Page 22 of November

Maisie nodded because she’d gotten her answer. India had just gotten out of what sounded like a complicated relationship with someone whom she still wasn’t over. It dampened her mood a bit, but she reminded herself that it wasn’t as if someone like India would go for someone like her anyway.

“I’m good, though,” India repeated. “Really. I wasn’t at first, but I think that was more because I didn’t want to be alone, and Finley was familiar. You know how that goes.”

“Not really.”

“Just that it gets hard to let go of something when youthink about having to start over. We tried for years. She knows everything about me. I know everything about her. It’s kind of like that old blanket you keep over your sofa. You could buy a new one that might be warmer or bigger or softer, but when you put it over your legs, it wouldn’t feel the same as the old one you’ve put over those legs for years; even though it might have holes in it or has been washed a thousand times and is falling apart.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Maisie replied as the woman who had just used her bathroom walked out the door.

“Hey, can I maybe grab you a coffee? Finley and Molly should be back upstairs by now, and I could use a pick-me-up. I don’t have another meeting, so I can bring it back here,” India offered.

“I’dlike a coffee,” Lainey said from the center aisle.

“Lainey!”

“What do you want?” India asked her.

“Iced coffee. Large. Maybe add a little vanilla?”

“Sure.” India chuckled. “Maisie?”

“You don’t have to bring us coffee.”

“I want to. Caramel latte and a peanut butter cookie?”

“Sure, I guess.”

“Lainey, peanut butter cookie?”

“Hell, yeah,” Lainey replied.

“Great. I’ll be right back,” India said with a determined look on her face.

Then, she turned and left the shop. Maisie smiled because the pretty woman she had a crush on, after only meeting her the day before, was going to bring her coffee and a cookie. The pretty woman she had a crush on had remembered her coffee order. Maisie looked up at Lainey, who was suddenly standing where India had been just moments before. She must have zoned out because she had no idea how Lainey had gotten there so quickly.

“You like her.”

“What?”

“You like her. That’s India, right?”

“Yes, that’s India. And Idon’tlike her.”

“Yes, you do. I remember what you look like when you like someone. For a while, that someone was me.”

“You know too much about me. We shouldn’t be friends anymore,” she joked.

“It goes both ways. Act like you’ve never told Paige anything embarrassing about me before.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she replied, stacking theChapter & Versebookmarks in a neat little pile.

“Maise, she’s, like, really fancy. Those shoes cost more than my car.”

“I know. So what?”

“So, you’re rocking a hoodie and tennis shoes.”

“What’s your point, Lainey? She’s a customer, not someone I’m dating.”