Her name sounds familiar, too…
“It’s very nice to meet you.”
She makes another hum that could be dismissal as she rips open her tea packet.
“Have you lived here long?” I ask. “We just moved in.”
“Yes, I know,” she says, dunking her baggie of leaves.
I wait a few seconds to see if she’s going to engage, but she doesn’t. All right then…
“Let me know if you need anything else,” I say, turning away.
“Wait,” she calls.
I turn back and she’s holding out a dollar. “Tip, tip please.”
I grin as I accept her money. “Thanks very much.”
She watches me walk back to the bar, so I make a show of putting her dollar in the tip jar. She gives a little jerk of her head and then shoves her face into her book.
What a weird one.
“So, about that scooter,” Ace says as I come back behind the bar.
I look around for Nai Nai to help, but she’s nowhere in sight. My gaze falls next to Lacey. She shakes her head and tucks into her cup.
“What about it?” I ask, busying myself with cleaning the milk-frothing pitcher.
“It’s down to two hundred, and I checked with the guy—it still runs well. I have my permit from Boston, and I’m in the process of transferring all my driving hours…”
My gut clenches in worry as an icy prickle hits the back of my neck.
“I’m not sure I love the idea,” I say.
“But you said you would help.”
“With your permit, of course I will. But a scooter—” I sigh, trying to defuse the growing tightness around my diaphragm. “I’m just worried.”
“I’ll get a helmet—a new one. And I’ll always wear a jacket, long pants, and gloves. Gotta keep my money-makers pristine,” he says, wiggling his fingers with a smile.
Why doesn’t any of that make me feel better?
Nai Nai comes out from the back with a traditional teapot on a tray with two cups. She walks confidently toward Deelia and gets too far before I can stop her. I watch their interaction from the corner of my eye as Ace goes on, telling me all the ways he’ll be very safe on the scooter.
“Plus, it only goes forty-five miles per hour,” he says, finishing his case.
Nai Nai pours Deelia a cup of tea and sits down in the chair next to her.
“Jade?”
I blink and look at Ace. “Sorry, bud, I’m distracted. Let’s talk more over dinner, okay?”
“You got it.” He smiles and hops off the stool, leaving his empty cup behind.
I snatch it and give it a thorough wash.
Lacey leans forward on the counter. “Must be hard.”
