“You look like you’ve been crying.”
“Allergies,” Alexis lied.
Because, yes, she’d been crying. She’d cried all night. Big, fat sobs into her pillow and sometimes her cat. It probably wasn’t fair to ignore Noah’s calls and texts, but fairness wasn’t going to wash away the dark stain of shame and humiliation that colored every memory of last night in her mind. And did it even matter what he said? She’d thrown herself at him, and he’d rejected her. Just like she’d feared he would. She couldn’t talk to him. Couldn’t face him. No matter what he said, the truth had been written all over his face when he pulled away from her last night.
He’d been horrified. There was no other word for it.
Maybe that’s what stung the worst. He’d looked suddenly like a stranger to her.
Jessica hovered nearby as Alexis grabbed her apron and looped it over her head. “Are you sure—”
“I’m fine, Jessica. Let’s just go to work.”
Jessica reacted as if Alexis had yelled at her.
“I’m sorry,” Alexis said, reaching over to squeeze her arm. “I’m not fine, to be honest, but I can’t talk about it right now. Okay?”
Jessica nodded, her features relaxing again. “I’m here if you need to, though.”
“I appreciate it.”
Alexis wished she’d thought to grab a ball cap to wear today. Maybe it would shade the worst of her dark circles and red eyes.
Jessica gave her one last look before nodding and heading out of the kitchen. Alexis tried to lose herself in the routine of opening the café, but just when she’d finally settled in, Jessica walked back in. “There’s someone here to see you.”
Alexis’s head snapped up. “Noah?”
Her tone managed to convey both hope and dread, a combination that sent Jessica’s eyebrows up.
“No. It’s some old guy.”
That could be anyone over the age of thirty. Jessica’s gauge for what was old was a lot different than Alexis’s.
“I lied and told him you wouldn’t be in until ten,” Jessica said. “He said he’d just wait.”
Alexis pushed open the kitchen door and followed Jessica’s point to the tables outside. Her breath lodged in her throat.
Elliott.
He sat on a bench in front of the café, leaning forward with his hands clasped between his knees, staring at the small fountain that decorated the middle of the sidewalk welcoming visitors to East Nashville. The sunrise glinted off the gold band on his left hand and turned the gray in his hair into white sprinkles.
“I’m sorry,” Jessica said. “I tried to get rid of him. I know you’re probably not up for talking to anyone.”
“It’s okay. I’ll take care of it.”
“It’s not another reporter, is it?” Jessica worried her bottom lip.
“No,” Alexis said. “It’s my father.”
“What?”
But Alexis had already started to walk away. Her footsteps echoed on the floor of the empty café. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. The jingle of the bell drew his head up. His lips parted, but no words came out.
She stopped in front of him. “Hello, Dad.”
“I—” He cleared his throat.
Alexis couldn’t help herself. She cocked an eyebrow. “It’s Alexis. Did you forget already?”
He let out a loud breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry. I just—you look so much like your mother. It . . . It catches me off guard.”
“Wow, and to think the last time we met, you threw me out.”
“I’m sorry. It was just such a surprise. Candi didn’t give us any warning about you. I—”
Alexis waved her hands to ward off anymore of his bullshit. “What are you doing here?”
“I was hoping we could talk.”
“Gee, hard to believe there’s much left to be said after yesterday.”
“There is. A lot.” He stood. Slowly. “Can we . . . Can we go somewhere?”
“I’m pretty busy right now. I have a business to run.”
“Please, Alexis.”
The pleading tone of his voice reminded her too much of how Noah sounded last night as he chased her down the sidewalk. Noah’s voice had broken a part of her. Elliott’s was close to finishing her off.
“I don’t owe you anything. Not my time. Not my kidney. Not my compassion.” The harsh words felt like pure cayenne pepper on her tongue.
“I know that.”
Alexis turned around to look through the café windows. Jessica wasn’t even bothering to hide the fact that she was staring. She was surprised Jessica hadn’t pulled out a bucket of popcorn. There was no way they’d get any privacy in there, but Alexis was too damn tired to even think of going somewhere else. And it was too damn cold to talk outside.
“We can talk in my office.”
His features melted in relief. “Thank you.”
The bell jingled again as Alexis opened the door. He reached over her head to hold it open for her, the kind of casually polite thing that older men did for women, and it made her skin crawl. Alexis darted inside, her footsteps clipped and frantic on the tiled floor. His were soft and resigned behind her. Avoiding Jessica’s gaze, she pushed open the swinging door to the kitchen and office area.
Her office was the size of a closet, and she regretted inviting him in as soon as he sat down across from her desk. She would have preferred the lack of privacy in the dining area over the claustrophobic sensation of being in a room alone with the man who’d just yesterday acted like she was about as welcome in his life as a stomach bug.
He rubbed his hands on his jeans. “Your café is really nice.”
“Thank you.” Her tone was more like Fuck you, and she wished not for the first time in her life that she had more of the fire of Liv.
“You’ve been open a year?”
“Almost two.”
“The cat thing . . .”
She raised his eyebrows at his pause.
“So you . . . you bring in rescue kittens for adoption?”
“I like finding homes for abandoned creatures.”
He smiled in a sad sort of way. Like he caught her meaning and understood he deserved it. Sadly, it didn’t give her the satisfaction she’d hoped for. Excessive empathy was her personal cross
