Chapter 28
CHAPTER 28
“I have a chai latte for Sam,” Millie called out the order, placing the to-go cup on the counter and moving to make another order.
Yesterday she’d been moping around, nursing her wounds from her argument with Ace. A coffee sounded like a good idea. She headed to Tin Cups to grab something with more sugar than caffeine and noticed the “help wanted” sign in the window. In addition to serving at several restaurants and bars, she’d also done her time as a barista. A quick chat with the owner and she’d been hired on the spot.
She still had a month or two until she could open her studio and even then, she’d need some reliable income to help keep her afloat until her business got off the ground. Plus, the owner agreed to let her do tarot readings on the weekends in the back corner. Used to cobbling together multiple income streams to make ends meet, it worked out well for her.
But she was still miserable.
Not a surprise. The fight was still fresh, her wounds still raw. She’d thought about texting Ace a few times over the past two days. Okay, a few hundred times. But every time she saw his name on her phone screen, she froze. The words he’d said, the things she’d said back to him. It was all so horribly and ugly. She was ashamed of herself. She couldn’t believe she said those things.
Heat of the moment.
That didn’t excuse anything, but it did explain it. She’d been angry that he hadn’t listened to her. Upset he wouldn’t stop to see things from another point of view. That’s why she’d tossed those cruel words back into his face. Millie wasn’t a vindictive person. Never had been. She was great at cutting people out of her life if they hurt her, but she never sought out to hurt them back.
Until the other night.
If she could redo the whole thing she would.
She hoped Trisha had gotten the courage to be honest with the Jackson family. She truly did think they would all understand, even Ace. He wasn’t really a heartless bastard. But the guy could stand to loosen up a little.
“Hey Millie,” Maxine said. “You have some visitors.”
Visitors? Who would be visiting her at work? Who even knew she’d started a new job? She turned toward the front to see BJ, Del, and Charlie standing in the middle of the coffee shop. Uh oh. Were they here to exact revenge for the things she said to their big brother? Based on their smiling faces she’d say no, but she knew the Jacksons were a close family. You messed with one of them, you messed with all of them.
“Go ahead and take your break now, if you want.” Maxine smiled, taking over her spot at the machine.
She nodded and made her way around the counter. “Hey, what’s up?”
Not her best greeting, but she was a tad nervous. Still on the fence wondering if she was about to get a tongue lashing or a plea to come back to work.
“Can we sit,” BJ asked, indicating with his head to a four top table off to the left.
She nodded, moving over to the table and taking a seat. It was a round table, allowing her to see each of their faces without having to shift too much. BJ’s hurt the most to look at. Even with his beard—growing bushier by the day—she could still see the image of Ace staring back at her.
“How did y’all know I work here now?”
Charlie snorted. “This is Kismet. The entire staff of Jacks knew you quit before closing and Olive called Ace to ask why, and I’m quoting here, ‘he let that nice blue haired girl get away and why was she at the coffee shop now?’ My brother was not amused, which I find hilarious.”
She rolled in her lips to keep from laughing at Charlie’s recounting. She should have known word of her leaving and working here would run the town gossip mill in record time. Small towns really were something else. It would take her a while to get used to everyone knowing her business.
“How is Ace?” she asked, tucking her head down and focusing her gaze on a scratch mark on the table. She couldn’t look his siblings in the eyes knowing what she said to him the other night.
“Miserable,” Charlie sighed softly. “Normally I’d find it amusing, but this isn’t his usual grumpy, irritated miserable. He’s…hurt.”
Agony sliced her heart. She didn’t want him to be hurt.
“Trisha told us everything,” BJ said.
At his words, she lifted her head, gaze meeting his. Those blue eyes so much like Ace’s it pained her.
“Everything?”
He nodded.
Del chimed in, “And BJ and Ace told me and Charlie everything that happened yesterday. Including the fact that they both kept the theft from us.”
She glanced at Del and Charlie who were both giving their big brother the stink eye. She was never very close with her family, but she understood the frustration of being left out of something big like this.
“And we apologized,” BJ said with a shake of his head. “That’s not why we’re here anyway. Remember?”
“Why are you here,” she asked, still wondering if she was about to get a shakedown or job offer.
BJ’s expression turned serious. He leaned forward, eyes focused on her.
“We don’t know exactly what happened the other night between you two to make you quit, but we know things were said. Hurtful things.”
On both sides. She hung her head in shame.
“Ace can be a real ass sometimes,” Del chimed in.
