The Gardens Part 2
☕ Coffee, Pie & Surprise
Part Three: Getting To Know You….
As the evening settled in, the café gradually shifted.
The excitement was still there.The questions were still flying….But now the conversations began splintering into smaller groups.
Stories drifted from table to table. Coffee cups were refilled.
Someone put a record on in the corner.
The warm scratch of old vinyl filled the room.
For the first time since emerging from the fountain, Lucinda Fox wasn’t answering questions….She was asking them.Which, surprisingly, seemed to unnerve people even more.
“So how long have you worked here?” she asked Mateo.“Five years.”
“And nobody’s put your picture on a pie tin yet?”
Mateo blinked.
“What?”
“You seem beloved.”Eloise pointed her fork dramatically.“He’s rightfully beloved.”
Mateo bowed his head.
“Thank you, Eloise.”
“Your blueberry pie got me through a breakup.”
“Again?”Iris asked.
“Several times.”
Nobody questioned it.
Meanwhile Maren sat curled into her seat beside Theo.The conversation around them hummed pleasantly.Sometimes they joined in.Sometimes they simply listened.The closeness between them felt different tonight.
Easier.
Lighter.
The fountain incident had stripped away some of the awkwardness.
Maybe surviving supernatural nonsense together had accelerated things.
“You doing okay?”Theo asked quietly.
Maren looked over.“I think so.”
“That’s not very convincing.”
She smiled.
“I met a ghost.”
“Fair.”
“A very glamorous ghost.”
“The most dangerous kind….”Their eyes met…..Both laughed.
Across the room, Lucinda noticed them.Of course she did.
She leaned toward Iris.“They’re adorable.”Iris glanced over.“Oh thank goodness.”“What?”“I thought it was just me.”“No.”Lucinda smiled.“They’re absolutely adorable.”Theo immediately looked suspicious.“What are you talking about?”“Nothing.”“It’s never nothing.”This only made the women laugh harder.
Poor Theo.
A little while later most of the residents drifted toward the larger community table.
All except Ravi.
He remained in his corner booth….Watching Lucinda.
Lucinda eventually sighed.
“Oh, all right.”
“What?”Ravi asked.
“Come interrogate me.”
The entire room went quiet.
Ravi blinked.
“What?”
“Clearly you’ve been dying to!!.”
Theo nearly choked on his coffee.
Iris hid a smile.
Ravi reluctantly carried his mug over.“You make me nervous.”
“That’s because you’re sensible.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“That’s healthy.”
The room erupted into laughter.
“You came out of a magical fountain.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“Multiple times.”
“An exhausting number of times.”
“You don’t know where you came from.”
“No.”
“You don’t know why you’re here.”
“No.”
“You remember almost nothing.”
“No.”
Ravi narrowed his eyes.“That should concern you.”
Lucinda thought about it.
Really thought about it.
Then she shrugged.“It does.”
The laughter faded. For the first time all evening, Lucinda seemed sincere.“It scares me, actually.”
The room grew quiet.
Lucinda looked down at her hands.At the gold rings she still wore.
“I know I was someone.”
Nobody interrupted.
“I know I loved things.”She smiled faintly.
“Coffee apparently.”That earned a few chuckles.
“And roses.”
“And music.”
Theo looked up.“Music?”
Lucinda nodded“I can’t explain it.”She tapped a finger lightly against her coffee mug.“But I remember hearing it.
”The room softened.
“Maybe you’ll remember more with some time.”Theo said.
Lucinda looked at him…..Really looked at him for the first time.“You’re optimistic.”
“Sometimes.”
“You should keep that.”
Theo smiled.“I’ll do my best.”
Something passed across Lucinda’s face then….Recognition.
Not of Theo.Of something deeper.
Something she couldn’t quite name.
“You love somebody very much.”
The room went still again.Theo’s expression softened instantly.“Yeah.”
Maren felt a small ache in her chest.Not jealousy.Just understanding.
Lucinda glanced toward the ceiling.
Toward the place Violet sat hidden among the beams.“You’re talking about Violet.”Theo nodded.“My sister.”Lucinda smiled.
A warm one.
Not teasing.Not playful.Just kind.“She must’ve been wonderful.”Theo laughed softly.“She is.”Not was…Is.
Lucinda noticed.
So did Maren.
As did everyone else.And somewhere above them, Violet closed her eyes.
Smiling through tears nobody could see.
For a long moment she simply listened.Listened to her brother.
Listened to the laughter below.
Listened to the café alive with conversation.
Then she looked at Lucinda.And found Lucinda already looking back.Not with curiosity.Not with flirtation ….With understanding.
And somehow that felt even more dangerous.🌹☕❤️👻
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