Time seemed to slow as I watched disaster unfold. Piper jolted away, practically collapsing in on herself as she tried to hurry off. Luckily, nothing spilled on Jasmine, but it did on Piper.
I’d spilled many cups of coffee on me, and I knew that burned.
There were two breaths before Piper realized what had happened.
Then she bolted out the door.
“Oh my God!” Mollie finally ran up. “What happened? Jasmine, I told you not to run in like that!”
She scooped up her daughter, eyes on the coffee all over the floor. I should’ve gone to get the mop. I should’ve told Mollie that there was an accident but Jasmine was fine. I should’ve left Piper to her own devices.
“Kelsey, can you clean this up and man the register?”
I didn’t even wait for her response. I was going after Piper.
The alleyway was clear, except for the sound of rattlingkeys. When I got to the back of the building, I saw Piper at the top of the stairs, her breaths loud and labored.
She was struggling to even open the door.
My chest squeezed seeing her like this, and I didn’t know if I would help or make it worse.
But I was going to try.
“Hey.” I wouldn’t have called my voice calming in any measure, but I tried to keep it low so I wouldn’t startle her. “Piper, hand me your keys.”
I half expected her to get startled by me. If she did, I would either try something else or leave her to her own devices.
Instead, she paused. Her chest still heaved, but she slowly turned to me.
Her pupils were dilated. It felt like she was looking through me and not at me. But she dropped her keys and made herself as small as she could on the landing.
It gave me space to open the door for her.
I stepped out of the way to allow her room to get inside. There was one second where her eyes met mine. She gave me a small nod—something I took as a silent thank-you—and then ran inside.
As much as I wanted to follow, I knew how these moments felt. Maybe I’d never felt it as strongly as she did, but I knew what it was like to be at my lowest moment, to need to feel the worst of things.
I’d done it alone too.
I needed to get back to the shop anyway. I needed to think of some kind of excuse as to why I followed her like I did.
But I did one thing before all of that.
Pulling out my phone, I sent a text.
Theo
I’m here if you need me.
Kelsey had cleaned up the mess by the time I returned. Beyond that, she was at the front, taking a customer’s order. I took over her station on autopilot, helping her through the rush of people. Things were backward, but she handled it with ease.
I didn’t want to face anyone anyway.
I got through the rush before anyone spoke to me, and that time was needed for me to get my wits about me.
Mollie was the first person I saw.
She’d come into town almost four years ago, bringing with her a change that nearly everyone took note of. She was the first person close to my age to fall in love. She also was one of the few people to get the Oreo latte.
