Page 43 of The Uncomplicated Café
Sam glanced over his shoulder, his expression a mixture of pity and unwavering resolve. He shook his head. “I’m sorry.” Conversation over, he strode toward the staircase without looking back.
Logan watched him ascend the steps into darkness, his insides ripping apart.
He’d felt powerless many times in his life. When his parents died, then his grandparents. After his accident, when he didn’t know if he’d ever walk again.
But at that moment, his helplessness hit a new low.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Their family portrait hadn’t merely been altered.
It had been erased.
Chapter Twenty-Five
CECE
CeCe curled on the couch,reading beneath the light of the table lamp, Spock snuggled up beside her.
When Jayce handed her his script after the Bare Feet & Good Eats event that evening, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to read it until tomorrow. How could she concentrate on anything after their disorientating almost-kiss? Her entire body still tingled at the memory of his lips mere inches from hers, from the warmth of his fingertips against her skin, his intoxicating nearness.
Then, those torturous and tantalizing words.
Not like this…
The implication behind the three short syllables had made her shiver, as if maybe he’d imagined a time and place for a kiss between them. But that didn’t make any sense. They were friends. A fact he’d made all too clear over the years.
And friends didn’t kiss.
She’d tormented herself with what-ifs for over an hour, then finally decided to shove the agonizing thoughts from her mind. After fixing a cup of tea, she’d settled on the couch with Jayce’s screenplay. Her heartbeat had quickened as she’d folded back the title page.
For so long, she’d prayed for Jayce to take this step, to honor the longing placed on his heart. He’d been obsessed with telling stories since they were kids. He saw every plot twist ten steps ahead of the characters on screen and could determine the ending of the movie within the first twenty minutes. But beyond the bones of a story, he loved the relationships, the character growth, exploring thewhybehind the choices they made.
When she dove into the opening lines, she’d expected something deep, witty, and well-developed, but what she’d found inside the packet of crisp white paper contained so much more than she’d anticipated. An hour and a half later, as she neared the final pages, she reached for a tissue on the credenza behind the couch.
At her loud sniffling, Spock raised his head.
“I know, I know. I’m not usually a crier when I read,” she admitted, dabbing her eyes. “But this script—wow. I knew Jayce would do incredible things with his creativity once he finally put pen to paper, but this is unlike anything I’d imagined.” In a way, reading his words felt like glimpsing a piece of his soul—a raw, vulnerable, intimate piece; one she hadn’t been privy to before now.
Spock cocked his head in curiosity.
“I don’t even know how to explain it to you,” she confessed. “It sort of defies genre. It’s romance meets drama meets magical realism. Fun, quirky, and profoundly moving.”
Spock gazed up at her, unblinking, as if he expected more.
CeCe sighed. “Okay, I’ll try to summarize the plot as best as I can, but you really have to read it to fully grasp the emotional nuances.”
Spock hissed, pointing out the obvious: He couldn’t read.
“You’re right. Sorry. That was insensitive.” She scratched behind his ears in apology. “So, the main character, Chloe, owns a café, where she lives and works.”
Spock’s floppy ears twitched at that little tidbit.
CeCe smiled. “I know what you’re thinking. It sounds familiar. And I’m sure I inspired the character a little, but I see parts of Jayce in Chloe, too.” And she suspected he’d infused even more of himself into the character than she even realized. At least, the depth of emotion poured onto the page felt too real and profound to be entirely make-believe.
“Chloe experienced some pretty serious trauma in her past,” she explained, doing her best to recap the story succinctly. “And one day, she tells her quirky employee, Alvera, that she longs to live a simple, uncomplicated life, protected from everything—and everyone—that could potentially lead to heartbreak. At the time, Chloe doesn’t think anything of the conversation. But the next morning, strange things start happening around the café.”
Spock sits up on his haunches, apparently intrigued.
