Page 18 of The Coffee Bar on Camellia Court

Then she smiled. That beautiful June-bug smile that he'd dreamed about for nearly two decades.

9

Juno

Junostoodatthewindow and watched the tail lights of Alex's truck disappear around the corner behind Mrs. Becker's Buick. He'd never actually said why he'd been lurking outside her coffee shop in the dark early morning. The thought sent an uncomfortable shiver down her spine - not of fear exactly, but something deeper, more unsettling.

The Alex Frampton she remembered wouldn't have avoided a direct question like that.

Then again, the Alex she remembered wouldn't have been sitting in his truck watching her through windows before dawn, either.

The bell above the door chimed, making her jump. Claire burst in with her typical dramatic flair, but there was something different about her energy this morning - less theatrical and more... concerned? She hadn't even bothered to style her blonde curls, which were escaping from a messy bun, and she was without her signature Hollywood red lipstick. She was earlier than usual, too.

Claire also started her mornings early at her bookshop, hours before she opened to the public. She once explained to Juno that she liked to think of herself as something of a Miss Clavel from the popular Madeline series. "I'm the last one to leave and the first one to arrive, and I just want to make sure everything is in nice straight lines. Once I do a walk-through of the shop, I can get my coffee, sit down, and start on the other important things. Like bookkeeping," she'd added with a long-suffering sigh.

Claire had a marked flamboyant gene that she expressed in her fashion sense, but her shop was, indeed, run with the same precision of the storybook militant nun. So for her to show up in a bit of a tizzy like this?

"Don't be alarmed," Claire announced, as though reading Juno's mind. She made her way to the counter and planted herself on a stool, not bothering to remove her jacket. "but I've spent the last twenty minutes being a creepy creeper creeping on a creepier creeper." She paused for effect. "I was spying on him spying on you."

Juno's hands stilled on the espresso machine she'd been absently polishing. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw Alex's truck when I got to the shop to do my morning prep. He was just... sitting there. In the dark." Claire's usually playful tone had an edge to it.

Juno didn't know why she even bothered trying to play dumb, but she said nothing.

"I tried calling you," Claire added.

Juno patted her apron pockets. No phone. She must have set it down somewhere during all the hubbub around Mrs. Becker. Maybe she'd been outside helping the old woman out of her car when Claire called. "My phone is in the back," she said, although she knew that wasn't really any kind of response. At least not for someone like Claire. To keep busy, she started making Claire's usual morning drink - a hazelnut latte with an extra espresso shot. The familiar motions helped steady her hands.

"When you didn't answer, I decided to come over and ask you—or Alex— what was going on myself."

When Claire left the statement hanging, Juno prompted, "And?"

"And by the time I put on some makeup, got my coat back on, and walked around from the alley, Alex was driving away, following Mrs. Becker in her car." Claire reached over and plucked a cellophane-wrapped biscotti from a countertop display case. She removed the packaging just as Juno handed her a large to-go cup without a lid so that Claire could appreciate the fancy foam art before she took her first sip. "Which, I have to say, was not the dramatic conclusion I was expecting to my morning of espionage."

Juno chuckled. "It's too early for espionage."

"Apparently, not for Alex," she shot back. "Nor for me. You should have seen me. Well, actually, you couldn't have seen me since I'm so good at espionage. I kept my shop lights off so that I could watch him from the front window. The one with the new design. The silhouette of a girl holding the umbrella made of flowers and the rain clouds—"

"I know the window, Claire," Juno interrupted, taking the biscotti wrapper and dropping it into the trash. "I look at it every day." The Cracked Spine, Claire's eclectic bookshop, was kitty-corner to the coffee shop, and they often waved at each other when they happened to be in their windows at the same time.

"Right. But you didn't know I was there, did you?" Claire wiggled her eyebrows at Juno. "That's because I excel at subterfuge. I'm like a shadow. A wraith. An invisible woman."

Juno snorted. "You are not and will never be an invisible woman, my friend. Not with the way you look." It was true. Claire had an ethereal beauty that made people stop and take a second look. And it seemed so effortless, which made her even more attractive. On top of that, the woman was genuine and kind and the best friend a girl could ever have.

Claire ignored the compliment and took a careful sip of her coffee. She closed her eyes in pleasure. "Perfect," she murmured dreamily. "I don't know how you do it, woman. It's perfect every time."

"That's why you pay me the big bucks," Juno quipped, hoping Claire didn't notice that her cheeks warmed at the memory of Alex saying the same thing.

Claire pushed a couple of dollars across the counter for the biscotti, and Juno reluctantly took the cash for the baked good. Her friend sent so many customers her way, and Juno would have preferred not to charge her for anything, but Claire wouldn't hear of it. She only agreed to accept the first drink of the day as a complimentary one, and only after Juno threatened to not serve her at all if she didn't. A completely empty threat, they both knew, but it did the trick of preserving both their dignities while coming up with a satisfactory compromise for both parties.

"So?"

Juno glanced at the clock again; she kept hoping someone would come in and prevent the rest of this conversation, but no such luck. However, she was nothing if not stubborn. "So?"

"Oh my lands, Juno," Claire said on an exasperated sigh. "Will you please just tell me what went down this morning? I'm dying here, and I have a ton of bookkeeping to do, and you already know that I'll findanyexcuse not to do it. So if you don't want my business to collapse in financial ruin, talk." She cupped a hand around an ear. "I'm listening."

Juno frowned. "You're not going to go away until I tell you, are you?"

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