Chapter 16
Her phone buzzed on the tabletop, and Alethea saw the picture of her aunt’s smiling face pop up. Reluctantly, she answered. “Hey Aunt Scarlet, great to hear from you. How’s Florida?” She set down her mug on the bistro table and made a motion to Danica excusing herself, walking outside the cafe so her conversation wouldn’t annoy the other patrons.
“Florida is just peachy, dear, but I didn’t call to talk about me.”
Alethea silently groaned to herself as she walked out onto the sidewalk, sticking close to the building to stay under the shade of the awning, the sun high in the midday sky. How did her aunt always know? She sighed and took the bait. “Okay, what did you call to talk about then?”
“I know something is wrong, I’ve been waiting to hear from you. Is the house alright? Why haven’t you called?”
“Yes, Aunt Scarlet, I”m perfectly fine. Nothing is wrong.” Alethea hoped she sounded sincere.
“Mmm-hmm. I’m going to ask one more time, dear. What happened?”
Alethea gritted her teeth. There was no hiding anything from her aunt. She was like a drama bloodhound! It drove Alethea absolutely out of her mind, but she knew it was futile to resist. If she didn’t tell her the truth, her aunt might just show up on her doorstep to investigate matters herself.
“We had a little hiccup with the renovations but it’s already being sorted.” She gave her aunt a few vague answers and reassurances, while avoiding explaining exactly what happened, until Aunt Scarlet was finally satisfied. “Anyway, how are Charlie and Jonatán? Is Jonatán feeling any better?” Alethea was desperate to change the subject.
Her aunt was silent for a moment. “Alethea dear, how did you know Jonatán was sick? He came down with food poisoning barely two days ago but you and I haven’t talked in over a week.” Was that intrigue in her aunt’s voice?
“Oh, my mistake. I must”ve misheard you about something else the last time we talked.” Alethea was confused. How had she known Jonatán wasn’t feeling well? She wasn’t even sure why she had said it in the first place. It was just the first thing that had popped into her mind. She had just known somehow. Now that was weird. Maybe Danica was right and her intuition was strengthening. Or maybe she was starting to lose her sanity.
“You ready to head back?” Danica was clearing away their mugs from the table and stacking them in the self-bussing station when Alethea came back inside the cafe after wrapping up her call. She nodded and the two of them went up to the counter to say goodbye to Emma, who took the chance to fill them in on some town gossip. Danica shared some of her own colorful commentary, and it made Emma laugh until she had tears in her eyes.
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and Main Street looked like a riot of color, the planter boxes bursting with annuals in every shade of neon orange, pink and yellow. Danica’s wide smile filled her whole face as they turned the corner and started the walk back home. “I can’t believe you don’t love it here.”
Alethea was surprised by her friend’s unexpected comment. “What do you mean?”
“I mean it’s hard not to fall in love with this town. It’s so pretty, with the mountains in the backdrop, everything is just so green and alive! The people are amazing, so interesting and genuine. They actually wave at you or say hello as you pass by. I can’t imagine wanting to leave this for the city.”
Alethea shrugged. “It’s different if you grew up here, trust me.”
“I get that.” Danica nodded in understanding.
“I guess I just always knew I was a city girl at heart.”
Danica looked at her thoughtfully. “So you say. So you’ve always said. But I’m not so sure.” The corners of her eyes slightly crinkled, almost like she was laughing without actually smiling.
“What aren’t you sure about exactly? I’m telling you, it’s in my blood. I was meant to live in the city.”
“Mmm-hmm. Let’s see, you always complain about how bad the subway smells. Crowds freak you out and you get overwhelmed by too much noise, so you never go to any concerts or sporting events. You stay inside your apartment or in an office ninety percent of the time with nature pictures plastered all over your walls. Girl, I hate to break it to you but none of that says city lover.”
“Oh cut it out! You’re being stupid, everyone hates the subway.”
“Okay then, what do you love about the city?”
Alethea thought about what she wanted to say for a long moment before answering. “It’s not one specific thing or another. It’s just the whole essence of being in the city.” She could tell by her friend’s arched eyebrow that she wasn’t fully satisfied by this answer but apparently thought better of continuing the conversation.
Danica checked her Fitbit. “Shoot, we need to pick up the pace!” She began striding quickly, her long legs covering much more distance than Alethea’s.
“Hey, wait up!” Alethea almost had to break into a trot to keep pace. “I’d rather be wrong than twist an ankle!”
Priya had skipped the trip to the cafe to stay back at the house to work on lunch. She had teased Danica about her habitual tardiness earlier that day and bet each of them five dollars that they wouldn’t make it back by noon. Much to Danica’s delight, Priya was just laying out the last of the spread across the prep table in the center of the kitchen when they returned. “Hey, there you guys are! Perfect timing!”
Danica did a little dance across the kitchen, trying her best not to smirk. Alethea laughed and then joined in, turning up the volume on the EDM music coming out of Priya’s phone. Priya took off her oven mitts and joined the other two, flinging her apron across the kitchen at the exact moment the beat dropped. The three women collapsed against each other in laughter, out of breath from the impromptu dance party.
