Page 22 of Born for Starlight

"I always sit here."

"I know where you sit, child. I've watched you sit there for three weeks." She was already looking back over her shoulder, to the front of the restaurant, and the set of her shoulders told me I wasn't going to win this one. "We're slammed this morning. I need the space."

I looked around. Four empty booths. Two stools open at the counter. A Tuesday morning in a town the size of a decent-sized parking lot.

"Doesn't look slammed to me."

"It's about to be." She turned and I followed her gaze to see Angelica Drakos just walking in wearing a yellow sundress, looking like she hadn't decided yet whether she was awake or not. Her sunglasses were pushed up into her hair.

I took a deep breath, and swore I could smell her perfume from here. How had I missed her?

I watched as Little Grandma walked back to the hostess stand and grabbed a menu. Even seated at the back of the restaurant, I could hear Little Grandma talking. "I need you to sit with Matthew this morning."

"I was hoping to have breakfast with you, Little Grandma." Angelica said it easy, teasing, the same voice she used on everyone, but she glanced at me over Little Grandma's shoulder.

"Can't today. Too many customers." Little Grandma steered her toward my booth without waiting for an answer. "You two double up. Saves me a table."

Angelica looked around the restaurant, same as I had. Four empty booths. Two open stools.

Her mouth twitched.

"Looks pretty slow to me," she said.

"Looks can be deceiving." Little Grandma waited until Angelica slipped into the seat across from me and handed her the menu before moving off toward the next table, calling out a hello to a man in a feed store cap. Now she seemed to have all the time in the world to talk to this guy.

Angelica watched her, then looked at me, and neither of us said anything for a second because we too busy trying not to laugh. We'd both just watched the same con job happen in real time.

"She's not subtle," Angelica said, as she picked up the menu.

"She's not trying to be."

"Should I be worried?"

"Probably." I pushed the untouched cinnamon roll a few inches toward the middle of the table. An offering. She took note of it, but didn’t take any. "She gave me a lecture about better angels a few weeks back. Might be your turn for a lecture."

"Better angels." She said it slow, like she was turning it over. "That sounds ominous."

"It wasn't. It was accurate."

Lettie came by with a coffee pot and filled Angelica's cup without being asked, the way this whole town seemed to know exactly what everybody needed before they said it out loud. Angelica wrapped both hands around the mug and didn't drink, just held it. I could see circles under her eyes. She really did look tired. More than just one night’s bad sleep.

"You heard the podcast," she said. Not a question.

"Everybody heard the podcast."

"Everybody's got an opinion about it too. I've had it from Grandma Maureen, Jase, Renzo, my agent, and I'm fairly sure the woman at the airport gate recognized me and had one she was dying to share." She finally drank some coffee, watching me over the rim of the mug. "You're being very quiet for a man who apparently talked to Jase about me going to Brazil."

I didn't ask how she knew that. Jase running his mouth to Bonnie, Bonnie letting something slip, it tracked.

“I figure with all the opinions you’ve gotten, the last thing you need from me is one more.”

"But you have one."

"Sure I do,” I admitted easily. “But opinions are like assholes, everyone has one.”

She snorted. “You’ve got that right,” she mumbled.

“Anyway, I figure I don’t have all the facts. I'd rather understand why you're doing it than tell you not to. Your brothers have those bases covered."