friends here than she’d made in her lifetime, which said what about her? She was a shallow person who’d kept to herself?
Making the bed, she noted a fake eyelash on the pillow. Going back into the bathroom, she found her makeup remover. Libby then slowly took off the last of her eyelashes. Staring in the mirror, she saw a woman she hadn’t seen in many years.
No makeup or eyelashes. Barefaced and real, she thought. Looking at her nails, she saw only two of the fake ones left, but there was no time to get that off now. Grabbing her jacket, she left the cabin and walked the few feet to the Becker home. There was always something delicious in the air when she stepped inside.
The walls were full of framed cross-stitch and photos of their family. A fire roared in the log burner, and the windows facing their precious coffee hut that no longer had the neon sign lit showed her it was cold outside.
“Morning,” Klaus and Lea greeted her.
Lea was stirring a large pot of oatmeal at the stove, and Klaus was making coffee.
“Snow fell last night, so you’ll need to take care walking, Libby,” he said.
Tall, with broad shoulders slightly stooping from age, the man had not a stitch of hair on his head.
“Morning, and I will.” Libby slid onto the stool under the breakfast bar.
“Ryder just called to ask if I would man the coffee machine this afternoon, as it’s Ally’s birthday, and the cafe will be open downstairs,” Klaus said.
“You sound excited about that,” Libby said, taking the mug of steaming coffee he offered her.
Klaus’s shoulders rose and fell as he looked out the window. “I miss people. Miss hearing what is going on in their lives and making their favorite coffees.”
“That rat Fletcher has gone away, but when he returns, it’s fair to say he’s in a whole lot of trouble from the people in this town. The Dukes have already gone to the authorities to appeal,” Libby said.
He smiled. “Those Dukes are good folks, Libby.”
“They are.”
“I love all of them, but it’s Ryder who has always tugged at my heartstrings.”
“Why?” Libby asked. She wanted to know more about the man who had looked out for her since the first day she’d arrived in this town.
“He stayed here with his mother, you know, when they all left. I always thought he kept a lot of what he was feeling inside to himself. That he wanted more but never found a way to get it until he purchased the cafe. To me, an old German fool, he looks like a man that’s found nearly everything he wants in life now.”
Libby wasn’t sure why he was telling her that, but she was sure she didn’t want to know the reason, considering this town had too much to say about her and Ryder already.
“You eat all this up now,” Lea said, placing a bowl of porridge before her. “It will give you the energy for your day.”
“It looks delicious.” Libby looked at the bowl full of oats, cinnamon, and stewed apples. It would taste delicious too. She’d never eaten porridge until she came to Lyntacky.
“It won’t be long before you’re back out there making coffee,” Libby said when she caught Lea this time looking out the window.
“I know, but we miss it.”
Anger that someone would have taken this away from these two lovely people had her vowing to speak to Ryder about what more could be done.
When she was finished, and they wouldn’t let her wash up, Libby pulled on her coat and gloves. The walk wasn’t long, but it would need to be fast in this weather.
“I could drive you?”
“No, thanks, Klaus. The walk is good for me.”
“Well then, you wear these,” Lea said. She then went to the chair she sat in every evening and picked up something. Returning, she handed them to Libby.
The hat was soft pale gray flecked wool, and there was a long thick scarf to match. Libby swallowed down the tears at the gift.
“You’ve already done so much for me,” she whispered, taking them.
“Because we want to, and you have given us something to focus on other than what we are missing,” Klaus said, patting her shoulder.
Pulling on the hat, she then wound the scarf around her neck several times.
“Wonderful, and I knew that color would be perfect on you,” Lea said.
It was impulse that had her hugging them both. Libby wasn’t a hugger normally, so this was just something else that was changing in her.
Letting herself outside, she hurried down the path to the street and then headed toward the cafe.
How was it this life that was so simple seemed to heal something inside her, even considering what was between her and Ryder, which she now acknowledged but would never act on?
Libby pulled out her phone as it rang in her pocket. Looking at the number, she answered. “Hello, Savannah, is everything all right?” It was only the second time her sister had contacted her since arriving in Lyntacky.
“Libby, you need to come home,” her youngest sister said, sounding agitated. “This has gone on long enough. Andrew will forgive you if you do. Plus you have work commitments!”
“Stop yelling at me, Vannah,” Libby said. “You haven’t called me in days, and you can’t even say hello?”
“This is not funny. Our life is hell at the moment. You need to come back and fix it!”
“I’m not coming home until I’m ready,” Libby said as calmly as she could. “I need to work out what I want to do with my life first.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re an accountant and going to marry Andrew. Clearly you had some kind of breakdown?—”
“I need to go, Savannah,” she cut her sister off.
“Wait, Libby, don’t go!”
“Savannah—”
“Elizabeth, it’s your father, and I want to know what it is you think you’re trying to prove with this little stunt. You get yourself home now and beg Andrew’s forgiveness. Do you realize the humiliation you’ve caused both families?”
Libby closed her eyes at the voice. She loved her father, but he’d never really understood her, as she likely didn’t understand him.
“Well?” he demanded. “When are you returning, and further to that, where are you?”
“I’m not coming home,” Libby said, looking down the street to the peaceful neighborhood sprawled out before her.
