Center Point was slow when we walked in, with only Wren and Henry at their usual table. Tammy was talking to them animatedly, as she always did whenever they came in.
“She’s in a friendly mood,” Piper commented.
“Tammy’s always like that with Wren. She’s her favorite.”
“Where do you rank?”
“I’ve always been too scared to ask.”
“What a surprise,” Tammy said as she walked up to us. Her eyes lingered on Piper’s arm that was still threaded through mine.
“Theo needs a pick-me-up. The coffee shop was busy today.”
“I saw. Freya’s stuff does well.” She gave us a smile. “Come on, kids. I’ll lead you to a table.”
“I’m nearly forty,” I said.
“And I’m way older than you,” she said, waving her hand. “Now come on, you two.”
Tammy sat us in my usual spot and got our drinks before returning to talk to Wren and Henry for a bit.
“Think she’s talking about us?” I asked.
“Definitely. But Wren knows something is going on.”
“She does?”
“Yes, and she very much approves.”
I blinked, still baffled at the fact no one had said anything about our age difference. I turned to Wren, who had caught Piper’s eye and waved. Henry did the same too, but he looked how I felt: exhausted. I gave him a nod before leaning back in the booth.
My eyes shut and I took in a moment of silence before remembering Piper and I had something we needed to talk about. I shook my head in hopes of finding energy that wasn’t there before sitting up.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah. Long day.”
“It really was. That was more than two people can handle.”
“Already on it, if the business keeps up.” I never thought I would need a third employee, but I had plans in case it happened.
“Good,” she replied. “Now, about this trip to Nashville ...”
“You can back out if it’s too much. And I’ll have to make sure it’s on a day that I’m sold out of Freya’s stuff so it’s not as busy.” I scrubbed my face.
“I wanna go, if you’ll have me.”
“I’ll always have you,” I said.
“Good.” She sat up straighter. “And I don’t wanna crash your party, but I might wind up doing it. My only experience is with Knoxville, and the town I lived in outside of it. Nashville is way bigger.”
“It is,” I replied. “And I’m probably gonna stay the night in a hotel farther from the city. I hate making that drive all in one day.”
“Okay, so we’d have a place to go.” She slowly nodded. “That’s helpful. Where are you meeting this person?”
“It’s the sister shop of mine. It’s in East Nashville, which is a place where most of the locals hang out.”
“Another coffee shop. I’d love to try it.”
