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“Mackenzie Ryder… whaaaaa? I’ve known you almost four years and have never heard you talk about someone. Wow. She must be a special one.”
Damn Viviane and her super sleuth superpower.Mack couldn’t help but smile.
Viviane smoothed out her shirt and effectively dropped the conversation, probably knowing that Mack was on the cusp of a breakdown from the day’s activities. But she patted Mack’s hand a little longer than usual. “I’m heading to the ladies’ room, then over to the pitch area. Wanna text me when you’re done, and we’ll meet up?”
“Hey, maybe we can cancel?—”
“Nope.” She waved from behind her head as she exited. “See you in a few hours.”
Mack shook out her spasming arms, finished one more lap, and waited.
The class filed in, pulling an opposite of high school, where the first rows filled up the quickest. Mack quietly exhaled and straightened her shoulders.
“Good morning, everyone.” She smiled at the crowd before pulling up her presentation. One more unsteady breath exhaled, she wiggled her toes to keep the blood flowing and clasped her fingers together. “Who’s ready to learn how to make people love the unlovable?”
Three hours later, Mack completed the class and follow-up Q and A session without technical issues. She threw back a salad, chatted with a couple of fellow authors, and another hour later, she popped a Tylenol in the Uber as she and Viviane made their way downtown.
Viviane caught Mack’s gaze. “Headache?”
“Preventative measures.” Mack snapped the cap back on and tossed the bottle in her bag. “And I messed up my shoulder a little yesterday helping a friend.”
“Helping a friend. In Seattle. Uh-huh.” Viviane’s fingers tapped her crossed arms. “Is this who you blushed about earlier?”
Viviane was Mack’s closest person in the world besides her parents. Why was she keeping Charlie so close, like a mystical ancient scroll? Maybe it was less about Charlie the person and more about the feelings that stirred with any thought of Charlie. The newness of everything left her squirmy, and she barely had time to process things.
“Yeah.” Mack exhaled. “She owns the coffee shop I’ve been working out of ’cause if I spend too much time around my mom, I’ll go crazy. But she had a water issue at her place, and I helped her out.”
“Interesting.” Viviane’s mouth twisted, and her face softened. “How’s your mom?”
“Annoying.”
“Excellent. Annoying moms are good. Means she got her spunk back, huh?”
“She’s up my ass all the time, but I kind of like it.” Mack drummed her fingers against the window ledge. “But I’ll never tell her that, and if you do, I’ll write a terrible children’s horror book and tell the literary world you made me do it.”
“Dammmmn. Tough words.” Viviane’s neck stretched as she peeked out the window. “Well, sister, we got a pretty healthy line already. You good?”
Oof.The crowd wrapped around the block, and at least two dozen other people trudged up the sidewalk with bags or books tucked under their arms. Mack cracked the window and yanked off her necklace that dug into her skin and constricted the last of her air.Inhale, four. Hold, four. Exhale, four. Hold, four.
“No.” She slammed back the rest of the water and swiped her hand across her upper lip. “It’s too much. Why didn’t we schedule this on a different day?”
“Because you like to knock it all out at once.” She directed the driver to the alley. “Come on, all these people bought your books and are here to see you.”
“I know, I know. I sound like I don’t appreciate them, and I do. I’m just over being around people.”
Viviane wrapped her warm fingers over Mack’s, her multiple stacked rings settling on Mack’s knuckles. “I know you think you have to put on some façade in public, but you don’t. I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. You’re pretty amazing, just as you are. Got it?”
Mack rested her head on Viviane’s shoulder and prayed, through the power of osmosis, she could soak in some of Viviane’s kindness and strength.
Mack dragged her hands down her face. She’d give anything to be sitting at Sugar Mugs, listening to Charlie’s candy-sweet voice and indulging in the whisper of vanilla that fluttered to her nose whenever Charlie stood close. Charlie was a circumference of joy and light that somehow beamed energy into Mack, rather than taking it away. Then maybe she’d have enough oomph to deal with the crowd.
Viviane exited the car and held a hand out for Mack. “Come on. We got this.”
Needing any support she could get to leave the car, Mack accepted her hand but groaned as Viviane tugged her to the alley entrance door.
“Welcome!” The overly chipper owner with a name tag that saidKenwiped his hand on his thigh before shaking Mack’s hand, and escorted her into the multilevel bookstore with brick walls, cedar bookshelves, and creaky hardwood floors. “Happy to have the talented M. Ryder in our midst.”
She discreetly dragged her thumb across her itchy stomach, and in T minus three minutes, her back would be tacky with sweat. But the need to put him at ease superseded her need to hide, so she smiled. “Happy to be here. Your store’s beautiful. How long have you owned this?”
