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¨ Twenty-eight? I thought maybe twenty.¨ The color of her eyes dims as she focuses back on her smoothie.
¨Oh…well, thank you?¨ I’m unsure if I should take it as a compliment, and because she fails to respond, I don’t think she meant it as one.
¨How are you a reporter and staying with your grandmother for the summer?¨
¨ I’m writing a biographical memoir, so I’ll be working while here.¨
¨Wow. Sounds fancy.¨ She then skims me up and down again and clears her throat.
¨ I’m not sure if I say that. I can see if I headed to Martha’s vineyard to write a memoir but —¨
¨Evergreen, Missouri, right? Yes, we are not fancy. We do know how to camp and make our way around a thunderstorm, though.¨ Her tone is suddenly harsh.
I try not to take what she says as an insult.
¨ Where’s Adam?¨ Isabella completely turns herself from me on the chair and faces Joaquin, who is measuring out his coffee bags.
¨That storm wasn’t typical for Evergreen. Nadia made the right decision to seek shelter and not kill herself in it.¨
My heart skips a beat as I’m grateful Joaquin has noticed Isabella’s jab.
¨Well, of course. I was only joking. The same way she was joking about our town not being fancy.¨
Uh oh. She’s talking about me in the third person while I’m right beside her. And, her back is to me. I try not to take this personally, but god, is it hard, and I am only human.
¨Joaquin, is there any coffee made?¨ I shift the energy by focusing on my own needs.
He gives me a bright smile and nods his head to the back of the counter.
¨ I’m so sorry. I didn’t properly greet you as a patron. Is there anything I can get you?¨
I giggle as he turns on his hospitality mask. He, too, joins in with a chuckle, slithering from behind the roaster to go behind the counter.
¨Probably because she came from your pocket door, not the patron door.¨ Isabella points out.
Joaquin and I ignore her as he pours me a mug of coffee. Instead of waiting for him to bring it to me, I stand up to grab it myself. I don’t need Isabella thinking I’m some damsel in distress. The way she has things backward is truly annoying me more than I think.
¨Thank you.¨
¨My pleasure.¨ His fingertips dance along my hand as I reach for the mug. His gray eyes narrow in at my face before he pulls them back abruptly to conceal his sexual energy.
My private throbs, and I take a huge gulp of the piping coffee.
He gives me a bewildered face before he says, ¨Be careful. It isveryhot.¨
¨Are those bags done, Guac?¨
Did she just call him Guac, as in guacamole? I suppose that could be a nickname for Joaquin. I ponder as I shift my burnt-tongue expression into something more stoic before I turn around.
Isabella helps herself to the coffee bags. She clearly didn’t like Joaquin serving me.
¨Sure.¨
Joaquin scurries to assist Isabella, who now acts like she needs to be catered to. Odd woman. It’s hard to read someone you just met, but she felt like bubbles and kindness when she first laid eyes on me, but now she’s impatient and bothered as if I offended her. I doubt it was the fancy comment. It has to be more. After all, she is his ex.
¨Well, the roads should be clear by tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll be on your way to your grandmother’s. So, if I don’t see you around town, I hope you enjoy our little town. It’s not the big city life, but we are pretty awesome, and this is the one place in the country where you get to see so many more shades of green than your eye can believe.¨ Isabella forces out a smile.
She reaches out to tug at Joaquin’s hand, pulling him playfully. He gives her a closed-mouth smile revealing they don’t usually play like this. The calmness and clarity this gives me are astonishingly relieving. I’m not a fan of this fact. This means I hold a soft spot for him.
