Although the one she gave Darby was barely welcoming. Who could blame her?
“What can I get you?” she asked.Arsenic? Cyanide?
Darby placed her order, then fished around for something to say. “So, you still live in Eagledale?” Okay, did that imply failure? Good grief. She was the queen of words. Why were the right ones deserting her now?
“I do.” Janice’s chin lifted just a little. “I own this place.”
“Wow. Really?” As if Janice wasn’t capable of owning and running a coffee shop. Okay, that hadn’t come out right.
“Yeah, really,” Janice said. “For here or to-go?”
“Here.”Where I’m so popular.
Janice rang up the sale, then turned her back on Darby and got busy with her order.
“I love how you fixed the place up. It looks great,” Darby said to Janice’s back.
The coffee shop’s original décor had looked like Grandma’s kitchen, with old-fashioned curtains at the window and cute little percolators and vintage alarm clocks in the windowsills—kitschy but not necessarily appealing to people Darby’s age. Now it was slick with sepia-colored wall art depicting mugs and coffee beans, along with simply framed black-and-white photos of elegant people at sidewalk cafés sipping cappuccinos. The cat wall clock with eyes that moved from side to side had been replaced by a brown one shaped like a steaming cup of coffee.
“Thanks,” Janice said. Formal and cold. She returned with the order, a work of art in a thick, cream-colored ceramic mug.
“Gorgeous,” Darby said appreciatively.
“High praise coming from Darby Brown. I’ll have to share that on Facebook.”
A well-deserved slam. Darby was about to say something when the coffee shop door jingled, and she turned and saw her mean girl besties coming in, dressed like they were ready for a photo shoot forVogue. With their superior expressions they were Ugliness Past, and she wished she hadn’t committed to meeting them. She could feel her smile fading.
Janice saw it and probably figured Darby was deflating for a different reason—embarrassment over being caught visiting with her. The moment of almost bonding fled, and Janice’s expression iced over once more.
Ainsley and Laurel walked to the counter like models on the catwalk. Not that any of the other customers were paying attention. The three teenagers seated at a table beneath the coffee cup clock were too busy with their own conversation and their muffins, and the old geezer drinking coffee and reading his paper had more important things on his mind.
“What. On. Earth?” Ainsley greeted Darby. “Did you forget Halloween is over?”
“Very funny. I broke my nose.”
“Getting clumsy in her old age,” cracked Laurel.
“Not so clumsy I can’t take you out,” Darby threatened, the old Darby rearing her ugly head.
“Small coffee, black,” Ainsley said shortly, tossing a five-dollar bill on the counter. She left Laurel to give her order,turning her back on Janice and directing her attention once more to Darby.
“Your poor nose,” Laurel said as they all took their drinks to a table by the window. “You look like...”
“Janice,” Ainsley supplied, and the two of them burst into giggles.
Darby frowned at them, disgusted. “That was a nasty thing to say.”
“What?” Ainsley demanded.
“About Janice.”
Ainsley shrugged. “Just kidding. So, what happened?”
“My brother took me out with a snowball. And not on purpose,” Darby added, just to be clear.
“Is it going to be crooked?” Laurel asked.
There was a lovely thought. Darby pushed away her drink.
