6. Chapter 6
Chapter six
Rowan
When I entered Karma, I took a deep breath and savored the smell of roasted coffee and paper. Lauren’s café combined two of my favorite things: books and caffeine.
“Stop sniffing or step aside,” Poppy huffed behind me. “Some of us need to get to work.”
Lauren pushed through the swinging door behind the counter with a stack of coffee mugs teetering on a tray. “Rowan,” she shouted with a little jump that rattled the cups. Poppy weaved through the bistro tables scattered in front of the coffee bar and around the counter to help her.
As soon as her hands were free, Lauren darted across the café and wrapped me in a gentle hug. “I’ve missed you so much,” she said. “But I’m mad at you.”
Poppy laughed and grabbed a teal apron from the back wall, tying it over her black outfit. The color suited her and brought a brightness to her features that made her look more approachable.
“I’m sorry,” I said to Lauren. “Please don’t take it personally. I needed time to figure things out.”
“Nope. You introverted when you should have extroverted.” She shook her head hard enough to swing her signature braid. When Lauren moved to Peace Falls in the middle of seventh grade, she’d worn her hair chopped in a short bob. To my knowledge, she hadn’t cut it since.
“If I’d told you what happened, you would have told Poppy.”
“And that’s a problem because?” Poppy shouted from the counter.
A group of teenage girls flung open the front door, talking over each other and laughing. Lauren welcomed them, and they stopped their conversations long enough to tell her hello. We stepped aside to give them room, and they headed straight for the coffee bar.
“And that’s a problem because?” Lauren prompted.
“Poppy would have told Chris. Chris would have told Mom. I didn’t want her to see me like that. I let y’all know as soon as I was out of the hospital and had a plan.”
“You never told me you were hurt. I heard about it from Poppy. I can keep a secret, you know.”
I didn’t question that. Lauren was the most open person I knew, but parts of her childhood before Peace Falls remained a mystery, even to me.
“But could you have kept away?” I asked, taking her hand and giving it three quick squeezes and one long one, the secret handshake we’d created for our club of two.
She sighed and returned our handshake. “I would have taken care of you. Cooked your meals, packed your stuff, changed your bandages. Anything.”
“No doubt,” I said, motioning to the cat hotel where Lauren’s three-legged cat, Desdemona, slept beside her blind cat, Medusa. Lauren had a habit of adopting damaged pets, the uglier the better. Sometimes she kept them, but more often she nursed them back to health and found them loving homes. I wasn’t sure what that said about her decision to adopt me as her best friend, but I was glad she did. “I’m here now. Fuss over me as much as you want.”
“Ugh,” she said, pulling me into a stronger hug.
My back protested the pressure, but I’d learned to pretend I didn’t feel it. Otherwise, everyone would be afraid to come near me, and after everything with Brad, I needed every warm embrace as a reminder that I was still loved.
“I can’t stay mad at you.” She finally smiled, flashing the deep dimples that had snared more than one boy in high school before she set them free.
The teenage girls filled all the tables while Poppy fired up the milk frother. “I better go help your sister before she stabs the espresso machine. Again. You’re hanging out here a while, right?”
“Yeah, I thought I’d use your Wi-Fi to look for jobs.”
“Do you need a computer?”
The “career center” by the front door had two old desktop computers and a three-in-one printer/copier/fax Lauren had salvaged from a retiring lawyer. She allowed anyone to use them, whether they purchased anything or not. Unlike the library, she didn’t limit the number of pages printed and supplied the paper and ink herself. At first, I worried people would take advantage of her kindness, but Lauren inspired generosity in everyone who knew her. Printer paper and ink appeared on her doorstep often, and local business owners added job listings to the cork board on the wall beside the computers regularly.
“I brought my laptop,” I said, patting my large carryall bag, which was starting to hurt my shoulder and worsen the ache in my lower back.
