“Ohh,” Mae said in recognition. “Right.”
“Yeah. Most of her customers are conservative old ladies, while she’s like, the most radical person here. It’s a weird existence she lives, that Olive, but I don’t question it.”
“But she’s good at checking her email. As…the treasurer.”
Liv lifted a shoulder. “That’s what I’m saying.”
“Huh. Okay. Thanks for the intel.”
“Sure. But actually.” Liv pushed her plate aside, leaning forward on her forearms again. “What I’m really trying to say is, maybe you have to cool it on the emails.”
“Do you also have intel on my Gmail?”
“I just mean you’ve been here for a month. And the town’s barely seen you.”
“Hey, that’s not true.” Mae stuck out her lower lip. “I go to the IGA all the time.”
Liv laughed. “And I appreciate the business. But evenIdon’t see you that much. You’re like—” Liv zigzagged a finger through the air. “Zoom, zoom. In and out. You haven’t stopped to get a coffee since that first day.”
Mae heaved a dramatic sigh.
“I have to admit to you now that…I don’t actually love coffee that much.”
Liv rolled her eyes.
“One of those tea queers, are you?”
Mae honked out a laugh that felt so real, so genuinely sparked from her gut that it almost left her breathless. “I am.”
“Regardless. What I’m saying is…you have totalkto people, Mae. I’m sure you’re doing all kinds of networking online, and you’ve met some contractors. But if you really want the trust of Greyfin Bay, you have to be present in person.”
“There’s just been so much to do at the shop. To get 12 Main Street ready.”
“I know. I drive by there at night and see the lights on behind those flags all the time. I’m sure you’re working yourself to the bone. Just…” Liv took another sip of coffee. “Say hi, sometimes.”
The server stopped by to freshen up Liv’s mug. A thread of anxiety needled into Mae’s stomach as she attempted to take Liv’s words seriously.
“Okay,” she said. “Okay. But…what if people don’twantme to say hi? I know…” She thought of some of the nastier comments on her social media posts, the ones she tried to delete and block out of her mind as soon as she saw them. The Millers and their hateful candy store. “I know some people aren’t thrilled about my presence.”
Liv made a neutral noise.
“Some people aren’t thrilled about my presence, either, but they’ve had to put up with me for fifty-odd years anyway.”
“So youare, in fact, born and raised Greyfin Bay?”
Liv gave a smug tilt of her head as she sipped her coffee. “Born and raised.”
“Was Nova, too?”
Liv placed the mug down on the table, did her finicky adjusting game with the handle again. “No. Nova was…” She cleared her throat. “Canadian.”
A shocked guffaw exited Mae’s mouth.
“Liv,” she said. “You fell in love with a Canadian? Damn. That’s sexy.”
Liv smirked, still staring at her mug.
“Gave up socialized health care for me, for this place. If that ain’t love, I don’t know what is.”
