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Ava smiled. “It seems like a good plan for them. The one thing that I really like about those two is that they just keep trying. It’s a nice quality to have. They’ll find their place in the world.” She looked at Billie. “And what about you, have you found yours?”
Billie looked around at the cafe, at the street outside the window and nodded. “Maybe. Maybe I have. You know, they say you can’t go home again though.”
“Yes, but this isn’t the home you grew up in, is it?” Ava said. “Not without your parents here.”
“I still need a plan,” Billie said.
“You’ll figure it out.”
IT WASN’T UNTIL almost dinner time that a thought occurred to Billie. She needed to act, she needed to show she’d changed, and there was one sure way to do that. But it would require a little help. It took another few minutes of thinking and then a couple of phone calls to track down a number, but finally, she got hold of who she needed.
“You might not want to speak to me,” she opened with.
“Why’s that?” asked the woman, suspicious.
“I’m Billie, the piano player from the other night.”
Alea laughed. “Didn’t think I’d be hearing from you. Changed your mind and want to join the band?”
“Not exactly,” said Billie. “But I was wondering about your tour schedule.”
“The tour’s over,” said Alea.
Billie grinned. “That’s exactly what I was hoping for.”
Chapter Thirty Four
“I can’t believe you called me in on my night off,” Jules said, tying her apron on.
“Well, it was either that or let Dave behind the bar, and I thought it’d be better for my wallet and his liver that I didn’t let that happen,” said Josh, banging down two handfuls of pint glasses. “Besides, were you doing anything else?”
“I was about to start the new season of Below Deck.”
“Psh, you don’t want to watch that American trash. You should be watching Strictly Come Dancing.”
“Then neither one of us would be able to work on Sunday during the results show,” Jules pointed out.
“Yeah, good point,” Josh said. “Anyway, you’re here now. And I thought you’d be glad of a chance to see that girl you’ve been after.”
Jules decided not to disabuse Josh of the notion that she was still interested in Alea. “Why, they on tonight then?” she asked instead.
“Wanted a coming home party after their tour,” said Josh. “Probably wanted a friendly audience for once.”
“Bit late notice.”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t like we had anything else going on. And we usually have live music on Mondays, so you know people’ll be in for it.”
“Wouldn’t know,” said Jules. “It’s supposed to be my night off, remember?” Truthfully, she’d been looking forward to a chance to be brain-dead for a while. And a chance to try and figure out what she was going to say to Billie when she finally screwed up her courage enough to knock on her door.
If she was going to knock on her door.
The more she thought about it, the more she wondered whether Billie was actually right. The truth of the matter was that Billie didn’t fit into her life. What was she supposed to do with a girlfriend that she couldn’t even bring into work?
Maybe it was all for the best, as much as it hurt. And it hurt a surprising amount. More than Jules had expected. More than she thought was really fair for someone she’d only known for a few weeks.
“Eh, I’ll take a pint whenever you’ve got a minute,” Dave shouted from the other end of the bar.
Jules sighed and started to pull one.
