The Space Between Us (28 page)

“From Mary Catherine’s coffee shop.” Her voice had gone a little high and squeaky. A giggle slipped out.

He looked as if he ought to remember her and knew it, but couldn’t quite. “It’s good to see you.”

“I’ve lost weight,” she said, as if that should explain it all. “Since you saw me last. I used to be bigger.”

“What can we get you, Joe?” I figured if this transaction was ever going to get finished, I had to be the one pushing it through. Clearly, Brandy couldn’t focus, and Joe was too polite to tell her he had no clue who she was.

“Ah…large special blend to go and a scone.” He gave me the smile Brandy wanted, and her a small, sideways glance. “Room for cream and sugar, please.”

“I can get it,” she insisted.

I wasn’t going to fight her for it. We still had four people left in line and most of the tables filled. I got to work and managed to help the next two people while Brandy struggled with Joe’s order. Finally, she handed him his to-go coffee and the scone wrapped in paper and a bag. She took his money.

She wasn’t ready to let him go, though. “So…you come in here a lot?”

Joe, pocketing his change, looked up. “Uh…no. Not really. Sometimes.”

“You live close by?”

“How’s Sadie?” I interjected, to give him a break.

He looked relieved, his smile genuine. “Tired. Cranky.”

“Won’t be long now. Tell her I asked about her, okay?” I handed my customer her coffee and bagel, rang her up and took her money while Brandy stared longingly at Joe.

He nodded, backing up. “Will do. See you, Tesla. And…Brandy.”

At the door he paused and glanced over his shoulder. Something like recognition drifted over his face, though it was hard to see that far away. He nodded at her and went out.

She sighed. Since I’d waited on the final customers while she was staring after him, there was nobody waiting when she turned to me with big, wet eyes and a trembling mouth. I braced myself.

“That guy,” she said.

“Joe.” I washed my hands, something I always did after handling money and before handling food.

“Him,” Brandy said.

“Sadie’s husband,” I said, just to hammer it home. “You know him?”

“He used to come into the shop I worked in before.”

“Uh-huh.” Drying my hands, I turned. “He’s cute.”

“Way cute.” She perked up, as if maybe we had something in common. “We used to go out.”

I found that hard to believe, but didn’t want to say so. “Uh-huh.”

“Yeah. He’s fantastic in bed.”

I found that less difficult to believe, but didn’t say that, either. Brandy didn’t need me to answer. She was still staring out after him, forlorn.

“He’s married?”

“Yep. His wife’s having a baby any day now.”

Brandy whipped around to look at me again. “No! Really? Oh. Shit! Damn. That sucks.”

“I doubt they think so,” I told her with a frown.

“Why are the good ones always taken?” Brandy huffed.

“I guess because they’re the good ones.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and because nobody was waiting, I answered it. “Hey, sexy pants.”

“Hi, cutie bum.” Meredith sounded congested. “What’s going on?”

“Work. Same old. Carlos was asking about you.” I made sure nobody else had come in and nothing needed my attention before I leaned against the counter. I ignored Brandy’s wide-eyed look. “He wants to know why you haven’t been in lately.”

She coughed. “What’s that saying about the cow and the milk?”

“Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free?”

“That one. Why pay for the coffee when I have the coffee girl living with me?” She coughed again. “I feel like shit. I called Charlie, but he didn’t answer. Do you think you could pick up some medicine for me?”

“Sure. What do you need?” Reflexively, I thought of the kiss I’d stolen this morning while she was still sleeping. So far I didn’t feel sick.

“Something for coughs and headache, fever. Body aches.”

“Shit, baby, is it the flu? I told you to get the flu shot.”

“I don’t know what the hell it is.” She sounded annoyed. “Can you just get me the stuff without the lecture?”

“Sorry. Sure. I can stop after work.”

Silence. Then a sniffling, snuffling sigh. “I’m sick now, Tesla.”

I could hear that. “I’m…it’s just me and this new girl in here today, honey. I’m not sure I can get out and run home—”

“I’ll be okay.” Apparently Brandy had no conception of private conversations, or shame about eavesdropping. “I can handle it.”

“Who’s that?” Meredith asked with another cough.

“New girl.” I looked at the clock. I wasn’t due to get out of here until five, when Moira, the part-time chick, came in to relieve me. “I guess I could take my lunch break a little early and use it to run to the store and stuff.”

