I shook my head.
“They’re filled with chocolate. Do you like chocolate? I warn you, they’re a ton of work to make.”
I raised my hand to my chest. “Chocolate is my second favorite. Anyway,that’s good to know, because I’ll never attempt to make it. And if Mrs. Ku asks, I never saw one in my life, and I didn’t see it today.”
Paul leaned toward me. “It’ll be our secret. The pastry we never had.”
I offered my hand to shake on it, and I liked how warm his felt when he took it, solid and comforting. We let go right away.
The couple smiled at each other and then at me when Paul got up to check on our order. “It’s really good,” the woman said. “You’ve got to get one.”
Chapter 18
Paul was fun. I could say that about him because he returned not only with our lattes but with a supreme croissant. With chocolate just like the couple beside us. Strategically, he angled his chair, so his back blocked a view of our table from the street. The couple beside us left, and I could tell by how the woman looked at me that she thought I was like her: that Paul and I were a couple. I didn’t mind.
Speaking of couples, I wanted to know more about the man my cousin was in love with. Channing and Minjae were probably impossible to separate now. I asked Paul what he thought of Minjae. He launched in without hesitation. “He’s great. Some people you don’t see for a while, and it really affects your friendship, but not him. A year or two can go by and then he calls me and we meet up. We were like that even as kids. Minjae is always easy to hang out with.”
“Will he stick around here long term? He’s going back to Korea, isn’t he? Since his mom lives there?” I swallowed a piece of the flat croissant. It was flaky, sweet, and buttery all at once.
“You sound like my grandparents. They were worried, too, when they thought Minjae and Ames were a thing, but they’re not each other’s type. Ames wants a man who’s going to father four children and get her a big house in East End so she can write her investigation pieces for newspapers.Minjae’s an adventurer. He wants to live in a lot of places, maybe have more than one home.”
“Sounds like Ames should be with Kent.”
He coughed at that, setting down his cup of coffee. “Don’t know what it is. All the old people love Kent, but Ames didn’t like him at all. She tried, she really did.”
“What happened?” I asked.
He was about to answer when he abruptly stood up and smiled at someone behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Ames walking out of theEast End Courieroffices. She headed straight for the Blasian women who were standing now, preparing to leave, exchanged some words and then bent down to pet their dog. I heard her say, “Awww, sweet Mika.” At last, she made her way to us. “Aren’t you supposed to be studying?” she said to Paul.
“I have to eat, don’t I?” he said, and pointed to the pastry between us.
“Yeah, yeah,” she said, and then without an invitation she sat in his chair. He retrieved another chair from a table nearby. Ames handed him his coffee.
“How’s the piece you’re writing on zoning changes?” I asked her.
“It’s going,” she replied, and then to Paul she said she wanted him to get her a double espresso and two biscotti. “Since you’re on break.” He grimaced at her before trotting off toward the café’s entrance.
“Cousins,” she said, shaking her head.
I liked her in that moment and had to laugh. “I know what you mean.”
She nodded. “I know you do.”
“So, what were you talking about yesterday when I went to pick up my grandfather?” I said.
She scooted her chair closer to the table. “It’s so odd that all the families who aren’t Korean tell me to talk to the Koreans, but my relatives won’t tell me what happened twenty-one years ago over this beach club expansion,”she said. She explained about the proposal to increase the business district on the waterfront and her plan to fill the reader in on the details of those failed efforts in the past.
“Koreans never want to talk about money,” I said. I thought about the time period some more. “That’s the year my aunt died.”
She nodded. “Yeah, it was a bad year, I get that, but I still need to find out what happened. That was supposed to be a proud moment, I just don’t understand. I’m going to look in the archives at the library. Maybe it doesn’t matter. I’ve got to file this piece soon because Mayor Reynolds is making a speech about it on Wednesday, and Kent wants it out before then, but I still need more info. It’s why I moved here, so I could write long features instead of churning out stories like I was doing in Boston.”
“You mean this Wednesday?” I asked.
“Yup.”
“You’re not writing PR for the mayor no matter what Kent wants, are you?” I must have looked alarmed, because she laughed and assured me she was not beholden to Kent.
