Page 110 of You've Got Male

“I never said that—”

“Preying on the innocent romantics of the world. Cupid’s Coffee House doesn’t sell love. It sells lies. And I can assure you that this is one unsatisfied customer who will be taking my caffeine needs elsewhere.”

“Tasha,” she called out, but Tasha was already packing up her things and heading toward the parking lot, taking with her the crowd that had turned out to see if true love was real. And left heavy hearted.

Join the club.

“Evie,” a pain-filled voice said from behind. Evie turned and it was Alex from the You’ve Got Male-Mamas. She had a baby popped on one hip and a toddler by the hand. “Is it really true? You didn’t find your prince?”

“It looks like I didn’t,” Evie said, but something in her heart wanted to argue.

“You know, we all looked up to you. Believed that if it could happen for a single mom like you then maybe it could happen for us, too.”

“And it still can,” Evie said encouragingly. “Just because I shortcut the system doesn’t mean that you did. You and Ernie seem like a really good match.”

“Excuse me,” a man in a suit holding a clipboard said. “I’m David from Denver’s Best and we’re here to check out the famous Cupid’s Coffee.”

Fuck. Her lie hadn’t just hurt the people around her. It had the power to destroy her parents’ shop.

Chapter Forty-One

Evie

The next day, Evie woke with the strangest feeling that she was being watched. The hairs on the back of her neck registered that it was more than one set of eyes staring at her.

“Did I sleep through my alarm?” she asked, her voice scratchy—the product of a night spent sobbing. Not only had Tasha taken the crowd with her, not a single customer had walked through Grinder’s doors for the rest of the day.

Okay, that was an exaggeration. A few people had walked in wanting to know if it was true and when Evie confirmed that it was, they left sans coffee. Then there were her parents, who were avoiding her—or was she avoiding them? Didn’t matter, the end result was the same: they hadn’t had the conversation that was like a giant weather balloon filling the house, ready to pop at the first sharp word.

“Nope,” Lenard said. “Figured you were already awake.”

She hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep last night, but it upped the guilt factor that her parents hadn’t, either. She knew the talkneeded to be had, but she couldn’t face it until after the sun came up.

“Can we talk about this after I have some coffee?” she asked.

The light flicked on—answer enough.

Evie groaned and put the pillow over her face. It was immediately snatched away. Then she smelled the warm aroma of caffeine wafting beneath her nose.

“Coffee for one,” Moira said.

Evie opened her eyes to find her parents sitting on the edge of her bed like they used to when she was a teen and got caught sneaking out. She’d considered just that scenario last night. Packing her backpack and climbing through the window, hitchhiking to California and starting a new life under an assumed name. But her dad would be able to smell the guilt from a thousand miles away.

With a groan, she sat up. Her head throbbed, her lids were scratchy when she blinked, and that cold, empty feeling that had settled in her bones now felt like frostbite.

“I’m so sorry,” she began. “So, so sorry about what happened yesterday. I never meant for things to go this far, and now I’ve put the shop in even more trouble. And that I put our chances of Denver’s Best in jeopardy.”

Lenard and Moira exchanged looks, then Moira took her hand. “Honey, we don’t care about some stupid contest.”

“I do,” Evie said and, again, there were exchanged looks. “I promised you guys that I would make Grinder a success again and I blew it.”

Moira held one hand and Lenard the other, but it was Moira who spoke first. “The day you were born we made a promise as parents to take care of you, but lately we’ve been letting you take care of us.”

“I don’t mind. It’s my turn,” Evie said and meant it from the depths of her soul. “You guys took care of me when Igot pregnant, then Camila when she was born. You’re still her biggest champions.”

“That’s because we’re her grandparents, not because you two are some kind of obligation. Love could never be an obligation.”

At the word love, Evie’s chest went on hiatus and refused to take in oxygen. It was as if the mile-high kite had reached new elevations and the air was too thin to breathe. She knew she’d made the responsible choice, but it didn’t mean that she didn’t feel the loss with every breath.

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