“Could you? I really feel like crap,” Meredith said. “Please?”

I knew Charlie wouldn’t be able to do it until after school ended, which was earlier than I’d be able to get home from work, but still too late for someone who was sick. I hated running errands on my lunch break. “Of course. Let me make sure everything’s under control here and then I’ll go out and get your stuff. Okay? Did you drink some juice or hot tea? Maybe take a hot shower, that might help. Did you call the doctor?”

“I don’t need a doctor,” Meredith said. “I just need some damn cold medicine, okay? Jesus, Tesla.”

“I’ll be there in an hour.” I disconnected the call and found Brandy staring at me. “What?”

“I can handle things here while you go get stuff for your boyfriend,” she said.

“It wasn’t my boyfriend.”

“Oh. It sounded like your boyfriend.” A lightbulb went on in her formerly dark attic. “Oh! Friend with bennies? I got it.”

“She’s my girlfriend,” I said deliberately, to mess with her.

Brandy recoiled. “Oh.” She recovered, barely, enough to add, “That’s cool. That’s totally cool with me.”

“Really? Good. I’m so glad it’s cool with you.”

Sarcasm didn’t seem to be her strong point. “Yeah, it’s fine. It’s all good. No hate, right?”

I sighed. “Brandy. Whatever. I need to run out, but I’ll be back in a couple hours. Can you handle things here, really? Because I can see if Moira can come in…”

“No! I mean, is that her name? Your girlfriend?”

I wanted to shake her. “Moira is the girl who works the evening shift. She is not my girlfriend.”

“Oh. Okay. Phew.” Brandy’s nervous giggle was even more annoying than her general one, something I hadn’t thought was possible. “No, really. I’m fine for a couple hours. It’s not even busy in here.”

But it could be at any moment. I looked at the clock again. We usually had another rush between three and four. I should be back by then, no problem. If Joy was here she’d never have let me go, and I was sure if she found out about it I’d never hear the end of it, but I couldn’t ask Brandy to keep it a secret. And did it matter? I was going whether I had to face Joy’s wrath or not.

It took me half an hour in the pharmacy to pick out what I thought Meredith would need and another ten minutes to get it home. I carried the bags up to her bedroom, which was dim. She was in bed with the TV on. I climbed on top of the comforter to lay out what I’d brought.

She sniffled and shifted higher on the pillows. “Thanks.”

I held up a bottle. “Coughs, cold, fever, body aches. This other one is for nighttime. This one is for cough suppression. I didn’t know which you needed—expectorant or whatever.”

She made a face. “Gross. I need something to make this headache go away and for a sore throat.”

I rustled in the bags and pulled out more bottles. We settled on a combination of liquids and pills, which I served her along with some water and orange juice I’d also picked up. I pulled out a couple cans of soup, too.

“Hungry? I can make this for you before I head back.”

“Canned soup?” Meredith made another face. “Fat and sodium in dead chicken juice, no thanks.”

“It’s supposed to make you feel better. Sorry I don’t have time to make you some fresh,” I told her. “Maybe when I get home tonight.”

She frowned and grabbed tissues from a box, holding them to her nose. Despite her complaints she didn’t seem that sick to me. A little sniffly, a little hoarse, but that was it. Without her makeup on she did look wan, with faint circles under her eyes she’d never have allowed had she been feeling better.

“I have to get back,” I said.

“No!” She clung to my arm. “No, stay, can’t you stay for a little bit?”

It would take me another twenty minutes to get back to work, if I didn’t hit any traffic. “I can’t. I have to get to the Mocha. This new girl’s there, and she’s sort of a nightmare.”

Meredith frowned and gave a shaky sigh. “Tesla…c’mon.”

“The medicine should work soon. You’ll feel better.” I leaned over to kiss her forehead while holding my breath, trying not to breathe in any germs.

“I hate being sick!”

“I don’t think anybody likes it.” I tried to extricate myself, but she had me held tight. I settled against the pillows next to her. “Take a nap.”

“Not tired.” She turned to face me. “Hang out with me, Tesla. We never get to just hang out. I don’t see you at all anymore.”

That was far from true. “You could come into the shop more often. You used to be in there all the time.”

“So? It’s not like you can sit with me and just talk.”

