Page 26 of The Hampton Beach Café 2
Reactive behavior centered around the phone, like asking someone to hold it for her than getting mad when she couldn't find it.
Leaving the phone behind in the car when she went for a walk in Salem.
“You play online?”
“I don't! I slipped a few months ago...but I haven't played a hand in six months,” she said quietly, tears welling in her eyes. “I just...can't all the time. I download apps or log in, and that's enough for my brain for a while, but then it pushes. That's why I asked you to stay...I don't want to go back to LA when my best friend is here.”
“How good of a best friend am I? I didn't even know about this...”
“You are the best friend anyone could ask for. You support me unconditionally––let me stay with you without question, leave you...your grand opening to come to make sure I don't embarrass myself in front of a guy! I relied on you without ever telling you, most late-night calls, all those demands for brunch...those were days I didn't think I'd be ok. My dad was an alcoholic. I know I told you that, but he never wanted to use the support people wanted to give him. I do...I just didn't want you to know why I needed you so bad.”
Frances turned to face her friend head-on. “I'm so proud of you.”
“What!?” Lucinda scoffed. “Come off it.”
“No, I am, you've been dealing with this on your own for too long, and you've worked so hard to avoid it. You can stay with me for as long as you need to. We will get you fighting fit, okay? And even then, you can stay as long as you want.”
Lucinda burst into tears for the second time that night and in the years they'd known each other.
“I'm sorry I ran out,” she said.
“You missed Alex trying to climb into the fridge to avoid a flirtatious food vlogger with an action cam strapped to her chest,” Frances said somberly. “It was a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
That was too much. Lucinda laughed through the tears streaming down her face.
Frances looped her arm through Lucinda's and turned them back towards the truck.
“Let's go home. We have influencers to woo,” Lucinda spoke.
“And a café to run, this felt like the finish line, but there is still plenty of work to do...” Frances said.
Frances cast her mind back to the diaries and letters, the question of her father's actions, her mom's secret mission to find him, and even the mystery of her own husband disappearing on her just to resurface in his hometown with his old girlfriend on his arm.
Plenty of answers to find, too,she thought.
CONTINUE THE STORY!
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BOOK 3 in the Starting Over Series…
Book 3 Teaser…
ONE
With the last quarter piled neatly on top of its little stack, Frances gently closed the draw of the vintage cash register.
She knew it was a bit kitsch, but when Vincent had shown up with it under his arm after attending a flea market down the coast––and with a schoolboy grin on his face––she couldn't help but agree to its new home on the built-in wooden counter at Café Bruno.
The eponymous hound sat on a shelf overlooking the counter. She had wanted him next to the register but Lucinda––always thinking of the strangest and yet most useful things––had pointed out that it might not be a great idea to have him within grabbing distance of children's grabby hands.
Frances didn't like to think negatively––about kids in particular––but Bruno was a cherished childhood heirloom and was already vintage when she got him. She'd never forgive herself if the gorgeous thing survived forty-plus years until it met her!
Sighing as she heard the quarters tip over in the draw––it was a nightly game these days to try and stack the till float perfectly for the morning––Frances double-checked the locked front door and headed upstairs.
"So…" Lucinda said, stepping out of the bathroom they shared and making Frances jump, "…how'd we do today?"
"Don't walk around in the dark! I swear one of these days I'll flight or fight you right down the stairs!" Frances scolded, pressing a hand to her chest.
