She’d been proud of Lynx. Watching him perform and handle the fame now had had been amazing.
“I watched him on YouTube once. Clever man, that brother of yours. Not my kind of music, you understand. I prefer blues myself, but I can see talent when it’s in front of me.”
She turned into the street on which the Becker house stood in the more residential part of town.
“Do you think this is the first coffee drive-through in American history, Bart?”
“Has to come close. Are you well, Blue?”
“Ah—sure. Why do you ask, Bart?”
“You look a little pale.”
“I’ve had an upset stomach, but it’s settling now.”
In fact, she needed to go see Dr. Hannah. Blue had been feeling unwell for weeks now. She’d put it down to the hell her life had plunged into and then what she’d done with Jay.
“You young ones don’t tend to look after yourselves and then burn out. I had a talk with Jay Haddon about this the other day.That boy is always working. Even here, where he’s not doing all that secretive, important stuff, he’s constantly on the move. It’s not healthy if you don’t counteract all the work with exercise, a good diet, and sleep.”
She didn’t react to hearing his name. It was done now. They’d seen each other and could move on.
“What do you think Jay does, Bart?”
A flashing neon sign read “Coffee” in red, with an arrow beside it pointing into the driveway. As if no one in this town knew how to navigate to the Becker coffee hut.
Blue drove carefully past the gnomes that lined the drive. Her particular favorite, and most of the others in this town agreed, was the one with a raised middle finger.
“Did someone give that gnome a beard?”
Bart laughed. “I believe it was one of Red and Dee’s kids, but that hasn’t been confirmed.”
The hut itself was covered in flowers, as was the house not far from it. Tall, broad-shouldered, Mr. Becker was standing as he always did, leaning out the window, his bald head gleaming in the midday sun.
“Good day to you, Blue. I didn’t know you were back,” Klaus Becker said in a heavy German accent.
“Just today, Mr. Becker.”
“Klaus, dear.”
“So the time has come, then,” Blue said. “Is it an age thing, when we get to call you Klaus?”
He smiled. “I just make the call when the time is right, Blue. Hello, Bart. Why are you in Blue’s car and not running? You have that race soon.”
“I ruined another pair of shoes, Klaus.”
“What number is that?” Blue asked.
“Twenty,” Bart replied.
“You want coffee?” Klaus asked her.
Blue’s stomach revolted at the idea. “Not for me, thanks. But Bart wants one.”
“You look a little pale, Blue. An apple strudel muffin will help that.”
“Sounds good,” she lied. Only her bed sounded good about now.
“So what are your plans, Blue?” Klaus called from his coffee machine.
