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She has me trapped, here at the counter, and she’s intent on taking advantage of that fact. “Yeah, she told me. And I get it, that she’s fragile right now.”
“I mean, she didn’tloveSylvester but she was with him for a long time. That relationship messed with her head. It’s going to take her a while to get back on her feet. So if something is happening between you two?—”
“It’s not, Roxie.”
“Okay, but if somethingdoeshappen between you twoin the future, just be gentle with her, okay? She’s vulnerable right now,so give her some grace if she acts a little weird. She likes you, you know.”
“What?”
“I mean, she likes you a lot. I shouldn’t be saying this.” Her eyes dart across the room.
I look over there, too.
Maddison and her grandmother are both laughing. Maddison holds a glass saltshaker and Lottie fills it with salt. Maddison’s laughter lights up her whole face. Her layered bangs cover one of her eyes. Her smile is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
“Did she say that?” I ask Roxie.
Roxie whispers across the counter. “She doesn’t have to say it. Iseeit every time she talks about you. And besides, she’s happy, now that you guys are hanging out again.”
“You think she’s happy?”
“I do. And it’s a relief. Whenever I talked to her when she was living out in LA, she sounded miserable. She said things were going well and I even think she believed her life was fine. You know, she was busy doing all these glamorous things. But beneath all the words she kept saying about this party or that movie premiere, it was always the same sadness. Emptiness. I could hear it.”
“And now…?”
“Now, she’s laughing again.”
I watch Maddison place the filled saltshaker on a tray with a dozen others. She bows forward to hug her grandmother. Lottie squeezes her and the two share another joke.
When Maddison returns to the counter, both Roxie and I button our lips closed.
“Oh, don’t look so guilty,” Maddison says with a chuckle. “Now I know you were talking about things you shouldn’t.”
Roxie sidesteps away, under the guise of her counter-cleaning duties. “We were talking pancakes, and that’s all.”
“Yeahright,” Maddison says. She leans toward me. “Okay, co-lead. We’re the club presidents and we don’t keep secrets from each other. What was my pesky sister gabbing your ear off about, over here?”
“Pancakes.”
“Really.” She arches her brow and grins. “Why, what an interesting discussion that must have been.”
“It was. Truly. Did you know they’re the bread-and-butter of this diner? Roxie filled me in on the business model for this place. Quite clever, if you ask me.”
“Hm. Fascinating. Okay, since it’s a day for fibbing, I’ll try my hand at it, too. It’snoteight-thirty, and there’s no one outside, waiting to be let in.”
I check the door and see that there’s a crowd of about a dozen people waiting.
Lottie notices at the same time. She waves toward the door and a few of those waiting wave back at her. “I’m opening the doors!” she calls out, her sing-song tone familiar because it’s so close to Maddison’s.
Behind me, the kitchen doors swing open, and Maddison’s mother and father, Barb and Bertie, step out, followed by her grandfather, Bertrand.
When Bertrand catches sight of me, he lifts two fingers and gives me a crisp salute. Then he swipes his hands on his apron. “How’s it goin’, Doc? You think this crowd would like pie and coffee after a few games?”
I nod. “Absolutely, sir.”
Behind us, I hear the murmur of voices as people filter in through the doors. Lottie’s warm greetings mingle with laughter and jokes.
Barb smiles at me. Her smile is a lot like Maddison’s, but her face is plumper so the expression lifts her cheeks. “We’resopleased you and Maddie came up with this idea, Nicholas,” she says.
