Joan entered to the familiar scent of coffee grounds and quiet indie music. She reached to pull off sunglasses she wasn’t wearing, ever the creature of habit.
Greta was chatting with Nyah and Amit at a small table against the wall. “Well, well, well,” Amit said. “Look what the cat dragged in.”
More like the cat burglar.“Hey, Amit. Hi, Nyah.”
“Hey, stranger,” Nyah teased. “What, your girlfriend stops working here and you don’t come by anymore?”
“Terrible, I know.” Joan gave Greta a small smile. “Hey.”
“I ordered for you,” Greta said. That meant she wasn’t planning on staying long.
“Thanks.” Joan slid into the metal chair across from her friend. “What’s new at VCC?”
Amit nodded toward the front. “We still have all our windows.”
“That is novel,” Joan joked. She snagged the paper cup withKick Me Upwritten on it. “Ah, my favorite.”
She took a sip. Not as good as when Sadie made them, but still a banger with the cayenne pepper kick.
They chitchatted for a few minutes until Amit and Nyah went back to work. “Nice scar,” Greta said, gesturing at Joan’s right eye.
“Gift from Ricki.”
Greta’s upper lip curled. “You shouldn’t have messed with her.”
“I tried not to.”
“You have to get to the truck soon.”
“I have time. We haven’t hung out in forever.”
“You haven’t been around. What with spending so much time with your new pals.”
Joan conceded that with a slow nod. “I owe you an explanation.”
“Not really. Sadie explained it just fine.”
“We don’t have a choice. We’re basically on permanent probation.”
Greta tapped her fingertips on her coffee cup. “At what point will it go from a necessity to something you want to do?”
“Hopefully never.”
“You don’t hope that.”
After glancing over both shoulders, Joan leaned in and said, “It sucks. I just want to be at Hot and Cold. This crap keeps dragging me away from it.”
“And keeping you from me.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
Her oldest friend looked at her with rare sadness in her dark eyes. “If you work with them, I can’t be around you anymore.”
“Grets—”
“It’s not safe. I met you here because I also come here to see Nyah and Amit. It shouldn’t raise suspicion.”
“They’re not watching every move I make,” Joan said.
