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Dee’s blue eyes sparkled. “You know my baby never lets you down.” She petted the monster that took up half of her back counter.
“It better not,” Sam shouted from the back. “I’m still paying that sucker off.”
“Don’t listen to him, baby. He doesn’t know our special bond,” Dee crooned.
Bella laughed. “Double shot mocha latte with extra cinnamon, please.”
“Oh, it’s a serious day.” Dee dumped espresso beans in her grinder.
Oh, that sweet, sweet smell. Bella dropped onto one of the swivel stools. “I have a lot to catch up on now that the festival’s over. I need all the help I can get.”
A group of girls came in and sat at a booth in the back. Their eyes widened once then looked down at their phones.
“Here you go, Bella.”
Bella frowned and turned back to Dee. She left a five on the counter and pulled the cup toward her.
“Nah, on the house.”
“No, that’s okay.”
“I insist.” Dee leaned on the counter. “It’s the least I can do.”
“Okay, thanks.” Bella slid off the stool. That was weird. Maybe it was because she’d given Valentine’s a free booth. They’d made a killing. Even Sam couldn’t complain about the money they’d raked in. “I’ll see you later.”
“Sounds good, sweetie.”
Bella glanced over at the stage. Cam and his crew were busy pulling down the stage apron that went around the gazebo. Another year finished. She smiled at two women that passed her on the sidewalk.
They smiled back, but a peal of laughter seemed a little excessive. Again, she got the distinct feeling they’d been looking at her like they knew her. Winchester Falls was a small town, but not so small that every person knew the other.
And she was pretty good at remembering faces.
She definitely did not know those women, or the trio of girls at the diner.
She took a fortifying sip of Dee’s latte and turned into her store.
“Bella, is that you?”
She frowned. “Yeah. What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming in until afternoon.” She lifted her cup. “I would have gotten you one.”
“I had to come in.”
“Hey, I don’t mind the help. We’re backlogged on orders with the—”
“B. Honey, stop.” Nic folded her arms.
“Okay, what the hell is going on? Everyone’s acting weird today.”
“You haven’t seen it?”
“No. Did something happen?” Her stomach flipped. She hadn’t turned on the television in days. “God, nothing terrorist-related, right?”
“Only if you consider what I’d like to do to Logan King’s nuts. I might get arrested. I don’t think it deserves a terrorist alert, though.”
She sighed. “I do not want to talk about Logan. I want to put him behind me.” A decade would be good. Well, minus the aging. But the hurting part. She’d definitely skip that.
The ache in her chest had been a twinge for all of a minute. Then Nic had to bring him up. Shouldn’t that be against the best friend code or something?
