Page 6 of Welcome to Fae Cafe
Kate gripped a mug of tea, her thumbnail scraping against a chip in the handle. She imagined a rude, deep voice trying to order coffee. A black and navy leather outfit made for a high fantasy theatre performance. Golden eyes that turned wild when provoked. Her fingers still burned from where the coffee had splattered over the to-go cup when she’d tried to keep the guy from taking it. She lifted her hand to see the red marks on her knuckles again.
“Are you even listening?”
Kate’s gaze sprang up. “Hmm?”
Her brother Greyson grunted and leaned back in his chair with folded arms. “Grandma!” he called to Thelma at the sink, “Kate doesn’t care that I might get eaten by an alligator in Florida.”
“You’re going to Florida?” Kate blinked.
“Seriously? Ijusttold you I’m going to Florida with Lincoln and Tegan until Christmas.”
“Oh.”
“Oh?” Greyson arched an eyebrow. “Aren’t you going to try and talk me out of it?”
“You’re out of high school, you have no job, and you’re mooching housing off Grandma. You’re practically an intermittent vagrant. Why would I try to talk you out of it? Besides…” Kate swallowed the lump in her throat, waiting for loud knocks to echo through the house and Officer Westbow’s voice calling for her to come outside. “Maybe it would be good for you to get away from here for a while.” She sipped her tea, glancing out the bay window at the windy afternoon and the dark clouds bringing more shadow to this day.
“That’s not how the wordintermittentis supposed to be used in a sentence. And did you really just ask,‘Why would I try to talk you out of it?’Hmm, I don’t know Kate,” Greyson’s sarcasm filled the kitchen, “because you always try to talk me out of anything fun?”
“Oh, cut it out, Greyson. Can’t you see something is troubling your sister?” Grandma Lewis carried over a fresh plate of cookies and set it between them on the table.
“I’m fine.” Kate forced herself to sip her tea again. She was almost too distracted to notice her grandmother try to lift the heavy slow cooker dish. Kate jumped to take it from the old woman’s hands, and she carried it to the cupboards. She nudged the door open and hauled the dish up onto the shelf.
Grandma Lewis sat back at the table. Kate followed, returning her tight grip to her mug. Her grandmother shoved the plate of cookies in her direction, but Kate looked away.
“Heavens, Katherine, your hands are shaking worse than mine.” Grandma Lewis eyed Kate’s mug. She sighed. “There’s only one thing you could have come to my home for in this condition.”
Kate pulled her hands below the table. “What’s that?”
“Comfort.” Grandma Lewis leaned back with her arms folded, mirroring Greyson. Suddenly Kate felt like she was being interrogated. “I see far more than you think, Katherine,” she added.
“Can you see I was with the police today?”
“Do you know what I did?”
“Are these cookies a bribe to start talking?”
Ten more responses flooded Kate’s mind, none of them right to say aloud. Grandma Lewis was a shrewd woman. She’d hear the truth in anything Kate said about her day, even if Kate tried to tell her about what she had for breakfast that morning.
Kate chewed on her bottom lip. “You know what? Lily and I actually have a lot of work to do for our café.” She stood, taking one last longing look at the tea she was abandoning.
“Well, I’ll be offended if you don’t eat one of these before they get cold.” Grandma Lewis picked up a cookie and tossed it to her. Kate fumbled for a second before she caught it. Crumbs decorated her chest, and she scowled.
“How is Lily, by the way?” Greyson leaned forward a little.
“Why don’t you find a girl your own age to give you advice?” Kate grunted at him. “It’s weird to try and have a best friend who’s also your sister’s best friend.”
Greyson scowled. “All the girls my age are annoying. And Tegan and Lincoln are my best friends. Lily’s just… myolderbest friend.”
“Well stay away from Lily,” Kate said, stuffing the whole cookie into her mouth at once like a monster. “She’s mine.” Chocolate coated her teeth. Greyson made a repulsed face, but Grandma Lewis chuckled.
“I’m going to steal her from you,” Greyson announced.
Kate ignored him. “Thanks, Grandma. Bye, Greyson,” she said through sugary chunks as she headed for the door. Apparently, her crazy and weird act was back on.
“Wait.” Grandma Lewis’s chair scraped over the floor, and Kate held in a sigh. She didn’t have the heart to ignore the old woman, so she turned back to see her grandmother shuffling cookies into a paper bag.
“Take these. Lily will be hungry after her shift.” Grandma Lewis brought the bag around the table and held it toward Kate.
