The Space Between Us Read online

  She frowned and grabbed tissues from a box, holding them to her nose. Despite her complaints she didn’t seem that sick to me. A little sniffly, a little hoarse, but that was it. Without her makeup on she did look wan, with faint circles under her eyes she’d never have allowed had she been feeling better.

  “I have to get back,” I said.

  “No!” She clung to my arm. “No, stay, can’t you stay for a little bit?”

  It would take me another twenty minutes to get back to work, if I didn’t hit any traffic. “I can’t. I have to get to the Mocha. This new girl’s there, and she’s sort of a nightmare.”

  Meredith frowned and gave a shaky sigh. “Tesla…c’mon.”

  “The medicine should work soon. You’ll feel better.” I leaned over to kiss her forehead while holding my breath, trying not to breathe in any germs.

  “I hate being sick!”

  “I don’t think anybody likes it.” I tried to extricate myself, but she had me held tight. I settled against the pillows next to her. “Take a nap.”

  “Not tired.” She turned to face me. “Hang out with me, Tesla. We never get to just hang out. I don’t see you at all anymore.”

  That was far from true. “You could come into the shop more often. You used to be in there all the time.”

  “So? It’s not like you can sit with me and just talk.”

  “No, but…you used to come in all the time, and now you don’t. No wonder it feels like you never see me.” I pressed the back of my hand to her forehead. “I don’t think you have a fever. That’s good.”

  “I have one, I took my temperature. It was a hundred.”

  “Barely a fever,” I told her. “Get some rest, that’s the best thing for you.”

  “You could be more sympathetic,” she said sullenly.

  I sighed. “Meredith, I’m sorry you’re sick, but really, you’re going to be fine. And I have to get back to work. I get off at five. Charlie will be home by four. I’ll make us some dinner. We can all watch a movie. Hang out.”

  “It’s not the same,” she muttered.

  “What’s not the same?”

  “It’s not just you and me. Girl time.”

  I laughed, trying to make her smile. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and Charlie will decide he needs to grade papers or something.”

  She shrugged, turning away to focus on the television again. “You make time for Charlie when he wants it. Just Charlie.”

  Sometimes it’s possible to feel guiltier about things that aren’t true. I withdrew, saying nothing. I put all the bottles and boxes and blister packs of pills back in the bags, but left them close to her on the bed in case she needed them. She didn’t look at me until just as I was leaving, and then she did so reluctantly, as if I’d called her name, though I hadn’t.

  “Thanks for the medicine.”

  “I hope you feel better,” I told her. “Being sick sucks.”

  “Yeah.” She sniffled and used the remote to change the channel.

  I was dismissed.

  I wasn’t in the best mood when I got back to the shop. Seeing the line stretching nearly out the door, and in fact winding around on itself, tables filthy with crumb-covered plates, and Brandy moving at half speed didn’t help. I pushed through the crowd, apologizing, quickly washed my hands and put my apron on.

  “I thought you’d be okay,” I said to Brandy, who gave me a dumb look. I was coming to realize they were common with her.

  “I’m fine. What’s the problem?”

  I pointed at the long line of grumbling customers.

  She looked confused. “You said there’s always a rush about now.”

  “Yeah, but—” I bit off my response. “Never mind. Let’s just get this moving.”

  Things didn’t get better when half an hour later Moira called in sick. Since she never did that, I didn’t give her a hard time about it. But there was no way I was going to leave Brandy here by herself. I didn’t care so much about her sinking, but I did care about my evening regulars. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d had to stay from open to close, and with Christmas nearly upon us, the addition to my paycheck would make it easier to buy some last-minute things.

  I was dead tired, though, and in no mood for chit-chat. When the bell jingled about ten minutes before we closed, I seriously thought about snarling—until I saw who it was.

  “Charlie!” I’d missed my dinner break, and he looked good enough to eat. Well, he always did.

  “Hey.” Grinning, he leaned across the counter to kiss me. “You almost done?”

  I’d sent Brandy in back to take care of the closing stuff and prep for the next day. Shit work I normally would’ve helped with, except that today I didn’t feel like being nice. “Yep. Just have some last-minute things to do, then I can leave. But what are you doing here?”

  “Figured I’d come in and see you at work, since I never have.” He paused. “Meredith’s sick.”

  “I know. I had to take her some medicine earlier today. She’s not feeling any better?”

  Charlie shrugged, his mouth twisting sideways. That said it all. I grabbed his tie and tugged him forward for another kiss. That was how Brandy found us.

  She stopped with two bags of muffins in her hands. “Um…”

  “Hi,” Charlie said. “I’m Charlie.”

  I laughed at her expression, feeling more like what Meredith had called me—wild—than I ever had. “You can put those in the freezer. And go on home, I can finish up.”

  “Are you…sure?” Brandy couldn’t stop staring.

  “Yep. Absolutely. Positive.” I stroked Charlie’s tie with my fingers as he stood up straight, no longer leaning. “You’re late shift tomorrow, too, don’t forget.”

  “I know.” Brandy backed through the door.

  Charlie looked curious. I laughed. “New girl. Joy hired her.”

  “Joy your boss, the one who’s always grouchy.”

  “Pow, pow.” I shot him with my finger-guns. “Right on target.”

  Charlie nodded as Brandy came out from the back again. She took her coat and scarf from the hook and put them on, giving me a blatantly curious look I ignored by smiling at Charlie. I couldn’t help it. Having him there was the perfect antidote to what had been a long and verging on crappy day.

  “So…I’ll just get out of here, then.”

  “Nice meeting you, Brandy,” Charlie said.

  “You, too,” she told him as she headed for the front of the shop. “You sure you don’t need me to stay?”

  “Nope.” I gave her barely a glance. “I’ll lock up.”

  I did as soon as she left, turning the lock and the sign from Open to Closed at the same time, then sagging with a huge sigh of relief against the door. Watching from his spot at the front counter, Charlie laughed.

  “Long day?”

  “You don’t even know.” I hit the four light switches that covered the front, leaving only the counter lights on. I’d already made Brandy put the chairs up and mop the floor, so all I had to do was ring out the drawer, put the money in the safe in the back and make sure everything else was ready for the morning.

  Before that, though, I needed some sugar, and not the kind in the dessert case.

  “Mmm,” Charlie said when I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. “If kissing was part of your job description, I think you’d get a raise.”

  I pressed against him. “If only, right?”

  Charlie settled his hands on my hips to kiss me again. Longer this time. Definitely with more heat. He opened for me when I nudged at his mouth, and when I sucked gently at his tongue he slid one hand up my back to cup the back of my head. Perfect, the way his kisses always were.

  I sighed, easing out of the kiss to nuzzle at his cheek and neck before stepping back to gaze at his face. “How was your day?”

  “Long. Not as long as yours, but long enough.”

  He looked as tired as I felt. I wanted to go home, take a hot shower, put on my fuzzy pjs and snuggle on t