“What are we staring at?”
Brooke jumped at the sound of Emily’s voice behind her.
“Emily, what the hell? You know better than to sneak up on people.”
“Usually I do, but in this case I was genuinely curious about what might have captured your attention.”
Brooke grabbed Emily by the sleeve of her shirt and pulled her towards the bookstore. Once safely inside Brooke let out a bone deep moan.
“What is wrong?” Emily asked, her face creased with concern.
“Nothing. I mean I feel bad.”
“What do you feel bad about?”
Emily wasn’t the sort who enjoyed meandering through a conversation. Her friend liked to cut things straight to the point.
“I feel bad about my new business neighbor, Drew. She’s honestly been nothing but nice to me but I’ve been kind of a jerk. This morning I think I took things a little too far in the I’m annoyed by your general presence direction. Now Drew is obviously turning the cold shoulder on me. Which I deserve and helped me to realize that I was probably in the wrong. But I’m still afraid of conflict and now my only option is to avoid her until one of us changes locations.”
Brooke sighed but Emily simply shook her head at the ground.
“I would like to offer you a counterpoint if I may?” Emily offered.
“If you must,” Brooke answered somewhat begrudgingly.
“You could just go over there and apologize.”
Brooke stared her friend down.
“What?” Emily asked indignantly.
“I know you’re right. It’s just incredibly annoying right now.”
“Get over there and apologize. It’s the right thing to do. And offer her something to keep the peace,” Emily admonished.
“Why do you always have to hold me accountable?”
“Because secretly this is the push you want. It’s just that it’s buried deep under your embarrassment,” Emily laughed. Brooke rolled her eyes but smiled.
“What kind of peace offering?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you invite her to the ladies business night that happens at my bar. It’s two nights from now. You two can come and mingle with other women working in the area.”
“That’s actually a pretty good idea.”
Brooke had to give it to Emily. The woman knew exactly how to approach a situation.
“Don’t forget I had to do my fair share of apologizing when I met Scarlett,” Emily laughed.
It was true, Emily had been less than hospitable when she’d met Scarlett. Now the two of them were engaged.
“True. But I have no interest in a romantic connection. But a friendship might be a stretch,” Brooke offered.
“Well, you’ll never know if you don’t extend an olive branch,” Emily suggested.
Emily walked over to the cart where Brooke kept her assortment of teas for customers to try. She pulled out a pack of rose tea and handed it to Brook.
“Here. This one is my favorite. No one can stay angry after an offer for tea,” Emily smiled. Brooke took the pack and smiled. She walked to the door and gave her friend a tiny wave. Emily smiled and disappeared down an aisle. Brooke knew her friend would still be here when she got back.
