Love Between the Lines ✔️ DRAFT 1 COMPLETE

Chapter 1

Whoever said 'answers are the only comfortable mysteries' clearly never had a cheating fiance.

That was the only thing on my mind as I filled coffee orders. Every blonde head, every giggle, every pair of heels clacking on the linoleum brought me back to that fateful day three months ago.

"Em! Emilie!" my co-worker Sydney shrieked as coffee spilled over the plastic cup I'd been filling.

"Shit! I'm so sorry," I apologized to the customer whose order I now had to re-do. I grabbed a rag and began to clean off the counter while Sydney re-made the order and got him a free drink voucher.

She handed him his new drink, apologizing again and calling out "come again!" before turning to me.

"Ay, dios mio. Em, that's the third time this week," she said, her brows furrowing. The sound of the ice machine grinding out cubes for the iced drinks drowned out the conversations from the customers sitting in the shop.

I threw the soaked rag to the side. "I know. I just got distracted."

Sydney bit her lip. "Em, you've been distracted a lot lately. Are you sure you were ready to come back to work?"

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee punctuated the air between us, offering something sweet to contrast what had been tainted.

"Yeah." I picked up a ticket for a new order and started gathering ingredients. Chai tea latte. One of my favorites. At The Bumble Bean, we added a hint of ginger for an extra bit of zing. "I have to get out of the house sometime. And at least I'm not in that apartment anymore."

"You made a good decision moving in with Mackenzie and Aubrey," Sydney agreed. She took a moment to ring up another customer then shifted back to me. "But you're still worrying me right now. You spend your mornings here and your afternoons at the library."

"That's usually how it works when you have two jobs," I said. I grabbed a lid and sealed it on top of the latte before handing it to the customer.

"Have a nice day!" I told her. She thanked me and left, her fingers wrapped tightly around the cup as if it were her lifeline. I guess caffeine would do that to you.

"Anyway," I continued. "I feel safe here and it takes my mind off of things."

She rested her hand on my shoulder. "Em, you know we have a really comfy futon if you want a place to be, well, not alone."

The flitter of conversations filled the new silence between us. Customers sat in the cushy booths listening to music through headphones and clacking away on keyboards. Books stacked high joined them on the mahogany tables, the only company for studious college kids.

"I think I'm gonna take my break," I mumbled as I untied my apron and hung it back up on its hook. The morning rush was over and I desperately needed to clear my head.

Without another word. I swiped my hands on my jeans and grabbed my purse and jacket from the break room before pushing through the back door. Sydney had known me long enough not to follow, although while I was usually grateful for that, today I really needed my friend.

Outside, the cold, salty air hit my cheeks immediately as I walked to my favorite bench that overlooked the water. Just a short walk from the coffee shop, it was the best place to get a fresh perspective. The horn of the tugboats echoed across the harbor, and tourists laughed and exclaimed as the small vessels bobbed along in the water.

Flashes of that night swam in my mind. Eight years we had been together. Five additional months engaged. Two weeks before our anniversary. It made me wonder how many times he'd actually cheated. Of course, being Kyle, he'd denied everything in his own pathetic way.