She knew immediately, and the remaining party walked two by two a block down the street to the café.
The Morning Brew had become something of a staple for tourists over the years, but to me and Lacy, it had been a place to study and write papers late into the night, interrupting one another with a bit of gossip or to commiserate over a tough teacher before returning to our books. The owner, Gladys Liplich, would tease us about being the coffee shop mascots because during our senior year, she would refill our cups and leave the pot at our table before shuttering the store for the night, and telling us to make sure to close the door tight behind us when we left.
Now, it was nearly 1 a.m. as we entered the shop, and Gladys stood inside the door, waving a sash reading “Bride to Be” at Lacy, who managed a smile for the fifty-something-year-old woman.
Gladys placed the sash over my friend’s head before adding a crown with the same message. “You never competed at The Rose, but this weekend, you’re the queen,” Gladys teased, giving Lacy a hug before turning to the rest of our motley crew. “I’ve got decaf and caffeinated, so you can pick your pleasure. All on the house, of course.”
Gladys’s generosity—giving us free drinks and opening the shop way past her bedtime—wasn’t a surprise, but it was a reminder of how much people in Aubergine loved Lacy—and me. Ifelt that familiar tug at my heartstrings to move back to the place I loved and was loved after I finished my vet program in New York; but I wouldn’t let myself dwell on possibilities about my own future right now. Maybe after the wedding on Sunday.
Gladys clapped her hands. “Come in and get settled and I’ll take your orders for either a pick-me-up, a sleepy-time tea, or a hangover helper.”
Savilla headed to the restroom to change Ollie, and Charlotte and Myrtis sat at their own table. Lacy sank into one of the comfortable corner chairs, facing Jemma, who seemed at a loss for words. The accumulation of the unexpected guests and the scene with Charlie and the priest had apparently stunned her, and she was about to be even more surprised as Will Hurt rushed into the store, a look of terror in his eyes, Valerie on his heels.
“How could you leave him with strangers?” Will shouted, startling all of us, especially Charlotte, whose eyes were unblinkingly fixed on him.
Valerie seemed about to yell back at her husband, but when she scanned the café and didn’t see her baby, she became frantic herself instead. Her eyes were wide as she stepped closer to me. “Where is he? Where’s Ollie?”
“I told you not to let him out of your sight this weekend,” Will said, his voice strained, as if someone had him by the throat.
He was angry, yes—but also afraid.
“Your baby is fine,” I said, stepping forward. “Savilla is in the restroom, changing him.”
Valerie’s eyes darted toward the bathrooms and then her husband before she started in that direction, a stricken look of relief on her face.
As soon as she’d passed through the door, Charlotte was at Will’s elbow, her hand on his arm.
Without looking at her, Will shook her away. “Not now. I need to see my son.”
Charlotte gasped, startling both of them, before narrowing her gaze. Almost immediately, Will realized he’d made a mistake.
His face froze, seeming to sense that he shouldn’t speak this way to her. “Charlotte, I didn’t mean to—” he started, before she interrupted him.
“It’s fine.” The woman stood to her full height and lifted her chin. “I don’t expect any show of gratitude, even after everything I’ve done for you.”
Will swallowed hard, and I couldn’t tell if he wanted to hide or fight. Either way, he was on edge.
Surely it wasn’t just the late hour and the need for caffeine veiling the meaning of Charlotte’s actual words—everything I’ve done for you. I ran back over them in my mind one more time—Charlotte had arranged something, something for which Will should show gratitude.
Nope, still didn’t add up.
“After Todd left the party, I was just worried about Valerie and the baby,” Will said, this time his hand on her arm and Charlotte shaking him off. “I couldn’t get a hold of Valerie on her cell, and when I went by the house, they weren’t there.”
“She fell asleep at The Reel,” I said, before I could think better of it.
Will stared at me as if he hadn’t realized I’d been listening to their conversation. When he saw me, he suddenly shut his mouth and wouldn’t speak. Thankfully, a moment later Valerie and the baby emerged, Ollie all smiles as his mother carried him, Savilla following close behind.
With a look of disdain at his wife, Will hurried over to Ollie and yanked the baby from Valerie’s arms.
“Careful. He only ate a half-hour ago. He still hasn’t burped much,” Savilla said, sounding hurt and defensive, which was fair. She hadn’t taken the child of her own accord. Valerie had thrust him into our hands.
“Watch his head,” Valerie chided her husband, as if she didn’t trust him to hold the baby.
“I know what I’m doing,” Will spat back at her. His eyes had a wild look of terror in them as they darted from the baby to his wifeto the door. It was almost as if he wasn’t registering our presence at all as he continued their argument. “I told you how important tonight was. I told you to stay home and keep the doors locked and the alarm on.”
That sounded unnecessarily extreme, especially in a town where crime never happened—okay, except for two recent murders at The Rose, but those were definitely anomalies.
“I’m sorry if I need a break from being a twenty-four-hour dairy cow!” Valerie, mascara smudged at the corners of her eyes as if she’d been crying, looked ready to pounce on her husband. The mascara was the only makeup she was wearing, and I could just imagine her earlier that evening, trying to rake the wand across her eyelashes with a restless baby in her other arm. “And I’m sorry if I’m intruding on your ‘new gig’—whatever the hell that means. I just thought it might be nice to be around other grown-ups, instead of cooped up at home like the little obedient wife you always wanted.”
