Page 2 of The Hampton Beach Café 6
“Frances?” Lucinda whispered. “You wanna go inside?”
With Kennedy?Frances glanced through the glass and saw her sister staring at the scene, silent and open mouthed.
“No.”
“You wanna stay out here?”
The street was miraculously empty right now, but at this end of the tourist season, that could change at any moment.
“No.”
There was a light pressure on her shoulder. She looked down to see Lucinda’s hand there.
“Okay,” Lucinda said. “Whatever you want.”
What did she want? For the last six months to never have happened? No. That would mean she was still in Los Angeles. No divorce meant no Hampton Beach. No Hampton Beach meant no Café Bruno. No Café Bruno meant no reconnecting with her mom, discovering her father’s story, figuring out she had not only Kennedy as a half-sister but a little brother she hadn’t known existed.
No divorce meant no Alex.
Even though she had been traveling along in life for twenty years without her high school best friend, suddenly, the thought of not having him in her life was utterly unacceptable.
Turning to face the direction Alex had left in, she didn’t give herself time to think.
She took off in a run.
She regretted it instantly. Her lungs burned and the ghost of her personal trainer from Los Angeles was rolling her eyes in her mind, but she didn’t stop.
She could hear Lucinda calling out to her, but she didn’t care. As she rounded the corner, she saw Alex.
Breathless as she was, she shouted ahead, “Alex!”
He paused and turned, his face quickly becoming a mask.
“Please, just ten seconds,” she said, panting as she came to a stop in front of him.
Alex stayed silent, but he didn’t turn to leave either—that must be a good thing.
Suddenly she didn’t know what to say, and she could feel him losing patience with her.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted out. “I know you’re hurt and confused and …so am I, but that’s not the point. I just couldn’t let you leave without saying something. I’m going to figure out what’s going on. I’ll figure it out and explain everything—I swear. Reconnecting with you has been one of the best parts of these six months…I can’t lose you over something that prat said or did…please.”
That was probably less than ten seconds, right?
He looked deeply into her face, and she saw the corner of his mouth twitching.
“Okay…” he said quietly, “…but figure it out soon because…I’m too upset right now to have this conversation. We’ll talk, all right?”
It felt like the bottom of her stomach had fallen away, and her whole being was plummeting south.
“Sure,” she whispered, but he was already walking away.
For the second time that morning, she watched him walk away from her without looking back.
TWO
Frances and Lucinda were working hard behind the counter at Café Bruno, taking orders and preparing delicious pastries and paninis for the busy lunch crowd. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee and baked goods filled the air as the customers bustled in and out of the café.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and an older woman entered, looking around the bustling café with a mixture of confusion and trepidation. She hesitated for a moment before making her way over to the counter where Frances and Lucinda were working. Frances realized who it was—Martha.