“Great. Get settled and do some work while we handle this crowd. Then, I’m bringing you a drink, and we’re having a real talk. Because texting Brad cheated with Kelli. Getting divorced. Riding home with Poppy on Sunday is not enough information. So, prepare to spill everything.” She spun around before I could argue, not that anyone could talk Lauren out of something she wanted, which was the real reason I hadn’t told her about Brad until after I’d scheduled a ride to Peace Falls with Poppy and left out the accident completely.
I adjusted the bag on my shoulder and walked deeper into the building. The café took up the front, but the back housed tall cases of books from every genre. The bookshop had been Lauren’s grandfather’s and was my favorite place to spend my allowance ever since I learned to read. I’d cross the street from Red Blossoms whenever I had enough for a new book and settle in a comfy chair for the day. Once Lauren moved into the apartment upstairs with her grandfather, it became my favorite place in town, whether I had spending money or not. After he died, Lauren removed the greeting cards and magazine displays to make room for the café, but much of the bookstore remained untouched. I walked to my favorite pair of worn leather chairs, dropped my bag into one, and groaned down into another.
I connected to the Wi-Fi, opened a browser, and then stared at the search bar. Pinnacle Group had hired me as a management trainee during on-campus recruiting my senior year of college. I’d worked my butt off to be promoted twice in the past four years. None of that mattered now. I sure as hell wasn’t asking my old boss for a reference, which meant the best I could do was update my resume with my work experience and hope no one called Kelli to confirm it. I needed a job ASAP. My work-sponsored health insurance ended this week and CObrA cost a fortune, not to mention my student loans and lawyer fees. I’d eaten through almost all of my meager savings. I needed a job to afford rent, but I couldn’t afford to rent anywhere near where I could get a job similar to the one I’d left. Let’s be honest, I couldn’t afford to rent a place in Peace Falls.
“Look at you being productive,” Lauren said, leaning over my shoulder. “Or not?”
I closed the laptop and rubbed my forehead. Lauren set a steaming mug on the small table between us, tossed my bag on the floor, and collapsed into the chair across from me like it was the first time she’d sat in hours.
“Maybe I should think about where I want to live first.”
Lauren frowned. “I hoped you might stay in Peace Falls.”
“Not without changing careers.” I took the mug and enjoyed a sip of the best latte on earth.
“So change careers.”
I shook my head. “I’m good at what I do. Plus, it pays well. My student loan payments are insane, and I’ve racked up a ton of bills from the accident and divorce.” I savored another gulp of my latte, which helped ease some of my panic. “You’re a magician.”
“No more than you when you bake.”
“Oh, that reminds me. I brought you cinnamon rolls.” I put down my mug and rummaged in my bag until I found the Tupperware container. Spending time kneading dough with Chris this morning had been the highlight of my month so far.
Lauren squealed. As soon as I handed her the container, she opened the lid, grabbed a roll, and shoved half in her mouth.
“This is so much better than the pastries we sell,” she said, pulling apart the rest of the roll as she talked.
I looked around to check if anyone had heard her. “Perhaps not the best thing to say as the owner.”
Lauren giggled. “It’s true. We order all the baked goods from Bob’s Bakery in Jericho, but the quality has gone downhill since Bob sold the place to his nephew.”
“You could make your own.”
“Let me see,” Lauren said, tapping her lip and leaving a smudge of icing. “Should I do that before or after the twelve hours I work, every day, making coffee and selling books. Oh wait, I forgot about the other four hours that goes into ordering, cleaning, and managing the finances. I’m already running on six hours of sleep a night.”
“Hire someone.”
“Great idea,” she said, clapping her hands. “You’re hired. Take your pick. Finances, coffee, or baking. Or a mix of everything. Whatever you want.”
I shook my head. “You know I love you, but I’m just here long enough to heal my back and find my next financial firm.”
“Boo. So, you’re just using me for the free Wi-Fi.”
“And the coffee,” I said, taking another sip. “Don’t forget the coffee.”
