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She scrunched her nose, movements on pause. “Why?”
“Because you’re about dead on your feet and I like the feel of her. She’s my little pal.”
Eventually, she gave in, and we started toward the exit, Yael pushing the empty stroller in front of me, Simone happily hanging out on my chest. I wasn’t paying attention, so I almost knocked into Yael when she stopped abruptly.
“What the—?”
Ah, I saw the reason she’d stopped—tworeasons. In front of us, a couple stood at the counter, waiting for their order, both dressed New-York-cool, perfectly styled and just enough visible tattoos to appear “edgy.” Their thousand-dollar leather jackets betrayed them, though. Custom tailoring wasn’t punk rock, in my humble opinion.
The woman turned, catching sight of Yael. Her eyes lit up with what appeared to be pure joy. “Yael...what are you doing here?”
I didn’t have to see Yael’s face to know she was stiff and not entirely happy this reunion was playing out right now.
She stepped around the stroller and gave her long-lost friend a one-armed hug.
“Hey, Allie.” She nodded at the guy. “Jamie.”
His brows pulled together in the middle. “I don’t get a hug now?”
Yael laughed—the fakest I’d ever heard—and gave him an even less friendly one-armed hug. “Sorry, I’m just shocked to see you in New York. I thought you were living in Philly.”
The woman, Allie, reached out and squeezed Yael’s bicep, her face pinched with a peculiar expression. Was it pity? Seemed out of place for a coffee shop at eight in the morning, but what did I know?
“We’re in town wedding planning. Well, I should say we’re on our way up to the venue. Harris is going with us.” Allie moved to the guy, Jamie, and slipped her arm around his. I recognized her now. She’d been one of Yael’s roommates when they attended NYU. I’d been touring with Unrequited pretty constantly back then, but anytime we were in the city, we’d hang out with Yael and her friends. This girl…yeah, I remembered her.
“Didn’t you receive your invitation? We haven’t heard back,” Allie said.
“I did.” Yael placed her hand on the stroller handle. “I haven’t—”
Jamie’s frown deepened. “Wait a second—do you have a baby?”
I remembered this guy too, and his asshole brother, Harris.
“Oh, no. Mo and his wife have a baby. I’m just the babysitter,” Yael said.
Taking that as my cue, I slung my arm around her shoulders. “Me too. We’re co-babysitters.”
Allie’s hand flew to her mouth, and Jamie’s eyes bounced from my arm around Yael, to my face, to her. It wasn’t an adorable bounce either—it was all scowly, not suitable for this time of day. Yael gave me a smile so sharp, I felt it like lashes from a whip.
I lifted the hand that sat on her shoulder in a wave. “Yo, I’m Murray. Did I hear something about impending nuptials?”
Allie broke first, slipping out a little giggle. “Jamie and I are getting married in three weeks at this gorgeous estate in the Finger Lakes region.” She smoothed a hand over her already-smooth hair as she arched an eyebrow at me. “You probably don’t remember me, but we met years ago.”
I cocked my head. “Word? Did we?”
This woman seemed like she was used to being the center of attention, and I wasn’t about to become one of her audience members. Maybe if Yael seemed more thrilled to see her, I’d play along, but that wasn’t the case. There was tension here, coming from all three.
Yael turned to me. “Jamie is Harris’s brother. I’m sure you remember him.”
I did. All of it was crystal clear.
“Rings a bell,” I said, giving Simone’s bottom a pat. “Anyway, congrats on the marriage and all that. We’ve gotta get going. The babe doesn’t like it when we stand still for too long.”
I tried to pull Yael along, but Allie’s hand shot out, grabbing her forearm.
“Hey...I’d really love for you to come to the wedding. I know we haven’t spoken a lot lately, but it would mean so much if you came.” Allie managed to sound sincere. She’d have to have a backbone forged with steel to have been Yael’s friend, so maybe she wasn’t so bad.
Jamie nodded. “It’d mean a lot to Allie. And I know Harris and Michelle would like to see you.”
