AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Come on,” she says, hooking her hand through my elbow and linking arms. “Let’s go get a coffee.” She steers me toward Brew You. We walk in and the smell of rich espresso assaults me. I inhale a deep breath and Lainey giggles, dragging me along behind her.
“Pixie! Righteous!” Leaf shouts, running around the counter and pulling me into a hug. I laugh and hug him back.
“Leaf, I just saw you this morning.” Indigo’s laugh tinkles from behind the counter and she shakes her head as he squeezes me and let’s go.
“He’s obsessed with you, Pixie. If he didn’t love me so much, I’m sure he’d leave me for you.” Indigo says, rolling her eyes and pressing a kiss to her husband's cheek as he comes back to her side of the counter.
“You know you’re the only girl for me, Indy.” He whacks her butt, and she shoos him back towards the kitchen. Once she’s taken our orders, we find ourselves a little table in the back of the shop and settle in.
“How are you holding up, babe?” I ask her and she gives me a sad smile.
“I’m okay. I was blessed to have her as long as I did, honestly. Liza is taking it really hard.” My heart breaks a little, knowing how close they all were to Poppy. Hell, the whole town is taking it hard.
“I’m sure she is. They spent a lot of time together.” The waitress delivers our drinks and Lainey glances around to make sure no one is listening.
“Her lawyer came by the house the other day to go over some papers. Poppy had a will and in it, she left me the house.” I breathe a sigh of relief at her words because we were worried that the house would go to Poppy’s horrible, no good brother. He’s a disgusting, vile human who never gave a shit about Poppy while she was alive.
“That’s amazing, Lainey! Are you worried Tom will try to dispute it?” She sighs and sips from her cup before answering me.
“He’s already trying. He filed a motion with the court, saying I forged the will.”
“That son of a bitch,” I curse. “How could he say such a thing? He knows how much you loved Poppy.”
“It’s just the way he is,” she says, shrugging her shoulders. “He thinks everyone owes him something.”
“Well hopefully the judge throws the book at him.”
“Has Zander had any leads on your mom?” She asks and I shake my head.
“Not since there was activity on her debit card. Hoyt went to view the security footage, but couldn't pull any clear images of who it was. They had a hoodie on and sunglasses. The guys took a break for a while because they had another job they had to do. They’ve been back at it for about four days but nothing.”
“I’m so sorry,” she says with a frown.
“Me too. At this point I don’t even know if we’ll find her alive, but we have to find her.” Lainey reaches across the table and pats my hand.
“Well, whatever you need, I’m here for ya, babe.” I’m not sure how I lived twenty-two years without all these amazing people in my life.
****
“Now arch your backs. That’s perfect. Just like that, Avery. You want to stretch your neck and really reach for that root chakra.”
I mumble a curse under my breath, stretching my neck as a trickle of sweat slides down my back, slipping underneath my sports bra. I turn my head towards Lainey.
“I’m dying,” I rasp out as we move into the child's pose. Lainey giggles.
“It’s really not so bad once you get used to it,” she offers, and I scoff. I don’t know how anyone could get used to exercising in an eighty-degree studio. Hot yoga, my ass. More like the devil’s yoga. Lex calls out the end of class and I collapse on my mat, legs sprawled out, breathing ragged. Lex steps into my line of sight.
“You’re being dramatic,” she says, rolling her eyes and extending a hand out to me. I let her tug me to my feet and she hands me a water bottle.
“How have you not been arrested for attempted murder?” She barks out a laugh at my comment.
“You haven’t worked out since last year when you and Dean thought you’d run a Tough Mudder 5k.” She points out and I chew on her words.
“That’s not true!” I cry out. “Just last month I went for a jog down Maple Street.”
“You and Liza were chasing the ice cream truck,” Lainey points out, referring to her daughter and I crack a grin.
“It counts!”
