Summer pauses, just long enough for something to pass across her face, and then she smiles, easy and natural.
“First coffee’s free. House rule.”
Relief rises fast, tangling with something sharper, something closer to embarrassment.
“And I’m testing a new latte,” she adds lightly. “Needs a guinea pig. You wouldn’t mind, would you?”
I shake my head. “I don’t mind.”
She steams the milk, pours carefully, dusts the foam with something that smells faintly of cinnamon. When she slides the cup toward me, I take a sip and feel my eyes nearly close on their own.
“It’s really good,” I say softly.
“See?” she grins. “Scientific confirmation.”
A few minutes pass in quiet warmth. My hands stop shaking. The sharp sting in my fingers fades into something dull and manageable, something I can ignore.
After a while she sets a scone on a napkin in front of me.
“I also baked too many this morning,” she says casually. “Occupational hazard. I need someone to tell me if they’re dry.”
The smell hits me instantly, butter and sugar, warm and rich, and my stomach twists painfully in response.
I hesitate.
Summer meets my eyes, her expression soft but steady, and there’s something unspoken there, something that tells me sheunderstands more than she’s saying, and that she’s giving me space to take it without feelingsmall.
“They’re probably terrible,” she adds. “You’d be doing me a favor.”
I pick it up before I can talk myself out of it. “Okay.”
The first bite almost makes me dizzy.
The bell above the door jingles.
“Hello, bestie,” a voice calls warmly.
I look up, and my chest tightens before I can stop it.
It’s her. The red-haired woman from the bar last night, a fancy camera already slung over her shoulder like it belongs there.
She spots me at the same time, recognition flickering across her face.
“Hey,” she says, walking over. “You’re the girl Dex hired yesterday, right?”
“Yes. Lexy.” I hold out my hand automatically.
“Penny,” she says, taking it. “Dex’s sister-in-law.”
My fingers go slack before I can stop them.
Her smile shifts, just slightly.
“You’re freezing,” she says softly.
I pull my hand back too quickly. “I walked here. Probably not my smartest idea.”
Her eyes don’t argue. They drift instead, catching on my neck.
