Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 139147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
His demeanor changed in a way that made my stomach twist and that sinister whisper was back when he said, “Right.”
And then, before I could get another word in, he shouldered past me, walked into the living room, grabbed the strap of a big leather bag that was in my armchair, and he shouldered that too.
Without another word, or even a glance in my direction, he was out the door.
“What just happened?” I stared at the door, my stomach still in a knot and now my lungs felt like they were on fire.
Patches ambled in and said, “Meow.”
That wasn’t an answer to my question.
That was “I want breakfast.”
Meditation music floated down the hall from my bedroom.
“Shit,” I whispered.
Then I got Jenn’s cat his breakfast.
I powered through the employee entrance of The Surf Club and went right to my locker to store my bag.
I was in a rush because I saw Luna’s Prius in the parking lot and I needed a Best Friend Confab like nobody’s business.
I still wasn’t breathing right.
This was not helped when I opened my locker and saw it stuffed full with a bunch of same-sized but different-colored paperbacks.
The one on top, which was a pretty blue color with a film strip across the front and a familiar title, had a Post-it, on which was Tito’s handwriting.
And it said, Read this one first.
I didn’t have time for that right then.
I pushed the books aside, grabbed the closest server apron at hand (it was powder blue, which only semi-worked with the muted berry tee dress I was wearing, but I was in no headspace to be matchy-matchy).
I tied it on as I hightailed it through the kitchen, my head too cluttered even to call my usual greeting to Lucia.
I hit the main area and spied Luna behind the bar taking a sip from a foam-topped mug.
She took one look at me, put it down, and we both ran to each other.
I thought she’d read my mood.
I was wrong.
She grabbed both my hands, lifted them up and girlie bounced twice before she announced, “I got a unit at the Oasis.”
I blinked at her. “What?”
“I was sending that email last night, and I saw I got one from your new landlord, and it was notification that a unit was opening October one, and I’m in!” she squealed her last and bounced again.
Although, after her being on the waiting list for over a year, I was thrilled she’d scored a unit and that she’d be so close I could walk down a walkway or across the courtyard to hang with her, the timing was suspect.
But I couldn’t handle another freaky coincidence in that moment.
“I think Cap and I broke up this morning,” I announced.
She stopped bouncing and stared at me. “What? Why? How? Again…why?”
“He found Clarice’s business card and went ballistic.”
She let my hands go but didn’t move away, and she appeared as confused as I was that morning.
“Why?” she asked.
“Apparently, Clarice was a runaway in Denver too, back in the day. And she used to hang at the same shelter Cap did.”
“Whoa,” she said, her eyes rounding in shock.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I can’t tell whether he likes her or he doesn’t. I got the sense he was as uneasy about the coincidence as I was, but his uneasy came out as being bossy and a dick, which segued to me sharing she’d broken into my pad, and things, already careening, went downhill from there.”
“Break it down, sister,” she ordered.
“Well, he was pissed I didn’t tell him immediately someone broke in, when we weren’t even a thing then.”
“Wait, I thought he’d asked you out by then.”
Shit!
“Okay, we weren’t officially a thing.”
Her face got funny.
“What?” I demanded.
“Okay, I can see how he flummoxed you with his openness and sharing and sensitivity about the Elsie Fay-Macy issue.”
I took her by the arms and gave her a shake. “Loon, he took the big bag I’d invited him to pack and walked out on me this morning. Make sense.”
Her brows rose. “You asked him to bring over a bag?”
I let her go and begged, “Luna, please, focus.”
She nodded. “Right. I thought you knew what you’d signed on for when you signed on with him. Now, I’m not sure you did. So, okay, there are guys who are, you know, great guys who listen and share and treat you like an equal partner and are, well, the kids these days call it, enlightened.”
Oh boy.
I got where she was going with this.
And it gave me a very bad feeling.
She kept doing that.
“Then there are guys like Cap who can listen and share and treat you like an equal partner who are kinda still throwbacks to another time.”
“He told me he was worried about me and wanted to take care of me. I told him I didn’t need him to take care of me.”