I shake my head, grinning. “This town…”
“Full of sinners and secrets. But I serve them all coffee just the same.”
I glance at her, my smile softening. “You ever think about writing a book?”
She pauses. “I’d have to leave out half the good stuff just to avoid lawsuits.”
We laugh, and it feels good.
“What else?” I ask, rinsing the last plate and sliding it into the drying rack.
“Sam and Charlie came in,” Lura says, rinsing a mug with care. “Charlie’s been craving hash browns with eggs on top. Said she woke up thinking about it, so Sam got here as soon as we opened.”
“That tracks,” I say with a soft smile. “Sam would move the moon for her.”
“And he’d do it before breakfast, with a smile on his face.”
“Was Phern with them?”
Lura’s hands still in the sink. “No. Sam said she was working on a paper, but…” she pauses, voice dipping, “I think it’s because it hurts being around them.”
My brow furrows. “How so?”
“That kind of love?” Lura says quietly. “It stabs you right in the gut when you’re pining over someone. Watching them geteverything you dream about while you're still pretending you’re fine with being alone.”
She peeks at me over the rim of her glasses, one eyebrow lifted.
“Speaking of pining,” she says, not bothering with subtlety, “you want to tell me about your date with Liam Stone?”
I exhale through my nose, leaning back against the counter. “It wasn’t a date.”
“Hmm.” She wipes her hands on a dish towel. “Sure looked like a date to me.”
“I mean, I guess it was but not like that.”
I walk her through the situation with Teddy, the fake dating, the gala, the whole plan. She listens without interrupting, but I can feel her watching me. Reading between every carefully chosen word.
“So, I’m just helping him out,” I finish. “That’s all this is.”
Lura nods slowly, folding the towel.
Then she says, in that soft voice she uses when she’s about to tell me the truth I don’t want to hear. “Oh, Olive. Be careful.”
My stomach flips.
“It’d be so easy for your heart to forget that this is just make-believe.”
I look down at my hands. And say nothing. Because I know it’s already forgotten.
But I say, “I promise I’ll be careful, Lura.”
“Good.” She nods, then gives me a look that's half mischief, half memory. “Did I ever tell you I dated his grandfather, Spencer?”
I snort. “You’ve mentioned it. Once or twice.”
Spencer Stone is a bit of legend around these parts, so I guess I don’t blame Lura for bragging about dating him.
She grins, waving the dish towel like a fan. “He was a perfect blend of Sam and Liam. Spencer Stone had a smile that couldmelt steel and a jawline you could cut peaches on. Lord, help me.” She sighs dramatically. “But then he met Alexandra, and that was that.”
