Page 33 of The Coffee Bar on Camellia Court

Juno

AlexgentlysqueezedLena'sshoulder. "It's fine, Lena-bug." Then he swallowed nervously. "Juno, this is Lena. Lena, this is my friend Juno. She owns the coffee shop across the street."

"The one with the chocolate milkshakes?"

"The very same," Alex said, his eyes never leaving Juno's face. "Lena's mom had an emergency, so Lena's hanging out with me tonight."

Juno's mind raced. Alex had a daughter. A daughter he'd never mentioned. Not to anyone, as far as Juno knew, and she'd never seen Alex with Lena, or even the woman who'd just driven off in her fancy sports car—Melissa, was it?—in all the years she'd been back in town. But this child certainly knew him. His favorite milkshake at Juno's? And Melissa clearly had no reservations about leaving Lena with him.

Juno shook her head, trying to realign the pieces of a suddenly complicated puzzle in a way that made sense. Alex had a daughter who looked to be about eight years old, which meant she'd been born right around the time Juno returned to Autumn Lake.

Turning to Lena, she said, "Well, it's nice to meet you, Miss Lena." Her tone was overly bright, and she could hear herself talking too loud, but she couldn't seem to tone it down. "I hope your daddy here is planning on bringing you with him to my place tonight,' she found herself saying, pointing up to her apartment windows. She emphasized the worddaddy—if he wasn't going to say the word, she would. "I invited him to dinner, and there's plenty of room at my table for three."

Alex looked a bit shell-shocked. "Uh.. yeah. But are you sure?"

"Of course," Juno said, forcing a smile. She checked her watch. Almost seven, and she hadn't prepared anything. "Listen, it's later than I'd planned. Why don't you two head over to the coffee shop while I get ready. You order anything you want and bring it up with you at seven. Anything you want. I'll call in and let Trevor know. He'll take good care of you." She needed a moment alone to process this revelation.

"Sounds like a plan," Alex said, relief evident in his voice. "We'll be up in a few minutes."

Twenty minutes later, Juno opened her door to find Alex and Lena, arms laden with a large takeout box from the coffee shop. She'd texted Trevor to let them know they were coming.

"Trevor gave us dessert, too," Alex said, as they stepped inside.

"I got a brownie," Lena announced, her eyes taking in the apartment. "I like your yellow walls."

"Thank you," Juno said, finding her manners despite the turmoil inside. "Make yourselves at home. I'll get some plates and drinks."

In the kitchen, she took a deep breath, hands braced against the counter.

A daughter.

She'd spent the last twenty minutes trying to sort it all out, but in the end, there was only one scenario that made any sense.

A summer fling that had resulted in a child.

A child who had been on this earth for almost a decade, if Juno was right about her age.

A beautiful, innocent child who deserved better than a father who kept her existence secret.

When she returned to the living room with plates and silverware, Lena was examining the framed photos on Juno's bookshelf.

"Is this your mom?" she asked, pointing to a snapshot of Juno's mother on her wedding day. It was the only picture of her that she had.

"It is," Juno said, setting the plates on the coffee table.

"She's pretty, like you." Lena smiled. "My mommy's pretty too. She used to be a model before she had me."

Juno's eyes flicked to Alex, who was arranging the takeout containers on the table. "Your dad never told me about your mother." The moment the words were out, Juno wished she could take them back. She didn't mind being direct, but using Lena to take passive-aggressive jabs at Alex was beneath her.

Alex winced slightly, but Lena didn't seem to notice. "That's because nobody knows I'm his daughter except Mommy and me." She said it matter-of-factly, as if revealing a mildly interesting bit of trivia rather than a bombshell. "It's our secret, but I think it's a dumb thing to be a secret, don't you, Miss Juno?"

"Lena," Alex began, his tone cautious.

"What?" the girl continued, returning to the coffee table. "Mommy says it's complicated, and I know what complicated means. It means it's hard to understand. But I don't think it's hard to understand. You're my dad. What's so complicated about that?"

Out of the mouths of babes.Juno felt a surge of respect for the child's directness, but it was clear that Alex was trying to hold his head above water right now. Oh, they'd be hashing this one out, that was for sure, but noting the pallor of his face, she took pity on him.

"Let's eat while everything's still warm," she suggested, opening the box and pulling out a grilled cheese sandwich meal for Lena, and two meatball and roasted red pepper sandwiches for her and Alex.

---