He’s watching me. “And she says she wrote you letters. Why would she do that?”
“We were dating in high school, Dad.”
“I don’t remember that,” he says, bored with the topic now. “I certainly hope you’re not going to continue to take it easy tomorrow, not when these vines are so heavy with fruit.”
“Actually, I’m taking tomorrow off.”
He’s using Dierdre’s calculator, punching in numbers, probably calculating the yield of that new variety. I doubt he’s heard what I said.
“See you Monday morning.” He doesn’t acknowledge that so I leave.
The discussion about the new hybrid isn’t over. It won’t be over until he cedes that I made the right choice, and hell might freeze over first.
I really need those tomatoes to be good.
And, to be honest, I’m curious about setting up that greenhouse with Sierra. I haven’t done anything so small-scale and hands-on for a while. It’ll be completely new. A challenge.
I’m kidding myself that it’s all about Sierra. It’s about seeing more of Sylvia, too.
I even whistle as I hurry down the stairs.
10
SYLVIA
It’s close to midnight when I leave the café. Even though I’m tempted to dig into those art supplies, I’m expected home. Even if Una and Sierra aren’t exactly awake, they’ll be listening for me.
I’m beside my car, which is parked out front, when I see Luke locking up the doors of the Odéon Theatre on the other side of Queen Street. He lifts a hand and waves, and I wave back. He saunters across the quiet street, and I wait for him beside the Subaru.
“Looks like another busy night,” he says, nodding toward the darkened café.
“Lines at both meals. It’s been a great launch week. Merrie is happy.”
He smiles. “You say that like it’s a warning.”
“It is. She was keeping it conservative for the launch, not wanting to spook people with her combinations, but soon, all bets will be off.” He smiles and I nod at the theatre. “How’s it going over there?”
Luke turns, hiding his expression from me. “It’s possibleI’ve bitten off more than I can chew.” He smiles a little when he glances back at me. “But I’ll go down fighting. It’s a great building and even if it cleans me out to fix it up, it’ll be worth it.”
“But why fix it up?”
“My band’s going to have a reunion concert here, beginning of July. It’ll be a tribute to Taylor and maybe a fresh start. Mostly, it’ll bring a lot of people to Empire, which can only be good for the café.”
I remember vaguely that one of the guys in his band died, and assume that was Taylor. Maybe it was the loss of Taylor that led to the band taking a break. I’m not exactly up to date on Luke Jones, and think I should maybe do some research so I don’t end up saying something dumb. “You’re really committed to Merrie’s dream, aren’t you?”
He shrugs. “I don’t see the point in half-measures when you’re trying to make something right. I mean, why not go all out? I don’t want to be wondering in future years if holding back made the difference.”
There’s something about Luke that’s stayed the same despite all his fame and fortune. I’ve always found him easy to talk to, maybe because there isn’t any attraction or interest between us. He doesn’t hold a grudge – he hasn’t even reminded me of that pitcher of ice water I dumped in his lap last month, thinking he was Mike – and I admire that. I wasn’t fair to him this month, letting him think he was Sierra’s father just so I could avoid confessing the truth to Mike, but he’s been understanding.
“How was the guitar lesson today?”
“Good. Sierra’s a quick learner. Is she some kind of math fiend?”
I smile. “Pretty much. Always analyzing and calculating.”
“That explains it, then. She was talking about octaves likethey were calculations, and it threw me a bit. I’m more intuitive than that.” He fixes me with a look. “I guess she came by that honestly.”
I hold his gaze, my chest tight. “I guess she did. They might be two of a kind.”
