AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nope. Still here.”
Ruby grunted and looked down at the cash register. “That’s unfortunate.”
Despite my effort to not let her get to me, her words stung.
“Excuse me?” Emersyn stepped in front of me, curling her fingers over the edge of the counter and leaning toward Ruby. “I don’t know what the hell your problem is, but if you don’t get your shit together and start treating my friend like an actual customer, I think I’m going to have to speak with management.”
Ruby raised her eyebrows, seeming unconcerned with Emersyn’s threat. “Our manager isn’t in today.” She shrugged.
Emersyn glanced at me before pinning her attention back on Ruby.
Her mouth pulled up into a smile that looked more sarcastic than anything else. “I’m sorry, I don’t think you understand.” She tossed a lock of her red hair over her shoulder. “I happen to know Amos Anderson pretty well, so it doesn’t matter that your manager isn’t here today. I can go ahead and give the damn owner of this establishment a personal call anytime I want.”
That made Ruby freeze. Her eyes rounded, and Emersyn’s fake smile melted into a real one. Ruby inhaled sharply through her nose before she looked down at the register. “What can I get started for both of you today?” Her voice wasn’t quite friendly, but at least she didn’t sound volatile anymore.
“Good choice,” Emersyn said, and she placed her coffee order. I did the same after her, and Ruby didn’t even make a face as I ordered my usual iced coffee with no ice. I did get a lid this time, though. I wasn’t going to chance it.
With drinks in hand, Emersyn and I found a table. Whatever it was that she wanted to talk to me about, she hadn’t wanted to do it at the Flutter Nook. Jojo offered to watch things while we went to talk over coffee.
“So you know the owner of the Latte Pages?” I asked Emersyn as we sat.
Emersyn waved a hand. “Kind of. He’s friends with my dad.”
I wondered what her dad did for a living, but Emersyn changed the subject, leaning toward me.
“Anyway, what the hell did you ever do to that girl?” Emersyn’s eyes shifted toward Ruby.
I shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Ruby and I hardly know each other.”
Emersyn raised her brows as she took a tentative sip of her hot coffee. “It didn’t seem like you hardly know each other. That seemed personal.”
It had. I chanced a glance over my shoulder. Ruby stood with her back toward us as she busied herself with cleaning the espresso machine.
A thought occurred to me. I didn’t know anything about what happened between Ruby and Reid or why they broke up, but when Reid and I had left the shop together the first and only other time I’d set foot in here, she hadn’t seemed happy.
I looked back at Emersyn. “I don’t know. She could hate me for the same reason a lot of people do, because I survived that night. Or she might know that me and her ex-boyfriend have been spending some time together.”
Emersyn’s mouth fell open. “You’re dating her ex?”
I shook my head. “No, not really.” I had no idea what Reid and I were doing. The fact that he still hadn’t texted me back after sneaking out of my house this morning weighed heavy on my mind. “But they dated a long time ago, so I doubt it’s that.”
“It’s probably that.” Emersyn took another drink.
“Anyway,” I said, ready to change the subject. It didn’t matter why Ruby hated me. Lots of people did. “What did you need to talk about?”
Emersyn’s demeanor instantly changed. Her face fell, and she stared down at her coffee cup and adjusted her glasses.
“First, I wanted to apologize to you about what happened last night.” She pressed her lips together, her eyes filling with sudden tears that she blinked back. “I wasn’t expecting my brother to come home while you were there, and even if I had, I never imagined he’d act like that.” Her voice broke, and she cleared her throat.
“It’s okay,” I said, meaning it. I didn’t blame her for what happened.
Emersyn shook her head, the expression on her face hurting my heart. “It’s not okay. Nothing about that was okay.” She sniffed and grabbed a napkin from the dispenser on the table. “My brother has had a hard time for a while now.” She blotted at her reddening nose. “After what happened to Delainey, he got into some pretty bad stuff. Addiction became his life for a really long time. I’ve been trying to get him out of it, but he recently hit rock bottom and finally decided he wanted to help himself. He’s been living with me until he gets on his feet.”
I reached across the table and grabbed her hand. “I’m so sorry, Emersyn.”
Emersyn cleared her throat. “I don’t tell you that for sympathy. I wanted you to know that he’s not a bad guy. He’s just been in a bad place for a really long time.”
“I understand.” I did. My experiences with Jake Hawthorn weren’t the best, but I didn’t know him. Emersyn knew him. “I believe you, and I don’t blame you for what happened.”