Bad things happened here, like they did everywhere, but right then Lyntacky felt safe and a place she wanted to be.
“You are coming home, or you’ll never get another cent out of your accounts!” he roared at her. “No child of mine will walk out on her responsibilities.”
Libby swallowed down her tears. No good would come from crying now.
“Did you wonder why I ran out of my wedding, Father?” Libby whispered. “Did you wonder why I, the one who always does what she’s told of the three of your daughters, did that?”
There was silence then from her father, but she knew he was still there because she could hear his breathing.
“And what you did, freezing my accounts and leaving me without funds at a time when I most needed them, is something I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive you for. I’m your child.” Libby heard her voice break.
“Elizabeth—”
She cut the call before he could finish whatever he’d been about to say. That would shock him as much as her walking out on her own wedding. Never, not once in her life, could she remember disobeying her father or cutting him off on a call.
Anger and hurt had Libby throwing the phone hard at the ground. She watched it shatter into satisfyingly small pieces.
“Are you all good there, Libby?”
She spun to find Phoebe’s brother and his partner behind her.
“All good, thanks, Caleb,” Libby said, dropping to pick up the shattered pieces of her phone. She then shoved them into her pocket.
“I hate when my phone annoys me enough to do that,” Jonathan said, moving to Libby’s left’s side while Caleb came to her right.
“He’s broken four phones like that,” Caleb said.
“Sad but true.”
“I’m okay,” Libby said when Caleb slid his arm through hers. “But I really need to know why you’re out here before the sun has fully risen. Phoebe told me you both hate mornings.” She could feel color filling her face over what they’d just seen her do.
“It’s his idea,” Caleb said, pointing to Jonathan. “Apparently, I need to get in shape to be a top-notch curler, and to do that, he’s taken over as my personal trainer.”
Libby laughed.
“My face hurts,” Caleb moaned seconds later. “Like it will never thaw out.”
“Moan, moan, moan, and here’s me freezing my ass off to get you in shape so you don’t make a fool of yourself,” Jonathan said. “Now let’s hustle it along, Libby.”
She picked up the pace.
“What the hell is that noise?” Caleb asked, stopping.
They all looked around them at the sound of something smashing. Then she heard raised voices.
“Is it coming from the Heckler house?” Jonathan asked.
“I think it’s the one next door,” Caleb added.
“Who lives there?” Libby asked as she heard another loud crash followed by a shriek.
“Sydney Jane with her mom,” Caleb said, walking up the front steps. “Her mom’s away at the moment, visiting her sister in Hawaii.”
“What are you going to do?” Libby asked, watching Caleb knock. “Should we call the police?”
“Let’s see who opens the door first because I know Sydney Jane has been into some kinky stuff in her past, so no point calling anyone until we know for sure what’s going on,” Jonathan said. “We’ll use my phone, seeing as yours is no longer functioning.”
Caleb knocked again, and they all waited. When no one answered, he then opened the door and swung it wide.
“SJ, are you in there?” Libby called.
“I’m killing you!”
“That’s her voice,” Jonathan said.
“You bitch!” A man spoke those words.
The voices were coming from a room off this one.
“SJ?” Libby ran with Caleb and Jonathan on her heels, fear urging her on. She saw a man wrestling with Sydney Jane when she reached the kitchen.
“Stop!” He turned at her words and then advanced on her.
“Libby, back away!” Caleb roared.
The man swung a fist at her, but she blocked it like her brother had taught her, then another before lifting her knee and ramming it hard into his balls. Libby then came up with the heel of her palm into his nose and sent him stumbling back, moaning in agony.
“So I guess you don’t need my help, then?”
She turned to see Red walk in, in purple pajama bottoms and a checked jacket.
“Are we calling the cops, SJ?” Caleb asked.
“He hit me, so he pays,” the girl said, cradling her cheek.
“I’ll get you some ice,” Jonathan said, stepping over the moaning man on the floor.
“Let’s put him somewhere he’ll be really comfy waiting for the cops,” Red said.
He picked up one arm, and Caleb the other, and they opened a cupboard under the stairs and threw the man inside, then shut it again. Red stood with his arms folded before it. “Make the call, SJ.”
“I need to get to work,” Libby said.
“Girl, you are my new hero,” Caleb said, hugging her.
“Thank you, Libby,” SJ said solemnly.
“It’s okay, SJ,” Libby said patting her shoulder before heading out the door. She’d have to run now to get to the cafe on time.
Adrenaline coursed through her as she jogged along the street.
Holy crap, she’d stepped in to take on that man without a thought. Libby had done nothing like that before. It had been instinctive, and her brother, Samuel, would be proud that his self-defense lessons had worked.
Libby had never thought of herself as brave, but it had been something she’d been working on since that day she walked out of her wedding. She felt stronger suddenly and less vulnerable. It was a wonderful feeling.
The sound of a car horn had her looking to the road. It was Tripp Lyntacky. He waved, and she replied. People knew her here, and she knew them. She was no longer invisible.
Smiling, she opened the door to the Swing Through Cafe and entered. Ryder was standing there with one hand on his hip, legs braced, and a phone pressed to his ear. His brown eyes were locked on her. He pocketed the phone and advanced on Libby.
“What the fuck did you think you were doing?”