Page 14 of The Coffee Bar on Camellia Court

Juno smiled. "I am, too." She gave the woman a quick side hug before leading her around the back of the car. "I've never wanted to live anywhere else."

Alex remembered her saying the same thing way back in high school. He'd talked non-stop about getting out of Autumn Lake one day, and Juno had talked non-stop about never wanting to leave. It had been one of the few things they'd heartily disagreed on. How ironic it was that Juno had been the one to leave Alex behind.

Alex trailed a good couple of yards behind them, not wanting Juno to feel encroached upon. Once the women were up on the sidewalk, he popped open the trunk and was greatly relieved to find the inside clean as a whistle, a first aid kit and a fleece blanket tucked in behind one wheel well, and a quality hydraulic jack tucked in behind the other. The spare, in good shape, thank goodness, sat in a well beneath the floor mat, not bracketed under the car like some older Buick models, and it was one of those ridiculous lightweight donuts that weren't meant to be driven on for more than a couple of miles. He could do this.

"So tell me, Mrs. Becker, what are you doing here so early?" he heard Juno ask the woman as she led her toward the front door of the shop. Alex was wondering the same thing. Was it even safe for her to be driving in the dark? Granted, the sky was quickly turning from cobalt to ash, the moody clouds overhead letting only a few shafts of early morning amber light tickle the tops of the tree line on the North Shore, but still, the woman had started her journey in the pitch black of the pre-dawn hour.

Alex listened as their voices faded, focusing on the task at hand. He knelt awkwardly beside the flat tire, careful to keep his weight off his bad ankle, and began loosening the lug nuts. His back screamed in protest as the movement pulled at his healing road rash. He gritted his teeth and continued working.

Through the shop window, he could see Mrs. Becker talking animatedly, her hands gesturing, while Juno stood with her arms crossed, nodding occasionally. Every few seconds, Juno's eyes would drift toward the window, toward him, before snapping back to her guest.

What was Mrs. Becker saying in there? And were they talking about him, just like she'd said? Did he really want to know?

7

Juno

JunowatchedAlexthroughthe window as he knelt awkwardly beside Mrs. Becker's Buick. Even with the walking boot and crutches, he was stubbornly determined to change that tire himself. Typical. The man didn't know how to accept help, even when he clearly needed it.

"He shouldn't be putting weight on that ankle," she muttered, turning to measure loose tea leaves into the infuser.

"Some lessons we learn the hard way, I suppose," Mrs. Becker said, settling into a chair at a table where she could watch Alex, too. Her eyes, sharp and perceptive as ever, hadn't missed Juno's concerned glance outside. "Though I suspect our Alex has had quite enough hard lessons for one lifetime."

Juno busied herself with the tea preparation, grateful for the familiar routine. Now there was a baited statement if she'd ever heard one, and she wasn't going to bite. If Mrs. Becker wanted to share details about Alex's life, that was all on her. Juno wouldn't be the one to ask.

"You two were so close once." Mrs. Becker's voice was gentle. "Before you left."

Juno poured steaming water over the infuser teapot, releasing the fragrant aroma of Earl Grey into the air.Before you left.She wanted to shout "I didn't leave!" but she kept her expression stoic as she loaded a tray with the teapot, a cup and saucer, and a white ceramic single serving cream and sugar set. "That was a long time ago," she finally said as she brought the tray to Mrs. Becker's table.

Outside, Alex set the jack, his movements slow and pained.

"I believe in being direct, Juno," Mrs. Becker continued, watching as Juno set out the tea service on the table in front of her. "So I'll ask plainly. Did you ever meet Jason?"

Juno paused, teapot suspended mid-air. "Alex's brother?"

"Alex's brother." Mrs. Becker confirmed with a nod.

"I never met him, but I feel like I did, the way Alex always talked about him. But he was stationed in Germany back then, and Alex and his parents went there for Christmas the year I was in Autumn Lake." Juno wasn't sure where this conversation was going, but she didn't like the serious look on her guest's face. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was already five. The first of her patrons would be wandering in soon.

Jason was older than Alex by about four years, and Alex thought his big brother hung the moon. Although he had no desire to make a career of the military, which was the route Jason was taking, Alex was all for doing his time defending the country in exchange for a free education and a chance to see a little of the world on the military's dime. And the uniform, he used to joke. "You know how the ladies feel about a guy in uniform." Juno knew it was more than that, though. Jason was Alex's role model, and if Jason had a uniform hanging in his closet, Alex wanted one, too.

As Juno poured tea into Mrs. Becker's cup, she added, "Where is he stationed these days? Do you know?"

Mrs. Becker reached over and laid a soft hand on her forearm. "Honey, Jason took his own life about six months after you left town."

The teapot clattered against the edge of the teacup, and Juno quickly set it down before she spilled the hot liquid, her hands shaking. "What?" The word came out on a breathy gasp.

"I see." Mrs. Becker nodded slowly. "I thought maybe one of your friends might have told you. But then, Claire isn't really a gossip, is she? Nor is that lovely Liz Needham. It's not something people really talk about around here. It completely devastated the Frampton family."

Juno shook her head in confirmation. The others in their Garden Variety Lovers Club had all moved to Autumn Lake sometime over the last decade, so they wouldn't have even known Jason if what Mrs. Becker said was true. But why hadn't Claire ever said anything? "I—I didn't know. No one ever told me."

"I wondered if perhaps... well, I wondered if that might be part of why things have been so strained between you two."

Juno sank into the chair opposite Mrs. Becker, her legs no longer willing to hold her upright. She glanced around at the quiet shop, relieved her usuals were apparently behind schedule this morning. Poppy would be here around six, but until then, Juno was on her own, which wasn't usually a problem at this hour.

Mrs. Becker poured a splash of cream into her tea, then stirred it three times before setting the spoon on the saucer. She picked up the cup and took a careful sip, giving Juno time to compose herself.

"I didn't know," she said again, and suddenly, like watching a movie rewind in her head, she started reeling back the last eight years since she'd been back in Autumn Lake, that fleeting haunted look she'd sometimes catch in Alex's eyes when he sat alone at the end of her bar drinking his milkshake. That devil-may-care image that sometimes felt like a facade. A well-rehearsed one, absolutely, but sometimes she thought she glimpsed cracks in it and wondered what he might be hiding. His summer sizzlers? His career…. "Did—" Juno broke off, suddenly not sure she wanted to know the answer to the question she'd started to ask. She cleared her throat and started again. "Did Alex go into…."

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