Page 23 of Love Rewritten

“Oh, thank God you’re here. I was starting to go crazy.” Rose runs around from behind the counter to hug us at the same time.

“Are you here alone?” Dallas asks, looking around at how empty the place is.

“For now. The manager had to run to get a few things. She figured I’d be fine without her since it’s so dead.” She returns to her spot behind the counter. “You two want anything? It’s all really good but my favorite is a classic strawberry banana smoothie.”

“I’ll take one of those,” I say.

Dallas looks over the large menu board hanging at an angle above Rose. “I’ll take the Berries Galore, whatever that is.”

Rose laughs and gets started on our smoothies.

We take a seat at one of the tables by the front window, settling into the slightly padded seats. Heavy rain pounds against the window, falling past the shop’s logo stuck to the glass. The top of our table has a painting of a sun on it, but it’s not very well done. I look around at the rest of the tables and notice that only one other tabletop has been painted with a tree, also not very good.

“Who painted these?” I yell at Rose as she makes the drinks.

She waits until the blender stops and carries them to us before responding. “Honestly, I think the owner tried to but stopped when she realized how bad of a painter she was.”

We all chuckle at that. I take a sip of my drink and can’t help the satisfied sound coming from my throat. Dallas does the same. We trade cups to sip from each other's smoothies before returning them. “These are delicious. I bet the coffee is just as good.”

“Wouldn’t know myself. I don’t like coffee,” Rose says, hands on her hips, smiling delightfully at our appreciation of her work.

I raise my brows and smirk. “You two and your jobs.”

Rose looks at me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I look between them. I think Dallas gets my drift, but Rose doesn’t. “Dallas is a bartender who doesn’t drink. You’re a barista who hates coffee. The irony is strong here.”

Rose and Dallas chuckle at that. “Fair point,” she says.

The three of us sit and chat for a while until a customer enters, orders a smoothie, and leaves again. Dallas and I spend another hour talking with her before deciding to leave.

“Rose,” I say, pausing at the front door. “Before we go, I have a question for you.”

“Yeah?” she says, looking up from cleaning one of the blenders.

“Would you come with me to the LAO awards ceremony? I have one more ticket and would love for you to join. Plus, as much as I love Logan, I don’t think he’s much of a black-tie kind of guy.”

Dallas laughs. “I think he’d show up in jeans and a T-shirt before you got him anywhere near a dress shirt.”

“That’s what I thought,” I laugh.

I look back at Rose, who beams behind the counter. “I would be honored. Congrats, by the way. Dallas texted me the other day to let me know.”

“Thanks.” I smile. “Oh, and one more thing. Talk to your boss about seeing if she’d be interested in hiring someone to paint these tables. I know just the person for the job.”

“I’ll have to ask her about that. She’s mentioned wanting to finish them since they’re the only thing left that needs doing. I’ll check with her when she gets back.”

Meredith would be a perfect fit to paint these tables. The style of this shop is right up her alley. It’s pastel and quirky, yet stylish and fun. She’d get a kick out of it.

“Can you help me?” I yell out the bathroom door toward Dallas, who’s been watching TV with Logan since getting back from the gym.

There’s commotion from the living room before he fills the doorway. “I’m not sure I’ll be much help here.” He looks around at all the hair dye products strewn about the counter and then at my half-done head.

“It’s just black all over. It doesn’t take any skill. But it’s so much easier to get the back with someone else’s help.” He takes a step forward. “Wait, go change into clothes you don’t care about first. Just in case.” He’ll look like a zebra in that white shirt if he doesn’t.

He leaves and returns in a dark gray T-shirt and a pair of sweats. I hold out the brush to him and he hesitates before taking it.

“If this turns out like shit, don’t blame me.” He positions himself behind me.

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