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“I think I would miss you too much.”
“Well, maybe you could come with us?” Her daughter, always the problem solver.
“Who would run my café?” Remy held out her arms.
Lyra scrunched her forehead in concentration. “How about when I’m older?”
“It’s a deal, kid,” Emma answered. “I gotta get to the studio. You two have fun today.” She hugged Remy and then Lyra.
“We will. We’re going to Bently’s for a cookout. Andre will be there,” Remy said, handing a box of cupcakes to her friend as payment.
“Oh, I hope he isn’t bringing you-know-who.” Emma rolled her eyes.
“Who?” Lyra asked, wide-eyed.
“Baby, why don’t you go grab a juice from the fridge and then we’ll get going?” Remy distracted her with a smile.
When her daughter was out of earshot, she addressed Emma. “Listen, Tiffany may be a bitch, but my brother loves her, so we just have to deal with it.”
“And hope he comes to his senses. That woman just rubs me the wrong way.” Emma shivered.
“And you have such great taste in the people you’ve dated?” Remy smirked.
Emma held out her hands. “Hey now. The men and women I’ve dated were definitely bitches—some of them. Okay, most of them. But that’s how I know one when I see one.”
Remy laughed. “I don’t disagree with you, but we can’t help who we fall in love with, can we?”
Heaviness descended upon Remy as chocolate eyes and Mikel’s handsome face flashed in her mind. Five long years had turned the unbearable pain into a dull ache. No one had heard a word from him since he’d left. He could have been dead for all they knew.
No.Surely if he was gone, she would feel it in her heart. She would know. What was clear though was, despite everything they’d shared, he hadn’t come back for her.
Emma’s eyes dimmed as she turned her attention to the little girl skipping through the double doors of the café. “Well, looks like that’s my cue to leave. I’ll see you later, Lyra.”
“My name is not Lyra anymore. It’s Princess Mermaid Rock Star,” her daughter said, matter-of-factly.
“Alright then, Princess Mermaid Rock Star. You have a good day with your family.” Emma saluted them and exited.
Remy shut off the lights and took her daughter’s hand, grabbing a box of cupcakes for the barbecue with the other. They went out the back screen door. Warm June air billowed around them.
Lyra buckled herself in her car seat as Remy rolled down the windows.
“Ready to go, baby girl?”
“Yes, Mommy.”
“Pull your chest clip up a little bit,” she directed, peering at her daughter in the rearview mirror.
“Is this good?” Lyra asked, pushing the plastic clip higher.
“Perfect.”
“Can you tell me the story of my daddy again?” Lyra asked.
Not again.Remy’s heart twisted as her little girl pulled a worn photo from her pocket.
“How about we listen to some music instead?” She put the radio on, stopping on one of Lyra’s favorite songs by Katy Perry. She just needed a break from thoughts of Mikel today.
“Ro-o-o-o-oar!” Her daughter’s sweet off-pitch voice sang as loud as she could. Remy smiled.
