Page 53 of Take Two

‘I’m done,’ Mae said sharply enough to cut the air. ‘I don’t owe them another day. I don’t oweyouanother day.’

Callie stared at her for a long moment, expression unreadable but far too soft around the edges.

‘Mae,’ she said quietly, ‘can we just… talk? Inside? Please?’

The word came out instinctively, a shield. ‘No.’

‘Please,’ Callie murmured. ‘Just five minutes.’

‘As if I owe you a second,’ she said bitterly.

Callie looked down, defeated.

Mae hated how that pulled at her. She hated that she still felt anything at all.

She stepped back. ‘Five minutes,’ Mae said finally. ‘Then you go.’

Callie looked surprised for a moment. And then crossed the threshold.

Back Then

Mae was behind the counter, staring blankly at the sausage rolls.

Mrs Carter stepped up to the counter with her usual gentle smile. ‘Morning, dear. Could I have a blueberry muffin, please?’

Mae reached into the display cabinet with full confidence, grabbed something, bagged it, and handed it over.

Mrs Carter peered inside the bag. ‘Mae… sweetheart… this is a cheese scone.’

Mae took back the bag. ‘It… is?’

Mrs Carter nodded kindly. ‘Unless your muffins are just very off.’

‘Right,’ Mae said, heat rising up her neck. ‘Sorry, Mrs Carter, I’m… I’m just a bit… Didn’t sleep.’

‘Everything all right?’ the woman asked.

No. Everything was upside down and backwards and dipped in panic.

‘Yes,’ Mae lied, swapping the wrong thing for the right thing.

Mrs Carter chuckled. ‘You should have a cup of tea and a little sit-down. You’ll be okay.’

‘I’ll do that,’ Mae said weakly. As soon as the woman left, and the place was empty, Mae let her forehead drop onto the counter with a softthunk.

And as if summoned by cosmic comedy timing, her phone buzzed violently in her apron pocket.

She pulled the phone free.

I’m outside.

Mae’s heart stopped. Slowly, she looked toward the door. And there was Callie, standing on the pavement, hands shoved in her coat pockets. When she saw Mae looking, she gave a tiny, frightened wave.

Mae was pretty sure the cheese scone incident was about to be the least embarrassing part of her morning.

She wiped her palms on her apron and went to the door. ‘You know, we’re open for business. You could have just walked in?’

Callie laughed. ‘Felt weird. Like I needed permission to enter.’