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“Always.” He adjusts himself until he’s lying down too, and I close my eyes like I’ve done a hundred times before with this man. “Sleep,” he says softly, and I slowly drift off.
* * *
Gracie
I’ve decided decaffeinated coffee is pointless. Kinda like a hooker who only wants to snuggle.
Kenzie
Have you ever snuggled a hooker or did you mean to text that to Callen?
Everly
Seriously. WTF is the point of decaf? Give me the strong stuff or give me nothing. Wasn’t that a line in a movie?
Brynlee
OMG. NO.
Lindy
Well I’m about to walk into Sweet Temptations. Maybe I’ll see if throwing decaf at someone is as effective as full caf.
Bryn
You can’t throw coffee at your mom, Linds.
Lindy
We’ll see about that.
* * *
Ipull up in front of Sweet Temptations, my sister Amelia’s shop. Once I’m out of my car, I adjust my coat and turn to look at Charles, who tends to give me a little more breathing room when we’re in Kroydon Hills. “I’m pretty sure I’m safe in Amelia’s shop. Why don’t you go get lunch across the street?”
“You know I’m not going to do that, Miss Kingston. I’ll be in the back corner. You won’t even know I’m here,” he tells me with a look of frustration growing on his face.
I shake my head and push through the pink doors. The sugary scent of freshly baked sweets mixes with the spicy smell of coffee and wafts through the shop, making my stomach growl. When I was a little girl, this was my favorite place to go. Mom would pick me up from ballet class at the twins’ mom’s studio next door and bring me here to pick out a cupcake and get a hot chocolate. I always felt so cool because Mom would have her coffee and I’d have my cocoa. That feels like so long ago.
The shop is mostly empty today. I guess the morning rush has died down already because Amelia is sitting at one of her mismatched,Friends-inspired tables, sipping a cup of coffee with Lenny and Scarlet.Great. I didn’t realize this was going to be another full-blown sister thing. At least my brothers aren’t here too.
I walk up to the counter and order a cup of tea and a scone from the woman behind the register, then join my sisters. “Mom’s not here yet?” I ask as I slide into my favorite purple, crushed-velvet chair.
Lenny opens her mouth to answer as the bells chime over the door, then nods. “Jules and she just walked in.”
“Great.”
Mom and Jules co-own an event-planning company with offices across the street. I guess they came right from the office. Mom joins us at the table as Juliette walks over to the counter and grabs two coffees.
“Thanks for coming, honey. I hoped we’d have been able to talk before now, but you don’t seem to want to talk to me, so I thought maybe your sisters could help.”
“Ganging up on me isn’t going to help, Mom.” I tear a piece of my scone and stuff it in my mouth before I can say anything else.
“We’re not here to gang up on you, Lindy. But we need you to talk to us,” Lenny tells me like she’s rehearsed the words.
“Have you spoken to a lawyer yet?” Scarlet asks, and Juliette looks at her like she has five heads.
“Becket’s her lawyer,” Jules snaps.