“No, but…you used to come in all the time, and now you don’t. No wonder it feels like you never see me.” I pressed the back of my hand to her forehead. “I don’t think you have a fever. That’s good.”

“I have one, I took my temperature. It was a hundred.”

“Barely a fever,” I told her. “Get some rest, that’s the best thing for you.”

“You could be more sympathetic,” she said sullenly.

I sighed. “Meredith, I’m sorry you’re sick, but really, you’re going to be fine. And I have to get back to work. I get off at five. Charlie will be home by four. I’ll make us some dinner. We can all watch a movie. Hang out.”

“It’s not the same,” she muttered.

“What’s not the same?”

“It’s not just you and me. Girl time.”

I laughed, trying to make her smile. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and Charlie will decide he needs to grade papers or something.”

She shrugged, turning away to focus on the television again. “You make time for Charlie when he wants it. Just Charlie.”

Sometimes it’s possible to feel guiltier about things that aren’t true. I withdrew, saying nothing. I put all the bottles and boxes and blister packs of pills back in the bags, but left them close to her on the bed in case she needed them. She didn’t look at me until just as I was leaving, and then she did so reluctantly, as if I’d called her name, though I hadn’t.

“Thanks for the medicine.”

“I hope you feel better,” I told her. “Being sick sucks.”

“Yeah.” She sniffled and used the remote to change the channel.

I was dismissed.

I wasn’t in the best mood when I got back to the shop. Seeing the line stretching nearly out the door, and in fact winding around on itself, tables filthy with crumb-covered plates, and Brandy moving at half speed didn’t help. I pushed through the crowd, apologizing, quickly washed my hands and put my apron on.

“I thought you’d be okay,” I said to Brandy, who gave me a dumb look. I was coming to realize they were common with her.

“I’m fine. What’s the problem?”

I pointed at the long line of grumbling customers.

She looked confused. “You said there’s always a rush about now.”

“Yeah, but—” I bit off my response. “Never mind. Let’s just get this moving.”

Things didn’t get better when half an hour later Moira called in sick. Since she never did that, I didn’t give her a hard time about it. But there was no way I was going to leave Brandy here by herself. I didn’t care so much about her sinking, but I did care about my evening regulars. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d had to stay from open to close, and with Christmas nearly upon us, the addition to my paycheck would make it easier to buy some last-minute things.

I was dead tired, though, and in no mood for chit-chat. When the bell jingled about ten minutes before we closed, I seriously thought about snarling—until I saw who it was.

“Charlie!” I’d missed my dinner break, and he looked good enough to eat. Well, he always did.

“Hey.” Grinning, he leaned across the counter to kiss me. “You almost done?”

I’d sent Brandy in back to take care of the closing stuff and prep for the next day. Shit work I normally would’ve helped with, except that today I didn’t feel like being nice. “Yep. Just have some last-minute things to do, then I can leave. But what are you doing here?”

“Figured I’d come in and see you at work, since I never have.” He paused. “Meredith’s sick.”

“I know. I had to take her some medicine earlier today. She’s not feeling any better?”

Charlie shrugged, his mouth twisting sideways. That said it all. I grabbed his tie and tugged him forward for another kiss. That was how Brandy found us.

She stopped with two bags of muffins in her hands. “Um…”

“Hi,” Charlie said. “I’m Charlie.”

I laughed at her expression, feeling more like what Meredith had called me—wild—than I ever had. “You can put those in the freezer. And go on home, I can finish up.”

“Are you…sure?” Brandy couldn’t stop staring.

“Yep. Absolutely. Positive.” I stroked Charlie’s tie with my fingers as he stood up straight, no longer leaning. “You’re late shift tomorrow, too, don’t forget.”

“I know.” Brandy backed through the door.

Charlie looked curious. I laughed. “New girl. Joy hired her.”

“Joy your boss, the one who’s always grouchy.”

“Pow, pow.” I shot him with my finger-guns. “Right on target.”

Charlie nodded as Brandy came out from the back again. She took her coat and scarf from the hook and put them on, giving me a blatantly curious look I ignored by smiling at Charlie. I couldn’t help it. Having him there was the perfect antidote to what had been a long and verging on crappy day.

“So…I’ll just get out of here, then.”

“Nice meeting you, Brandy,” Charlie said.