“That was a bad one,” Zen says beside me.
“You think?” I mutter while I stare at the floor, pressing my fingers to my temples.
No, not the floor.
Jitter, who’s staring up at me like I have officially scared the shit out of him, and he’d like it if I didn’t do that again.
Nothing is right.
Nothing is okay.
Except Mimi’s here, her cane making its distinctive thump on the floor as she carries her slender frame across the café to sit next to me. “Too much stress, Grey,” she says quietly. She squeezes my hand. “Maybe give an old lady fewer reasons to worry about you, hmm?”
“Working on it.”
“Not very well, by the looks of things.”
The scent of chai hits my nose a split second before a mug clinks to the table beside me.
And that’s not Zen’s hand holding the mug.
Those are definitely Sabrina’s short fingers and clean nails.
She doesn’t say a word.
Not to me, anyway.
“Good boy,” she whispers to the dog while she scratches him between the ears. “You stay. I’ll be back.”
I don’t want her to leave.
I want her to sit here and scratchmebehindmyears.
I want to thank her for effortlessly steering everyone back to focusing on somethingotherthan the fact that I almost passed out in the middle of the café.
Fuck, I want to thank her for bringing Mimi here, even if I’m feeling completely naked at the idea that she’s been talking to my grandmother behind my back about what I’m doing here.
And I want none of the people here to know that I have any weaknesses.
Weakness makes you vulnerable.
Vulnerable lets them take advantage.
And now the whole town knows there’s something wrong with me.
28
Sabrina
The check-in linefor speed dating is endless.
And every last one of the women asks the same thing. “Is Grey Cartwright joining us tonight?”
Half of them addthe question, “And is he okay? I heard he almost passed out here this morning.”
“Hadn’t eaten,” is my cheeky answer. “You know men.”
I have zero doubt the meal patrol will have a sign-up to take him breakfasts and lunches in addition to his dinners before the night’s over. Or at least to have someone else helping Zen make sure he’s eating those meals here.
