“Thank you, Junie,” Shiloh said. “Give us some space to talk, okay?”
Junie’s face fell. She probably thought Shiloh and Cary were going to argue—that was the only time Shiloh and Ryan ever asked for space. (Actually, she and Carymightbe about to argue...)
Junie turned back to him—“Tell me if you need more sugar!”—then ran away.
Shiloh watched the real coffee dripping into the pot.
“Shiloh...” Cary said.
She looked up at him.
He was holding the toy cup like it was actually full of coffee. He seemed nervous. “It occurs to me that I wasn’t really considering where you might be in life. When I...”
She waited.
“...asked you to dance.”
Shiloh nodded. A few tears spilled out.
“All I was really thinking about was myself,” he said. “And how it would feel to see you again.”
Her bottom lip was in her mouth. She bit it.
“I’m sorry,” Cary said.
“I’m sorry, too,” Shiloh replied, immediately. “I was...” She shook her head. “Wrong. Selfish. Bullheaded. Unfair, insensitive...” She shook her head again and pressed her lips together, trying hard not to cry. She covered her eyes with her fingers.
Cary touched her upper arm.
She dropped her hands to look at him. His face was full of feelings, but Shiloh wasn’t sure which ones.
“You were only some of those things,” he said. “To varying degrees.”
She laughed—and gave up on trying not to cry. “Do you still want coffee? Or was that... I mean...”
“I want coffee,” he said.
Shiloh laughed again and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “Good. Me too.” She reached for two mugs. “Do you really take sugar?”
“Yeah.”
“Cream?”
“If you have it.”
“I have it.”
She poured two mugs of coffee, then held one out to Cary. “Trade you.”
He looked down at his hand, like he’d forgotten about the toy cup, then smiled, passing it to her.
Shiloh’s sugar bowl was shaped like an apple. She pushed it in his direction and went to get the cream out of the fridge. “Your mom’s a sweetheart,” she said.
Cary sighed.
Shiloh handed him the cream. “Who takes care of her when you’re not here?”
“Well...” His forehead creased. “She’s never alone. Angel’s living there now, with her kids.” He poured cream into his coffee. Shiloh took the carton from him when he was done. “And Jackie”—that was Cary’s biological mom—“you know, she’s never far. There was another woman staying over there for a while, a neighbor, maybe? I could never get to the bottom of it.”
