Page 90 of The Music of Us
—US Lyric Bot [@HourlyUS]
Have you tried smacking it again?” Amber asked.
It was the next afternoon—the final day before the livestream—and Amber and I stood in front of the cash register in The Tiny Tiger, trying to get it to work.
“I actually have,” I admitted with a huff, thwacking the register’s side for a third time. The neon-green—and entirely incorrect—string of numbers blurred out for a moment before stubbornly returning.
Most of the day had been spent getting ready for tomorrow’s livestream, like arranging the café and sending the US social media team our reservation, adoption, and donation links. I could take a break soon, if I could just get this stupid cash register to stop glitching.
The sound of laughter distracted me, and I glanced over at Jake and the boys in the cat room. They were all getting a kick out of something, and Jake had his head tipped back and eyes closed as he grinned so wide he scrunched up his nose.
My mind went back to dinner last night, at Jake’s and the boys’ reactions to Mom giving them an open invitation. What if that was something that could be a more familiar sight?
He said he wanted to come back. But Jake probably thought he’d come back last time. And it took four whole years.
I tried taking Mom’s words to heart about how love was more than obvious gestures and being there in person. But did it still count if they didn’t keep you in their thoughts when you were apart? It made me happy to learn Jake hadn’t ghosted me because he didn’t care about me after he got famous, butit still happened.It didn’t make him a bad person, but it also didn’t make him dependable for me in that way either.
Considering he stayed silent and unreachable over the past couple years, andIwas the one who had to reach out to him, what did that mean about our relationship? Yes, Jake answered, but would I always have to catch his attention?
And could I the next time? And the time after that?
Would I always be left wondering?
Forcing myself to look away from Jake, I firmly turned back to the cash register.
But I wasn’t quick enough.
“So, I heard you guys had dinner,” Amber said as I tried punching in an override code. “How’d that go?”
Really great, and that’s really terrifying because that means I’m letting myself think about a relationship. Which may be just insane. “Good.”
“Uh-huh,” Amber said, in the tone of someone who knew me just a little too well to buy that was all of it.
I snuck another look at Jake. He had Arpeggio in his arms again, and I thought of yesterday, when Jake held Peggy for the first time and told me Marie hadn’t forced him to come down.It’s not like I had a choicehad been a lie, apparently.
Unless . . .
I felt a tiny ember of hope in my chest. Did Jake mean it the opposite way? Did he feel he had no choice but to come help mebecausehe felt so strongly about it?
But, if he felt so strongly, then why would he wait until all these years later?
I shook my head and looked away, feeling confused.
“When I asked you before what Jake was like, you said you didn’t know anymore,” Amber said, watching me closely. “Do you know now?”
I paused, fingers on the Total button. Jake’s dimples flashed through my mind at the same time as his new, cocky grin. “The new Jake’s—”
A knock at the front of the café interrupted me, and I saw my mom outside. Rushing over, I held the door open while Amber pulled a chair out from behind the counter so Mom could sit down.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” I asked in surprise. “I didn’t think you were going to come in today.”
“I wanted to talk to you girls in person,” Mom said, and Amber and I exchanged a glance. Uh-oh. This wasn’t good.
“What happened?”
Mom took a deep breath, then—like ripping off a Band-Aid—said, “The bank denied our loan.”
Ouch, that hurt.
