Page 70 of This Life of Mine

Chapter twenty-two

Lina

The bakery has been extremely busy, enough to be distracting, but not so busy that things slip past Val. She braces herself against the counter, coffee in hand, eyes tracking movement with lazy precision.

She smiles at me. “So,” she says.

I glance up. “What is it, Val?”

She tips her chin subtly toward the front of the shop. Alex is talking to a customer, calm and attentive, but his gaze flicks my way more often than strictly necessary.

I shrug. “What? He was coming into the shop before he helped me.”

Val shakes her head in agreement. “Right...that’s not what I’m referring to.”

I sigh. “Val.”

She sets her coffee down and turns fully toward me. “You two have been eyeing each other all day, like you’re both afraid one of you might disappear.”

“That’s not what’s happening.”

“You looked up the exact second he did,” she says. “That’s not a coincidence. That’s awareness.”

I show my annoyance.

“It was a rough night. He’s checking in. I appreciate it. That’s all.”

Val smiles like she’s indulging a very transparent lie.

“Right,” she says. “And the connection I feel across the room?”

“There is no connection,” I insist. “There’s…gratitude.”

She snorts. “Lina, he looks at you like he wants to bend you over so you can show him how thankful you are.”

“Val!” I say, embarrassed, as if he can hear us.

She realizes something. “Hey, I think we brought that into existence by manifesting it yesterday morning.”

I fold my arms. “Oh please. You’re reading into it.”

“Maybe,” she says lightly. “Or maybe you’ve gotten so good at telling yourself things are trivial and temporary that you don’t recognize something potentially real when it stands still long enough to be noticed.”

I don’t answer.

Val’s tone softens. “It’s okay if it’s just kindness. Truly. After what you went through, kindness should be the bare minimum.”

I nod.

“But,” she adds gently, “it’s also okay if it’s more than that. You don’t have to keep hiding behind one-off dates that you already know won’t amount to anything.”

I glance back toward the front. Alex looks up, as though sensing my gaze.

“There are good men out there,” Val says. “Men who don’t punish you for being seen.”

I exhale. “I’m not looking for that right now.”

She smiles. “I know. You’re being cautious.”