Page 66 of Living La Vida Mocha
“I’d love to stay, but we still have a bit of a drive and we both need to work tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I understand.” Although I didn’t want her to leave. Not just yet.
She wrapped me in a hug, keeping her voice barely audible. “I like her, but yeah, she hates you. Call me tomorrow and we’ll talk.” Pulling back, she shook Bea and Jasper’s hands. “Thank you so much for the lovely meal and the generous conversation. It’s been a slice.”
Jasper smiled and stepped back. “It was a pleasure meeting you all. Next time you’re in Ridge Heights, you be sure to stop in. Either here or at my bar, and we can discuss a trivia night.”
Bea clasped her hands together. “Thank you for the wine. It was quite tasty.”
“You can never go wrong with a bottle of rosé.” Silas donned his jacket and put a hand on the doorknob. “Thanks again. Happy Holidays.”
They both stepped outside into the cool air and shivered. I waved as they descended the steps onto the sidewalk, and made their way to the car and then closed the door.
“You have nice friends,” Bea said and headed to the kitchen with Jasper right behind.
“How do you think that went?” I whispered to Carter, keeping a firm eye on the kitchen entryway.
“It went well, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I think so, but I think she still hates me. She kept giving me the stink eye.”
“That's just her face.” Carter gave me a friendly nudge. “She's always had RBF, you know that.”
“But I'm not the only one who sees it.”Clearly, Amanda had too.
With both of his hands on my shoulders, he tipped his forehead to mine. “Relax. It's fine. Want me to talk to her again?”
“Oh, no. It's fine. We'll assume it's the RBF.”I rolled my eyes, knowing better.
“Carter, can you give Jasper a hand?” Like a cat, Bea had snuck up silently behind me.
The heat drained out of my face and a nasty wave of cool air blanketed me. Busted. Red-handed.
“What's he need help with?” He didn't seem to want to move which troubled me deeply.
“I don't know, something electrical in the movie room? Just leave and give us girls a minute. Please. I want to talk to Cara. Alone.” There was a sternness to her voice which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Like an old habit, he kissed me on the forehead before retreating with two quick over-the-shoulder glances.
Bea led me into the kitchen and topped up her wine glass. She held the bottle for me.
“No, thank you.”
A solid lump of apprehension lodged in the back of my throat, and I found it hard to breathe. However, I sensed a fight was on hand and I squared my shoulders, ready to take it on.
“You know, Bea, I'm trying to be nice, and I'm trying to show you that I love your brother with my whole heart, but I feel you are making things unbearably difficult.”
“Unbearably difficult?” Her dark eyes connected with mine as she echoed and shifted back and forth on her feet. “Unbearably difficult, wow.” With a huff, she stepped to the cabinets and pulled out a stack of small plates, which she sat on a serving tray, along with four dessert forks. Her voice was smooth like whiskey when she finally spoke after taking a long, lingering inhale. “I've welcomed you, and your friends, into my home, and you tell me I'm being unbearably difficult?”
Apparently, she was fixated on those two particular words and wasn't seeing the big picture.“Yeah. But you were great towards them, it was me you keep—”
The stern expression on her face made me pause.
“Listen, Cara, I’m not going to…” She sighed and the tight lines across her forehead dissolved. In five steps, she circled around the island, bridging the distance between us and pulled out a chair, offering me the one beside her. “Please sit.”
With nervous trepidation, I moved my chair further back before I climbed onto it.
“Carter and I, we had an interesting talk yesterday, and he explained everything.” She placed a warm hand on my arm, which surprised me. I figured she was the Ice Queen. “Cara, I'm sorry. For my behaviour tonight. Old habits die hard and sometimes my face gives away my thoughts before I have a chance to vocalize them.”