Page 6 of Feels Like Falling
“Miss Karina, you are lookin’lovelytoday, and I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve changed up your wardrobe choice to gray over black. Bold choice on a Wednesday.”
Karina narrows espresso-colored eyes at me even as her lips twitch. Later in the day, when the sun is higher, the light will pull the gold to mix with the almost-black color. Her skin is a rich caramel, and her dark curly hair meticulously frames her face, landing at her shoulders and drawing my eyes back to her very plain shirt.
“I wanted to mix it up,” she says, following my gaze with a shrug. “Besides, Nicolette is all the color I need.”
And she’s not lying.
Karina’s wife is her complete opposite with blonde hair she usually has tied up into some sort of braid, bright teal eyes that would look unnatural on anyone else, and porcelain skin. While Karina brings a sassier edge, Nicolette is all sunshine with bangles lining her wrists. I have no idea how she manages to keep them out of the clay while working—I’d been covered in the stuff every time the unit came up at school.
“Y’all are adorable.”
“He’s choosing violence today, huh?” she says as she stares around me and pops her hip.
“She’s talking about you,” I stage whisper to my cousin as I elbow him for emphasis.
“Each and every day,” Archer manages and Karina snickers.
“All right,” Karina says, pointing a purple manicured nail at me. “You having your usual?”
“Of course, you have a usual,” Archer says, speaking unprompted for the first time since we walked in.
“What can I say? I’m unforgettable.”
“I was going to say exhausting but…” Archer trails off as Karina bustles around. After placing my order on the counter—a western wrap with homemade salsa on the side and a large coffee with sugar and a dash of cream—Karina turns her focus to Archer. He blinks a couple of times then rattles off a boring black coffee and a bagel. She nods then turns, and I let my gaze sweep over the specials board.
“Is Nicolette still in Virginia?” I ask and Karina hums as she works.
“She’ll be back next week. We finally sold the house, nightmare that was, but she’s spending some time with her parents before she comes home.”
Home.
I know she means home toherbut I still love that Blackstone Falls holds that title too.
“Well, make sure you come to the house. I know Celeste and Grandad would love to have you for dinner.”
“That would be really nice,” she says, and it’s perhaps the least sassy thing she’s ever said. I don’t know what it’s like to be an outsider, but Idoknow what it’s like to fit in and to want to be part of something bigger than yourself.
“Good.” I snatch one of the business cards from the counter while Archer pays for our breakfast and I shove a twenty in the tip jar. “I’ll talk to Celeste and let you know.”
“That would be great, and here,” she says, holding out a white cardboard box with her logo stamped on the top in green ink, “these are Hal’s favorite.”
I don’t have to open it to know that Karina has placed a couple of strawberry muffins inside. We share a secret smile before she wanders off toward the kitchen, and Archer and I finally walk to a small table off to the side.
“Rock and Roll” by Eric Hutchinson plays quietly through the space as we settle in, and I waste no time taking a massive bite of my wrap. I realize my mistake almost instantly, but I’m too committed now, even though this thing isone level down from surface of the sunhot. Archer stares at me in disbelief, his own bagel halfway to his mouth as he watches me try, and fail, to cool down and chew my breakfast.
“There is seriously something wrong with you,” he mumbles and I shrug.
“Coulda been worse,” I say, washing everything down with equally hot coffee.
“But you literally watched her make it. You—” He shakes his head. “You know what? Never mind.”
Snorting and somehow managing not to choke, I decide to move to a safer subject. His girlfriend. “How’s Bea?”
“She’s good.” His smile is tender as a blush creeps up his neck.
Good for him.
“Heard her business has been doin’ real well.” My cousin met his girl at a local vendor event earlier this year. He’d had his jams and canned goods and she had homemade soaps and lotions. Her business, Bea’s Bubbles and Balms, has taken our little town by storm, and she’s already managed to get her products in a lot of the local stores.
