She wasn’t wrong. It was a beautiful summer day and even though it was early, it was already warm so our windows were down a bit. The amazing, sweet smell was drifting into the car, making my mouth water.
Bronson opened the door but glanced at each of us before getting out. “Yeah, we can go. You guys, wait for me and I will come around to get you both.”
I was totally capable of getting out of the car myself, but it was something he liked to do and it felt nice. When he made it to the passenger side, he opened my door and held out his handto help me out. Then he got Stormi out and swung her into his arms.
We walked into Capri's, looking very comfortable as a unit of three.
I didn’t knowhow anyone could choose just one.
They all looked scrumptious.
Which was probably why I’d found myself sitting at one of the wooden tables in Capri’s shop with three different pastries on a plate and banana nut white mocha next to it. When I couldn’t decide, Bronson insisted on buying them all.
Glancing down at my array of goodies, I shook my head in disbelief. I would never eat all that, but I wasn’t complaining if I got to take some home with me either. The few items I had of Capri’s at the party had beenalmostas drool-worthy as the man sitting across from me. Snagging a bite of the chocolate croissant first, I popped it into my mouth and closed my eyes as the flavor bombarded my tastebuds.
Damn that was good.
Opening my lids, I found Stormi digging into her gigantic cinnamon roll and Bronson staring at me, amusement flashing in his eyes.
“That good, huh?”
Taking a sip of my coffee, which was almost as delicious as the croissant, I had to hold myself back from moaning. I wondered why I hadn’t found Capri’s place sooner but then realized if I had, I’d probably have to add a couple of extra workouts to my schedule each week.
“Good is an understatement,” I said, answering Bronson.
Just as I was about to take another bite, the bell over the door rang, announcing a customer and my head swiveled in that direction.
For the second time in a week my world shifted and I knew my life was about to change again. The first life-altering moment was with the reappearance of Bronson and the unwavering spark he ignited inside me, making me want things I’d fully given up dreaming of.
The second, was looking at the woman who’d stopped dead in her tracks, her penetrating gaze taking me in with a look of shock and curiosity that I was sure mirrored my own.
“Holy shit,” Bronson mumbled, obviously seeing exactly the same thing I was.
“You just said…” Stormi, about to call him out on his choice of words, stopped and changed course. “Mom, who’s that?”
Shaking my head to clear the silly possibilities running rapidly through my mind, I pulled my gaze from the woman and glanced at my daughter. “I don’t know, sweetie.”
Just then, Capri approached and stood beside me. “Uncanny, isn’t it?”
Looking up at her from my seated position, I opened my mouth, but no words divulged themself. What was I supposed to think or say for that matter. It would be crazy to have the thoughts I was having yet I couldn’t quite shake them free.
My head swiveled back to the lady who hadn’t moved a muscle.No, there is no way.Yet everything inside me said all the wild things swirling through my head weren’t far off base.
I could feel it with every fiber of my being.
The woman before me had my blood running through her veins. And hers in mine.
Capri broke the spell we seemed to be under. “River, please let me introduce you to someone.”
The sweet bakery owner had tried to tell me there was something strange about her therapist and myself. Something was definitely brewing and it seems it wasn’t just the amazing coffee she served. She’d tried to tell me about her therapist and the similarities she saw, but I’d forgotten about it with everything else going on.
With every step the woman named River took my way, I knew serious wasn’t a strong enough word for what I thought may be revealed.
When she made it to our table, it seemed that some of the shock that was evident when she’d walked in, cleared, and a wall went up. I could see it the second it happened because it was something I’d effectively done all my life. But she couldn’t hide the emotions fluttering in her eyes because I knew they mirrored what mine most likely held as well.
Our eye color was not alike, mine a boring brown—although over the last few days Bronson had said something completely different about getting lost in them—to her alluring violet color, something I’d never seen in my life, they were so unique. However, the shape, depth, and the story that played in them like a Hollywood motion picture were the same. Her hair was a soft black, mine dark brown, but our noses, lips and bone structure of our faces were so much the same.
“What are the odds?” Bronson mumbled, voicing my thoughts exactly.
