Damen Goes to Peru: Miss Belle's Travel Guides by C.H. Lyn

Author:C.H. Lyn [Lyn, C.H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Horizon Publishing
Published: 2024-01-20T00:00:00+00:00

ten

Miss Belle

Lunch and Panic

Aita is a lovely restaurant. Clean, quiet—at least at this time of day—and good food. I sip on my herbal tea; I’m keeping away from caffeine for another week or so. As much as I hate to admit it, my hands are still a bit jittery without the help of coffee. The cup I had the other day did not help my nerves after having a cop in the Manor.

A couple sits at the granite bar, sipping on their americanos. Through the window and across the street, children clamber along a vast fenced-in jungle gym. Every movement has my head twitching, making sure I can see everything around me.

The door jingles and, from my place in the far corner, walls to my back, gaze able to sweep every entrance and exit, I watch Emily make her way over to me. Dark hair, cut in a cute, curved bob just above her shoulders, is loose and windswept. The sleeves on her draping purple top are flowy and patched with flowery lace. The edge of the shirt drops almost to her knees. A pair of black polka-dot leggings cover her legs, right up to her little black flats, complete with black bows on the top. Her shirt sleeves barely go past her elbows and my gaze automatically darts to her wrists before I focus back on her face. No bandages. Not even the thick rubber band she started using once we convinced her to go to therapy. A little jolt of joy pumps through my heart.

I stand to meet her, a massive smile on my face, and pull her into a hug. Unlike Missa, she doesn’t know about my back or ribs so when she hugs me, her hand presses against my stitches, and she squeezes.

I cover the wince with a cough and take a drink of water before sitting back down.

“Hey, it’s great to see you. I’m glad we could get together.”

Emily nods, her initial smile slipping just a bit. “Me too. Thanks for making the drive.”

“Of course! Anytime I can. I love seeing you.” I may be fibbing just a bit here. Not that I don’t love seeing my sister, but Nicky and I were always closer. There are definitely times when I could be visiting that I’m binge-watching Firefly instead.

Or Buffy, or anything on the DC app, or reading.

“Me too. Sorry I haven’t come to you yet. I can’t believe I’ve lived an hour away for almost three years and still haven’t been to your place.”

My chuckle is weak, and I quickly shrug off her apologies. I don’t want her anywhere near the Manor. Especially not now with cops all over the place.

“If I’m being honest,” I lean into the table, giving Em a hard look, “I’d rather have you apologize for giving Mom my number.”

She turns pink. “Ahh, Nicky told you about that?”

I’ve had a week to get over it, but a rush of hot anger makes my fingers twitch. “Yep. And Mom chose a really bad time to call.

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