“Yeah, but he’s our ass,” Charlie agreed. “And we hate seeing him in pain.”
She glanced up at the siblings. “He’s in pain? Is he taking his medicine? I told him to—”
“Not that kind of pain.” BJ shook his head. “Emotional pain. The kind where you made a huge mistake, and you don’t know how to fix it.”
“Or if it can be fixed,” she muttered. Humiliation filled her as she admitted. “I said some awful things that night. Hurtful things that aren’t true, but you know what they say about the heat of the moment.”
“We all say stupid shit we don’t mean,” Charlie offered, reaching out to squeeze her hand. “What really counts is if we have the guts to apologize and do better moving forward.”
She stared at the other woman, doubt and fear making her voice tremble as she asked, “What if he doesn’t want to move forward? What if he meant the things he said?”
BJ stared at her for a beat. “Have you checked your bank account lately?”
She shook her head. No, not since last week to pay her bills. Slipping her hand from Charlie’s she grabbed her phone from her pocket and opened her banking app. A gasp of shock left her as she saw the deposited funds in her checking account. All the money she and Ace agreed on, plus a little extra.
“That sneaky bastard,” she muttered.
Del chuckled. “That’s one of my favorite nicknames for him too.”
She looked up at them all. “But he said…”
“What he said was in the heat of the moment, like you mentioned,” BJ remarked. “Ace would never back out of a deal. Especially not with someone he cares about. He was angry. I’m sure he said things he didn’t mean.”
She grimaced. “Me too.”
“Then talk to him. Work things out.”
“And come back to work,” Charlie pleaded. “Please, we need you, you’re the best server we have!”
“Charlie,” Del admonished. “We agreed not to mention work. This is about Mille and Ace. Not Jacks.”
“I know, Jackasson. I’m just emphasizing the point that we all miss her and want her back.”
She let out a small laugh, adoring how much Ace’s siblings cared. What she wouldn’t give to be part of a family like that.
You could be.
Her subconscious whispered. Tempting her with the idea of what life could be like if she and Ace stopped being so stubborn and sat down and talked things out. She wanted that. Desperately. Never in a million years had she ever thought she’d miss someone as much as she missed Ace right now. It had only been two days. One and a half, really. And her soul felt like it was split in two. She missed his grumpy frown. His caring nature. The warm feel of his hands holding her waist as he pulled her to him to devour her. She missed the sweetness he thought he hid from everyone. Not her. She saw it. And she loved him for it.
I love Ace.
She couldn’t deny it. Not to herself. Not anymore. The man had worked his way into her very soul, and he wasn’t ever leaving. He changed her. A part of her would always be different because of him.
“I’d love to talk to him,” she admitted. “But what if he doesn’t want to talk to me?”
“You’ll never know if you don’t try,” BJ said gently.
He had a point.
The door to the shop opened and a group of half a dozen tourists walked in.
“I should get back to work,” she said, rising from the table. “But thank you all for coming in and talking with me. It…gives me a lot to think about.”
Del moved around the table and pulled her into a fierce hug.
“We’re always here for you, Millie,” he said. “No matter what.”
She smiled and thanked him as he let go and Charlie took his place.
“My brothers are all useless when it comes to emotions.” She rolled her eyes then paused. “Come to think of it, our whole family is kind of bad at admitting our feelings, but we’re getting better at it. And if he keeps being a stubborn ass, I’ll switch out his cinnamon with chili powder.”
“No, Charlie.” Del glared at her. “Last time you did that I was at Ace’s place and put chili powder on my cinnamon roll. I nearly threw up after one bite.”
Charlie let out an evil chuckle that Millie couldn’t help but get swept up in. The woman was a hoot.
Last came BJ. His understanding gaze made tears well up in her eyes as a lump clogged her throat. He grabbed her up in a big bear hug, whispering to her as he lifted her off the ground.
“Don’t give up on him. He takes on too much and when he feels like he’s failed someone he’s too hard on himself. He doesn’t think he deserves grace or forgiveness. Prove him wrong, Millie.”
Squeezing back, she sniffled back the tears. BJ’s truth about Ace ringing in her ears as the siblings waved and left the shop. She got back to work, body working on muscle memory as her brain pondered all the information she’d just been given.
The truth was, both she and Ace were wrong. They could move past this. She believed that with her whole heart. All they needed to do was sit down and talk things through. BJ was right, Ace wouldn’t come to her. She knew him, better than she realized. If she wanted to fix this, fix them, she was going to have to make him see that he was worth the love she had to give him.
And hope that love would be returned.