Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Twenty-Nine
After several weeks of spending most of their free time in bed, Allie and Ryan began to explore a less naked collaboration. Ryan hadn’t been lying when he’d said that his drumming was coming along. Allie felt herself inspired, for the first time in years, to write song after song. They were creating something that made her so excited she had trouble sleeping at night. She woke up with their songs running through her head and sang them all day at the café.
They were practicing in the tiny, windowless room in the basement of Ryan and Anisha’s apartment building. The sign on the door, written in Ryan’s almost illegible scrawl, read Dr. Worm’s Drum Studio. It smelled a bit damp, and Ryan had to duck to avoid smashing his head on the doorframe, but Allie was always eager to go there.
They took a break from rehearsing the bridge to a new song, and Allie inspected her guitar in the dim light. She was worried that her enthusiastic strumming was going to scratch the wood of her beloved acoustic. She hadn’t expected to want to play loud, but she did. It was a different kind of loud than it had been with the Jetskis. Ryan as her steady—and only—backup made her feel more courageous, as if she could take these songs in whatever directions she wanted and he would happily support her as she did it. That seemed worth being loud about.
“I think I should get an electric guitar.” She rubbed her fingers over the wood and frowned. “I don’t want to fuck this one up. Plus, it will be easier to get the sound we want at a show, like there’s more than just two of us.”
“Is that your way of telling me that you finally want us to book a show?” Ryan grinned. He’d been a typical first-time band participant, thinking they were ready for a show immediately, so eager to show the world what they’d come up with.
Allie smiled back at him. “Soon, my eager friend. Soon.”
“You know I just want everyone to see how cool my lady friend is.”
“You’re no slouch, either. Those fills are really coming along.”
She could see him blushing and felt her heart warm.
“Thanks.” He pulled his phone from his pocket to check the time. With it came a folded envelope. A smile bloomed across his face. “Hey, I wanna show you something.”
Allie put her guitar in its stand and stepped closer to him. “What is it?”
“I got a letter from Rachel.”
Allie’s eyebrows shot up. “You wrote to her? You really finally did it?”
Ryan bit his lip and nodded. He smoothed out the envelope and took out the folded paper inside. “I wrote to her at her work. She owns an ice cream shop, so I was sure she wouldn’t have any family around when she got the letter. And she wrote back.”
“What did she say?” Allie put her arm around Ryan’s shoulders and leaned closer to see the letter.
“She was glad I wrote. She didn’t say much, but she did say she misses me. And that I should let her know if I’m ever visiting anywhere close by so we can meet for coffee.”
“Ryan, that’s amazing.” Allie’s eyes skimmed the one page of scratchy writing, tearing up when she saw that it was signed “Love, Rachel.” She put an arm around his neck and pulled him close to her. “I’m so happy for you.”
Ryan smiled and kissed her cheek, then folded the letter back into the envelope and slid it into his pocket. She released him from her embrace and stretched both arms in the air, yawning. “Should we run it again?”
“I wish we could, but if you want to stay in Ren’s good graces, we should get you back to the café. Our two hours are up.”
Ren had been crushed when Allie let them know that she would not actually be taking over the café. Mindy hadn’t exactly jumped for joy, either. The other offer she’d gotten at Christmas was no longer on the table. It had been a quiet few days at work. But Allie knew that both of them wanted the best for her, and Ren had eventually—grudgingly—admitted that they’d never seen Allie this happy, so the decision seemed to be the right one. Mindy, for her part, had agreed that Ren’s opinion of any prospective owner mattered, so both of them could often be found discussing the qualities they each wanted in a new proprietor, animated and occasionally ridiculous discussions that Allie happily ignored.
She put her guitar back in its case, and Ryan rose from his drum kit and took the case in his hand. It weighed a ton, and she had quickly grown tired of hauling it back and forth between her home and his. She’d begun reluctantly accepting Ryan’s help for small things like this. If the guy liked her enough to carry her guitar through the cold Brooklyn streets several times a week, who was she to argue?
She pulled on her coat and glanced at Ryan. “Ready to go?”
He nodded, and she walked to the door, opening it toward herself with her free hand.
Anisha was standing on the other side, hand poised in the air as though she was about to knock. Allie screamed. Then Anisha screamed. Ryan, for his part, skipped the screaming and went straight to laughter.
