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“Can you deal with the Millers?”
Angelo nodded. “Sure.” She’d already told him that she and Adam weren’t dating anymore so he totally got it. “If he asks about you, what shall I say?”
“Just tell him I’m on my break.” She grimaced. “At some point, I’m going to have to deal with him, but this is the first time I’ve seen him, and it’s . . . hard.”
“No worries. I’ve got this.” Angelo patted her shoulder. “You hang out in here and handle the food orders. I’ll manage the tables until they leave.”
After about half an hour, Lizzie took a peek out of the kitchen into the café, and silently groaned. It was getting way too busy for Angelo to handle alone, and she was supposed to be the manager. She’d have to suck it up and deal.
Putting on her apron, she went out with a smile on her face, and started taking orders from the outside tables, and anyone who wasn’t near the Millers. Angelo worked out her strategy and focused his attention on the cluster of guests around them. Just to steel herself, Lizzie cast the occasional glance over at the back of Adam’s head, but it didn’t help. She just felt his anger and betrayal washing over her all over again.
When a line formed at the counter, she switched jobs and dealt with those patrons. Eventually, she turned back with someone’s take-out cappuccino to discover Adam had come up to pay the bill.
She took it off him and busied herself making change, avoiding his gaze.
“Thanks so much.” She dumped the money in his hand and immediately turned away.
“Lizzie.”
She forced herself to look over her shoulder, concentrating her attention on one of the buttons of his green shirt.
“What’s up? Did I get the change wrong?”
He sighed and lowered his voice. “Look—I owe you an apology, and this isn’t the best place to get into it. Will you let me come over?”
Her heart thudded so hard in her chest that she wondered if he could hear it.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She fiddled with the coffee machine, wiping down the steamers.
“We can’t just leave things as they are.”
“There’s no ‘we,’ Adam. We’re done. Over. Finished.”
“I get that, but you did say you’d talk to me.”
So he really did think they were done.... Lizzie finally found the courage to look him in the eye. “Why would you want to talk to a liar? If you want the truth, there are plenty of other people you can ask whom you trust, so just for once, leave me out of it, okay?”
She deliberately shut him out, looked past him to the next person in the line, and smiled brightly. “Hey, welcome to Yvonne’s. What can I get for you today?”
* * *
Adam returned to the table, the coins clenched in his fist, his frustration close to boiling over. She didn’t want to talk to him. She thought things were over between them, and she didn’t want to see him alone ever again.
“Are you okay, Adam?” Daisy asked tentatively.
He took his seat and sipped the remains of his coffee, which was now cold, his gaze fixed on Lizzie as she interacted with her customers. Her smile was forced, and he knew she was way more emotional about what had just happened between them than she was letting on. He’d called her a liar, and it had obviously hurt her badly.
“How did it go with Lizzie?” Daisy asked.
“How do you think?” Adam replied, his stomach twisting. “She doesn’t want to talk to me.”
“Perhaps she needs more time,” Leanne added. “She looks pretty upset.”
“That’s on me.” Adam sighed. “She won’t even talk things through.”
“Well, this is hardly the place for a heart-to-heart.”
“I mentioned that, but she doesn’t want me going around to her place anymore either.”
Leanne patted his hand. “Give her time. It’s a small town; you’re bound to bump into her, and things will eventually get better.”
“It took him fourteen years to come around last time, Leanne, so I wouldn’t hold your breath.” Daisy murmured.
Adam shot Daisy a wounded look as she sided with their mother. “Thanks, sis.”
