Her hands began to tremble. Her throat tightened. Then, her hands slammed down to the bed, and she twisted her sheets with tight fists.
She screamed straight from her very soul and cried loudly. Evie just couldn’t make sense of why so many men had done her wrong so many times in her life. The ugly black horse of depression stamped and raged on her heart.
You never deserved him.
To her salvation, Teddy didn’t flinch. He had grown comfortable around these outbursts. Instead, he just snuggled up by his Evie’s tear-stained face.
That next day, Evie tried to look her best and headed into town to the Songbird Café. It was nestled right up off the main strip of town called Starling Street. The street was lined with decaying old Midwest shops that had been around since the town was founded as a railway town in 1867. Some of the old signs were still painted on the brick sides that flanked decaying alleyways. Her favorite was the old tobacco sign that took up the whole building with a circular graphic of faded yellow and white.
On the old tobacco building, it was a tradition that graduates of the local high school could take a horseshoe stamp to the building and write their initials with their graduation year on it. It was a cute homage to the town’s mascot and team name, the Mustangs. As she pulled into the parallel spot in front of the Songbird Café, she noticed she was parked right next to a police cruiser, an SUV labeled number 710.
She closed her car door and grinned. “Hey there, Hunt.”
Evie entered the slate-painted café, which was a mix of dark gray and metal sheet siding. The old wooden floors had been refinished to keep their natural distressed and worn look, and overhead through a cased opening there were newspaper articles in picture frames that dated back to the early 1900s to top off the rustic charm and cozy feel. To her left, the wall was decorated with old findings such as authentic and framed photos from the town’s glory days, an old farm door with chipped paint, and tin signs that offered eggs for a fictional price of twenty-five cents per dozen.
“Helloooo!” sang a chipper voice through part of the café that wasfurther back. Evie closed the door and smiled. “Hey, Joey! How’s business today?”
Joey started frantically igniting the espresso machine with its hissing and gurgling sound. She seemed to have ten arms as she poured home-made syrup from glass bottles. “Oh, another day in the life!”
A big German Shepherd, tail wagging, approached Evie. She patted his belly while he jostled all over her. “Hi there, Atlas! I saw your chariot outside!”
As she approached the counter, Atlas trotted alongside her, and Deputy Hunt said warmly with a raise of his coffee cup, “Mornin’, Evie! How’ve you been?”
She greeted him with a hug and a smile. “Good morning, Dan! I’m good. Excited to be here. Joey wants me to redesign her menu for the rest of winter.”
“Good, ‘cause it’s terrible.”
Joey scoffed and laughed, pointing her finger. “Hey! I gave you a free extra shot of espresso! I can take it back. Or burn your bagel.”
Dan laughed and replied, “Do that and I’ll charge you with assault on a LEO.”
Joey was like a skinny sprite that grew into being a mom. She always wore her dark-brown hair up in a messy bun and seemed to always wear athletic clothes that sported the Mustangs’ logo. She fixed her glasses on her spray-tanned face and boomed loudly while she fixed another drink, “Another chai latte, Evie?”
“Yep! The usual.”
“Alrighty, you got it!” she yelled again for absolutely no reason. “One honey chai latte with oat milk, heavy ice, light syrup, and an everything bagel with jalapeño cream cheese coming right up!”
The familiarity was good for Evie’s sadness.
Joey, being the character she was, stopped working and got caught up in chatter with Deputy Hunt while the radio played country classics. Brooks and Dunn “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” was playing, which lifted Evie’s spirits. She looked to Atlas and patted her chest. Atlas jumped up and danced with her. He was as freaking tall as she was.
Joey yelled in play, “Hey now, you’re takin’ my man!”
“Well, you were too busy chattin’ with another,” Evie giggled.
“I don’t like him. He’s ugly.”
Hunt laughed at the banter. “What?” He stroked his peppered goatee and fixed his glasses. “I may have lost some hair, but I’m the finest in this town. My badge here says so.”
Joey playfully countered with her hand on her hip, “Dan, you can’t earn a badge at the Dollar Store toy aisle.”
He tightened his lips in play and acted like he was going to throw the hot drink in her face. She jerked with her hand up and laughed loudly. “Hey! I’ll kick your ass!”
“Sure, you will,” Dan said back with a smile. “Get back to work. Evie’s drink’s gonna get watered down.”
“Oh shit!”
Evie giggled as Joey went back to her work. “It’s fine, Joey.” She patted Atlas, who finally got down.
