The door opened, and Guinevere walked in, smiling widely when she saw Thea.
“Good afternoon,” she called.“I was wondering if you had any of those carrot cake muffins left.”
Thea smiled.“Of course,” she said.“Anything for my favorite customer.”
“You can’t say that,” Guinevere said, shaking her head.“You’re not supposed to have favorites.”
“And yet, I do.”Thea wrapped up a carrot cake muffin and handed it across the counter.
Guinevere handed her a coin, and Thea pocketed it without looking at it.She knew Guinevere wasn’t going to try to shortchange her, unlike some of the people who walked through the door.
“Good day?”Guinevere asked, looking around the café, where there were still a few patrons sitting in peace, enjoying their pastries and drinks.
“It’s fine,” Thea said.“Busy.”
“When is it not?”Guinevere asked with a grin.“You’re always busy now.It’s so exciting to see.”
“It’s nice to be busy,” Thea agreed.It was nice to know that she could afford her rent each month without worrying about it, and her nest egg had grown quite a lot—which was a wonderful feeling.
Speaking of rent… Nathaniel would be here soon.She needed to prepare his money.
“What was that face for?”Guinevere asked, her tone as mischievous as Dietrich’s would have been, had he been here.
“I just remembered I have to pay the rent today,” Thea said.
“And that means you’ll be seeing Mr.Alder,” Guinevere said, her eyes twinkling.
Guinevere had been here the last time Nathaniel had come by for the rent, and she’d noticed the weird tension between the two of them.
Thea wasn’t sure if anyone in town knew her history with Nat.
She wasn’t sure if anyone knew that he had been the only man she’d ever loved—and that he’d left and hadn’t written for years.It was merely a twist of fate that led her to settling down in the same town as him, and an unfortunate fact that the only building available to rent was one that he owned.
“Maybe I’ll stay a while,” Guinevere said with a smirk, taking her muffin and making her way to one of the tables.
Thea followed her, rolling her eyes.“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said.
“It’s not ridiculous,” Guinevere said.“I would love nothing more than to see you find your own happily ever after.Goodness knows, we’ve had enough of them happen in this building.”
Thea sighed.She agreed with Guinevere.Too many of her friends—friends who had once been her closest companions—had found love with someone, and she’d had the privilege of seeing a couple of them in the café.But now it just meant that she was lonely most of the time.
“I don’t need Nathaniel Alder,” Thea said firmly.
Guinevere laughed.“You can say that, but I don’t believe you.”
“You should,” Thea said, glaring at her friend—but it was a half-hearted glare.Guinevere meant well, and it wasn’t her fault that she didn’t know that Thea had sworn to never, ever let Nathaniel Alder anywhere near her heart again.
He’d done a good enough job of breaking it once.
She didn’t need to hand him what she had stitched back together and watch him tear it apart a second time.
“Speaking of Mr.Alder…” Guinevere said, glancing out the window.“I do believe that’s him now.”
Thea glanced up, ignoring the way her heart quickened.
“Are those flowers?”Guinevere giggled.Actually giggled.
Thea sighed.“He brings flowers for the café because he says it’s good for business, and he wants me to have good business so that I can keep paying him.”
