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She busts through the front door of the coffee shop before long, always busy. She flashes me a smile, goes into a short line, and then joins me with a cup of coffee in hand.
“Had to go right back to the old hangout, eh?” she says, looking at my muffin wrapper. “Their apple cinnamon muffin is really good.”
“I couldn’t find anything like it in Los Angeles. Some that were almost as good, but I had to come back here to have the best.”
“You poor, deprived thing,” she jests. “Living in the big city with no shortage of food options. Home doesn’t have a good choice for so much as Indian food, let alone something more exotic like Ethiopian or Brazilian.”
“Home is good at what it does have. And we got good pizza and Chinese places, so the basics are covered.”
“I know, I know. And it’s not like Anchor wouldn’t treat me if I wanted something exotic. He’d make it happen.” Anchor’s her husband. Quite a well-off guy. The Roughs have done well for themselves, but Anchor makes us look like paupers by comparison.
“So as much as I like talking about international foods, you didn’t come here to talk to me about that. Or did you just want coffee?”
“I already had two cups this morning, but I decided why not a third if I’m here anyway? And yes, I have things for us to talk about, Fig.”
“It’s obviously not marital strife. Spill it, Lem.”
“So, me and the rest of the crew have been talking in our group chat…”
“Group chat? You and our brothers have a group chat without me?”
Lemon shakes her head. “No, no, not typically. Just for this, because we wanted to surprise you.”
I cross my arms. “A likely story.”
“We know you’re going back to Los Angeles soon, or wherever you’re going to jet off to next. And you’re probably anxious about how you’re going to juggle a new job with getting back for Christmas…”
I’m mostly anxious about the idea of going back to Los Angeles period, but I keep that to myself.
“So we’ve worked it out and we got a lead on a big cabin by the ocean to rent this year.”
I stare at her. “You what?”
“We want to bring Christmas to you, Fig. It’s nicer down south, and I think it’d be a fun change to spend the holidays without there being five feet of snow covering all the roads. Plus, we could take Plum to Disneyland, go to the beach, and make it a really interesting and fun vacation for all of us.”
A chill goes down my spine. I really don’t want to go back to Los Angeles. But here’s Lemon, talking about how big and exciting my life is going to be, and how it’ll be great fun for everyone involved. All because of me. All because of what they think I want, and what I’m afraid to tell them I don’t.
I grind my teeth, trying to work up the courage. I need to tell her the truth of how I’m feeling about all this. I don’t want everyone to be throwing so much money at this, planning their lives around a place I don’t want to be.
“Lemon, I…”
“You don’t know what to say? I knew you’d be excited. Did you ever go to Disneyland in all the time you were there?”
“No, it’s never been something I had time or money to do. Listen, Lemon, I got a confession…”
The doorbell of the coffee shop rings and my eyes dart to the source. Hank.
It’s a few hours before our date time, but I guess Lemon and I aren’t the only people whose favorite cup of coffee comes from The First Sip.
“Guess you’re a coffee person too, Fig?” Hank says as he comes over to our table.
“Good morning, Hank,” Lemon nods in a polite and cordial tone. “Yeah, we’ve all inherited our Dad’s love for the coffee bean. Usually with more sugar than Dad is used to, even if the boys try to deny it.”
Hank chuckles. “Don’t worry, Reuben’s secret love of the Chocolatte is safe with me. Oops, maybe I shouldn’t have said that.”
Lemon’s smile grows devious. “I’ll be sure to tease him with that info next time I see him.”
“Hi, Hank,” I manage to say, even more nervous from his presence.
“Hey… well, since we’re both here, should our… agreed upon time to be in one another’s presence… start early?”
“Agreed upon time to be in one another’s presence?” Lemon raises an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
“Uh, it’s not important,” I say, nervously laughing.
Hank shakes his head. “Fig’s agreed to come along and keep me company as I look for a new place to live. She doesn’t want to call it a certain thing, so I’m tiptoeing around it.”
Lemon looks back and forth between us. “So… you two? Together? And doing things? Interesting.”