“How are you feeling?” Lauren asked, licking the icing from her lip. “I heard you started PT yesterday. Did it help?”
“Not really, but I’m told it takes time.” I didn’t bother asking how she knew I was in physical therapy. Chances were she’d heard about it from more than one person.
“It sucks that you’re hurt, but if I ever needed PT, I wouldn’t mind Cal putting his hands on me. He came in earlier, and I had to turn the thermostat down after.”
We laughed and it brought me back to those high school days when we giggled about boys for hours. I hadn’t stood a chance with anyone I liked, but I lived vicariously through Lauren and all the boys she agreed to go on a date with. Singular. They always asked for a second. She always turned them down. She would have flashed those dimples at Cal after he lifted his shirt and showed his insanely toned abs. And she’d be his, assuming she hadn’t already gone on a date with him. I’d just sat there doing an impression of a largemouth bass. Forget the air conditioner, I needed a cold shower after I went inside.
Lauren smirked like she was somehow reading my mind. “Were you able to talk to him? Or did you stare at his hotness and go mute like usual?”
“Oh, I talked alright. But it was mortifying all the same. First, he didn’t recognize me at all.”
“Ouch.”
“Then I told him I hurt my back when I collided with a vehicle while texting.”
“Is that how it happened?”
“Sort of. I walked into the path of a tourist on a Segway and got pinned against a tree.”
“Oh, my word, Rowan. I hope you weren’t texting me when it happened.”
“I wasn’t texting. But I figured it was better than telling him I was crying so hard I couldn’t see after I walked in on my boss sucking my husband’s dick at her desk.”
“Ew, in the middle of the day?”
I nodded.
“You’re right, texting sounds better.”
“I thought so. But Cal scolded me for it. He was downright frigid. It was super awkward.”
Lauren nodded and all the mirth drained from her eyes, leaving them haunted. “No, I imagine that would have been hard for him to hear.”
And that’s when I remembered. Not when I fudged the story of how I hurt my back. Not when Cal reacted with anger. “The accident,” I whispered.
I didn’t need to specify. The car crash that took Logan Hendricks’s life, severely injured Aiden O’Malley and Cal, and led to Theo Makris’s felony conviction sent shock waves through Peace Falls. For many locals, the pain still rippled a decade later. “I thought there was alcohol involved. Was Theo texting too?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Poppy does.”
“Why would Poppy know?”
Lauren shrugged and licked her fingers.
“Lauren?”
“See,” she said, snapping the lid on the container. “I can keep a secret.”
“Lauren Arnaud. Tell me what you know right now, or I’ll never bake you another treat as long as I live.”
“Fine,” she said, smiling. “Poppy and Theo recently became friends. She claims that’s all, but I’m not convinced. The man has taken a serious liking to espressos.”
“Huh. He doesn’t seem like her type. She usually goes for punk guys. Tattoos. Piercings. The more the better.”
“Have you seen Theo Makris recently?”
I shook my head.
“Well,” she said. “Let’s just say Poppy definitely has a type. Speaking of which, I better get back up front. I left her with all those girls, and you know how much Poppy hates chit chat.”
I opened my laptop again and sighed.
“Hey,” Lauren said, standing. “Just because the first session was awkward doesn’t mean the second has to be. Good luck with your search, but don’t hate me for hoping it takes you a while to find the perfect job.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re impossible to hate.”
She smiled and headed toward the front with her cinnamon rolls.
I wanted a job that made me as happy as Lauren’s made her or helped people half as much. Lauren brought joy with every coffee and book she sold. Not to mention the good she did for the community. I thought of Cammie and how grateful she sounded when she spoke of Lauren. Sure, my work lifted the company’s bottom line and added a few dollars to the shareholders’ accounts, but it wasn’t the same. I didn’t know the people who benefited from my work, and they didn’t know me. I reminded myself I wasn’t good with people like Lauren was. I couldn’t land a job like hers, even if I knew where to look.