“Okay, let’s eat before these sandwiches get soggy. Dani, can you go get Brent and tell him lunch is ready?”
“Oh, so we’re feeding the contractor now, too?” Alethea paused loading up her plate long enough to give Priya an annoyed look.
“Stop being so rude! What’s gotten into you?” Priya snapped a kitchen towel in Alethea’s direction.
The lunch spread was simple but perfect for a warm summer day. Blanched green beans with toasted almonds sat on a china platter next to a large wooden bowl of salad, dotted with fresh cherry tomatoes and cucumbers from the farmer’s market. The Caprese sandwiches, on expertly toasted baguettes, were sliced on the bias and slathered in homemade pesto.
“Seriously though, this looks amazing. Have I told you lately how much I appreciate you feeding us such exquisite meals?” Alethea didn’t think she had ever eaten this well in her life. It was like living with a personal chef.
“Only every day!” Priya laughed but looked extremely pleased at the compliment.
When Danica and Brent walked into the kitchen, Alethea handed them both plates and told them to help themselves.
“You’ve outdone yourself yet again.” Danica winked at Priya and started piling her plate high with the garden salad, using a pair of acacia wood tongs that matched the bowl.
“This looks incredible,” Brent agreed. “Your hospitality is too kind.” He waited for Danica to finish serving herself, then he took large helpings of the salad and green beans.
“Did you want a Caprese sandwich?” Priya asked him, noticing that he hadn’t taken one. “There’s plenty to go around.”
“Oh, sure. I wasn’t sure if there was meat in there and I didn’t want to be rude and ask.”
Priya was interested by this unexpected answer. “Nope, just buffalo mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil and pesto. And please, I’d never find that rude. Do you not eat meat?”
He shook his head. “I’m a vegetarian. Plant-based actually, when I’m able, but I tend to cheat a bit.” He grinned guiltily as he picked up one of the sandwiches.
Danica raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Well, looks like you and I have something in common then. For how long?”
“Let’s see.” He let out a slow exhale as he did the mental math. “Eleven years now.”
“Wow. That’s commitment.” Danica looked impressed. “Do you do it for health reasons, or…”
She waited for him to finish her sentence but he just shrugged. “It’s just what’s right for me.”
“Because…,” Dancia drew out the word and made a rolling motion with her hand, signaling for him to continue. Alethea laughed to herself. The Muffin Man was quickly learning it wasn’t easy to avoid Danica’s persistence. If she wanted you to answer a question, she would get it out of you one way or the other.
“Because I figure the biggest impact against climate change I can make is eating this way. I need a big truck for my job, so something fuel efficient isn’t an option. Guess I do it to balance the scale a bit.”
Alethea truly took in the man that was Brent Cornerstone for the first time. Yes, she saw his flawless features, his dark brown hair that smelled like a mixture of Suave and frankincense, his strong jaw framing his face. But she also saw a down-to-earth, kind man who genuinely wanted to help. Help his neighbors, help the planet, help her. She clung to the ball of hard iciness in her heart, willing it to stop shrinking. It needed to stay cold and hard and protect her! She refused to let herself fall for someone again so soon, but there it was, against her will, slowly melting away. Enough was enough, she needed to stay as far away from Brent’s flames as she possibly could.
…
Tossing and turning for hours, Alethea finally grew exasperated by her restlessness and got up from the twin bed. The small bedroom felt stuffy, but she didn’t want to turn on the A/C and risk waking the other two. She grabbed her bathrobe off the hook on the back of the door and tiptoed out of the cottage into the backyard. The moon was bright in the sky but not quite full, casting down just enough light so that it wasn’t pitch black. Hopefully, a strong cup of chamomile tea would help her to wind down. After making herself a huge mug of the fragrant flower tisane and with Jane Eyre in hand, she settled into a wingback chair, resting her slippered feet on the small, matching ottoman.
She read for at least an hour, her chamomile tea getting cold in the mug before she could even finish half of it. Thankfully, she was beginning to feel sleepy and her eyelids grew heavier as she scanned the pages. She set the book down and leaned her head back against the chair. As she replayed the day’s events, she tried to slow her fluttering heart as she thought about Brent. He had surprised her yet again. There seemed to be more layers to that man than she had given him credit for. Just as she was about to drift off, imagining how Brent’s muscular chest would feel if she ran her hand down that tight fitting white tee, her eyes popped open in alarm. She stared at her arms and hands in disbelief, rubbed her eyes, and then looked again. It was absolutely, utterly impossible, but somehow she was glowing!
Figures,Dandelion thought to herself ruefully. Humans always did things according to their own timelines. She looked sympathetically at Alethea, the soft glow glinting in the reflection of her dark feline eyes. Her poor little human, she wished it didn’t have to be this hard on her. Oh well, there was no use feeling sorry for her, and this was certainly no time to go soft! In fact, it was quite the opposite. Dandelion needed to steel herself for the events that would unfold next, whatever they may be. Now where did that disgusting little mouse get off to? She needed it to finish its mission. By the looks of things, they were getting short on time.