“Jesus.” Allie clutched her chest. She could feel her heart pounding. “You scared the crap out of me! Why are you lurking behind the door like a serial killer?”
“I wasn’t expecting you to fling it open and scream in my face!” Anisha wiped her brow with a handkerchief she’d produced from the pocket of her dress. “Holy crap. Simmer down, everyone. I just wanted to walk with you to the café.”
They left the practice room and locked the door behind them.
It was freezing outside. Ryan wrapped one arm around Allie’s shoulders to calm her shivering. She felt his warmth radiate through her and leaned in closer. All those years walking alone on the street had been fine, but this was better.
The café was almost empty when they got there, the post-lunch lull having arrived just as it always did. Ren was wiping down the counters when they all hustled in from the cold. Anisha moved toward the counter quickly, and Ren’s face lit up. They looked, Allie noted, just as happy as they had every other time she’d seen the two of them together. So much for all the worries about Anisha ending up another broken heart. It seemed implausible now, looking at them together. But then, so many things that she’d thought to be true mere months ago now seemed absurd.
“Oh good, you’re all here.” Mindy emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. She was looking at Anisha, not Allie.
“Were you expecting Anisha?” Allie asked, shrugging out of her coat and taking Ryan’s from him to go hang them up by the office. She’d thought Anisha’s visit was spontaneous.
Mindy turned to her. “Yes, I was, actually. I need to have a chat with the three of you in the kitchen, briefly. Ryan, you can come, too, I guess.”
“Can’t pass up an enthusiastic invite.” Ryan grinned.
“Quickly.” Mindy ignored his joke. “Before we get a bunch of customers.”
The five of them entered the kitchen, Ren standing by the door so they could keep an eye on the front.
“I have good news.” Mindy looked from Allie to Ren. “I’ve found a buyer for the café.”
“A buyer!” Allie’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected Mindy to find someone so soon. “Holy shit! Wow. Okay.” A mix of contradictory feelings rushed through her.
I should be used to big changes by now.
Still, she couldn’t help but be unnerved by the news.
“Are they going to keep running it as a café?” Allie glanced nervously at Ren, whose eyes were locked on Mindy, waiting for the answer to this very question.
“I don’t know.” Mindy spoke slowly. The tension in the room heightened. She turned to Anisha. Her face broke into a smile. “Are you going to keep running it as a café?”
Ryan, Allie and Ren whipped their heads toward Anisha, who had been patiently and silently standing against the counter. Anisha’s smile was as wide as Mindy’s was. “Yes.” She nodded. “I absolutely will keep running it as a café.”
Ren left their spot by the door and walked, looking dazed, toward Anisha. “You? You bought the café?”
Anisha took both of Ren’s hands and nodded again, looking right into their eyes. “I did. Making food for people is the thing that’s always made me the happiest. Until I met you. This just makes sense. Will you—” Anisha stopped and grinned. “Will you, Ren Zhao, do me the honor of…running a small community-based coffee shop with me? As long as we both shall, uh, want to?”
Ren nodded. Allie thought she saw some rare tears in her friend’s eyes. “I will.” Ren grabbed Anisha in a hug, and Allie and Ryan applauded. Relief and happiness washed over Mindy’s face. Allie knew that this whole process had been stressful for her aunt as well. Despite Mindy’s clear desire to leave the café portion of her life behind, it was obvious that she wanted to know she was leaving it in good hands.
“And you”—Anisha pointed at Allie over Ren’s shoulder—“can work here whenever you want. If you two take your show on the road, we’ll just hire someone else for a bit. You’ll always have a place here.”
“Thank you.” Allie’s heart swelled. “We’re not going anywhere for a while, but it’s good to know that we’ll be able to eventually. Plus, it will take me months to teach you how to make George’s tea.”
“Oh god.” Anisha rolled her eyes. “I forgot about George’s tea. Is it too late to back out of this deal?”
“Sorry.” Mindy grinned. “We signed the papers. No turning back now.”
“Well”—Anisha leaned her head on Ren’s shoulder and looked around the kitchen—“I guess we’ll just have to figure things out. George included.”
Mindy looked at the four of them. “I have faith in you.” She caught Allie’s eye and winked. Allie fought back the tears. “You’re all amazing.”
It was true, Allie thought, a rush of joy flooding her heart. They were all amazing.