The Downtown Diner was mostly empty, seeing as it was a Thursday morning. For my day off, I had invited Maeve and Claire out to breakfast. I was sitting in a booth by the window so that I would see them when they arrived, but when Claire slid onto the bench beside me, I realized I must have been lost in my own world. Maeve followed right behind her, taking the bench across from us.
Claire’s schedule allowed for a bit of flexibility, and with Maeve on maternity leave, she was dying to get out of the house. She dropped Jane off at Charlie’s house for a playdate with her grandpa but had Veda with her.
Sheila met us at our table and scooped Veda into her arms. She was already almost two months old and getting bigger every time I saw her.
“Hey, my pretty owl girl,” she cooed at Veda. Veda’s big, gray eyes rounded, and she kicked her chunky little legs with excitement. She wasn’t smiling yet, but she clearly loved the attention Sheila was giving her. “You ladies ready to order?” she asked. Still holding Veda, she placed the receipt book onthe table and lifted her pen to take our orders.
After we ordered, she snuggled her nose into Veda’s neck before passing her back to Maeve.
“I have about thirty minutes before I have to feed her, so hopefully, that will be enough time to get our food and eat.”
“It’s the Downtown. Food will be out in four minutes, tops,” Claire said. She wasn’t wrong. The Downtown Diner could whip food out in what seemed like extraordinary quickness.
“How’s things at home? Has Jane gotten used to Veda now?” I asked.
Jane had been struggling for the first few weeks after she realized that Veda was here to stay.
“Better. Much better, actually. It took a little bit of time, but she’s accepted her role as a big sister. I ask her to help me get the wipes when I change Veda so that she feels important. I’m trying to get her to sit down with me to read Veda a story so it’ll be an activity we can all do together. Anything I can think of that helps Jane accept her.”
Jane had been the center of her parents’ world for most of her life, except for the first few months before she was placed with Maeve. Splitting Maeve’s attention with a newcomer was a hurdle, but I was glad to hear Maeve say it was mostly behind them.
“That’s fantastic. It’s going to be so great as they get older to be so close in age. Aurora and I are five years apart, which isn’t crazy, but it was enough that we never had that solid sister-slash-best friend relationship. That’s why I loved having her in town all summer. It was a way for us to reconnect as adults.”
“I get it. There’s ten years between me and Jackson. I was more of a mother to him than a sister. I’m really hoping Jane and Veda will have that special connection though.”
“I would have loved a sibling growing up,” Claire said wistfully. “It probably would have made the whole absentee-parents thing so much easier to deal with.”
“Guys, we are so well-adjusted,” Maeve quipped sarcastically. “Absolutely zero baggage over here. Not even a carry-on bag,” she laughed. In fairness, she and Claire had both had crappy childhoods—albeit extremely different ones—but they really were both emotionally mature, caring, and compassionate people.
“Hey. I had a great childhood,” I complained with mock indignation. “I really am well-adjusted.”
“Oh yeah…how’s your four-year crush coming along?” Claire raised her brow with a knowing look and popped a home fry into her mouth.
I stuck my tongue out at her, spearing my pancakes with my fork.
Maeve rocked Veda in her car seat beside her. “Seriously though. Anything happening there?”
Air expelled from my lungs in a rush. “No. And it’s not going to. Luke’s one of my best friends. He’s still going through a hard time with the divorce, and he has a lot on his plate with the case and Wes’s investigation…” My eyes rounded. I didn’t mean to say anything. I had no idea who knew what or who was allowed to.
“Is Luke working with Wes or against him?” Claire asked.
“I thought Wes’s position was that the police were scum and entirely untrustworthy,” Maeve said.
“What? No. Not really,” I said. “He doesn’t trust them. That’s true, but I don’t think Wes has ever trusted us. And he doesn’t think they’re all scum… I don’t think.”
Did he? I had never really put much thoughtinto Wes’s opinion of me, but I was part of the police department too. He didn’t think we were all corrupt, right?
I leaned in and whispered, “Don’t tell anyone I said anything, but Luke is helping Wes as an inside source. And I’m helping Luke.”
“Helping him how?” Claire asked.
“Please tell me you’re helping with his stress relief?” Maeve sent me an exaggerated wink.
I leveled a look at her. “First of all, you spend way too much time with Wyatt.”
She laughed. “Sorry. I was cleared by the doctor last week to have…” She looked around carefully. “…sex again, but Wyatt is afraid he’ll hurt me. I just need someone else to have it so that I can live vicariously through them until I can convince Wyatt that I’m okay.”
“Oh, I can help with that,” Claire said. “I thought that after a few months of living together, our sex life would pull back a little, but nope. Reid’s just as voracious as ever. It’s been great.”
