Hazel swung back around, dark eyes flashing with anger. It was a little hard to be angry with her when she was wearing a blue dress covered in sunflowers and had flowers woven through her long hair. “Go take your laughing outside if you aren’t buying.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, while Beth tried to hide her laughter behind me.
Carol rolled her eyes at us, grinning, then we all headed out for our breakfast and coffee at Deva’s.
The cafe was jam-packed when we got there. We ended up leaving our names on the book by the door and waiting outside for the tables to clear out. We didn’t waste the time outside, we got right into all the things we’d been hoping to talk about. Carol told us about all the changes Bryan had been making to his uncle's law business, and about how he was even thinking about renaming it.
“Our top choice is Bite of Justice.” She wiggled her brows.
We all laughed. It was clever.
Carol smiled, but there was something sad about her smile. “When he turned into a vampire, he lost so much. This town. His friends. Even his family. It’s amazing that he’s able to find humor in it now.”
I reached out and squeezed her hand. “Maybe finally getting to be with the woman he always loved has helped him heal.”
She squeezed my hand back, then tucked a piece of her light brown hair behind her ear with shaky hands. “About that.”
Beth gave me a questioning look, but I could only shrug my shoulders. I had no idea where Carol was going with this.
“We're talking about, well, we think we might be finally ready to—" She pressed her lips together like she couldn’t remember the words.
“Taking a vacation together?” Beth guessed.
Carol shook her head again, her cheeks bright red. “No, something we never did, with anyone, that most people have done. That at our age, well, it’s kind of weird, but we don’t mind, but other people might think it is weird that we haven’t.”
I’d never seen her this flustered before. “Carol?” Was this what a stroke looked like? I sure as hell hoped not.
She took a deep breath and sat up straighter. “Bryan and I have never had sex.”
“With each other?” Beth asked matter-of-factly.
It all made sense now. Everything clicked into place in a way that made me smile. “With anyone. Because the universe knew you two were made for each other.”
Carol’s gaze met mine with tears in her eyes. “Is that weird?”
“It’s beautiful,” I said because it was.
Beth took another few seconds to catch up with us, the confused look on her face changing to surprise, then nudged Carol and grinned. “You excited?”
“Mostly nervous.”
“Don’t be,” I said, waiting for a big group that was leaving the cafe to pass before I continued. “When you’re with the right person, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“He's the right person,” Carol said, that glow back on her face.
“I do not doubt that.” I smiled. “You two are perfect for each other.”
We talked a little longer, giggling like much younger women. Giving tips and suggestions. Helping Carol become more confident about her first sexual experience. By the time they called us for our table, Carol looked relieved, and we were all starving through our happiness for our friend.
Inside, the staff was still cleaning off most of the tables from the morning rush, but we got a nice table in the corner near the back entrance. Our favorite spot. A few other tables nursed their coffees, or still picked at their yummy-looking food, but they spoke in low, calm tones, enjoying the quiet cafe as much as we were.
Deva appeared, collapsing into the chair between Carol and me. There was a dash of flour on her cheek, but she’d left her apron in the kitchen. Her short, black hair was pulled back and mostly covered by a dark blue bandanna. “Well, that was a mess.”
Our attention turned to her.
She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I’m starting to think the cafe's been running into some seriously bad luck lately. We’ve lost two staff members to various other opportunities. My suppliers keep screwing up my orders. Today we ran out of flour. Flour. I’m constantly scrambling.” Her dark eyes flashed with frustration, as she spoke more to the ceiling than to us. “I’m about to lose my mind.”
I believed her. Deva was one of the most organized people I’d ever met. From the time we were young, she was the kind of person who was always on top of her homework, was never late for anything, and had a room that was so organized it could have been on some kind of show about organized people. I had to believe that if things were going wrong at the cafe, they had nothing to do with her making mistakes. She planned for everything, but she couldn’t plan for bad luck.
