“Some animals are like that. I’ll be happy to schedule an appointment.”
“Excellent. Now tell me everything else.”
“Everything else?” Alice prompted, her brows rising. “That’s over ten years to cover. I’ll condense it. I went to college and then to vet school. As you know, my parents passed away. I’m back, and I’ll be taking over the vet clinic. That’s it in a nutshell,” she offered with a quick nod. “How about you?”
“Never left town, went to nursing school. I work at the hospital. I’m a nursing supervisor in the ER department there, and I married Nate.”
“I heard. I think that makes sense.”
“It does?” Holly pressed. “Because I’m not so sure about that sometimes. Just last night, he woke me up with his snoring.”
I snorted. “You two are a good couple.”
Holly shrugged and teased, “I just like to find small things to complain about. We were friends for years, and he’s Alex’s best friend, so…” She sighed. Alex was Holly’s twin brother.
“I knew Nate and Alex were friends, but I didn’t realize they were close before you two were married,” I commented.
Holly smiled slightly when she glanced my way. “You’re new in town. Well, sort of because you didn’t go to school here even though your grandmother’s here and your dad’s from here.”
“I think that’s another way of saying I’m not fully up to speed on the historical gossip around town.”
Alice nudged me lightly with her elbow, adding, “I’m way behind, so you don’t need to feel left out.”
Holly glanced between us. “I try to fly under the radar.”
Janet handed over a to-go tray of coffee. I held them in one hand as I fished my wallet out with the other.
Janet glanced at Holly. “Easy for you to say when you are definitely one of my most reliable sources for gossip.”
Holly shrugged, entirely unrepentant. “I am. I just don’t want people gossiping about me. I take a control-the-information kind of approach.”
Janet rolled her eyes as she grinned. Holly’s gaze bounced from Alice to me before she commented, “Janet knows everything. If you didn’t know this already, you want to keep her on your side.”
Alice smiled at Janet, replying, “I already knew that. It’s not hard to keep Janet on your side. She’s a total softy.”
“Jonah is always nice,” Janet said firmly. “Now, out of the way. Your sandwiches should be ready soon, but more people are behind you.”
We scooted over to the side of the counter to wait. We walked out together a few minutes later. Holly waved and drove off after exchanging numbers with Alice.
Alice looked up at me and lifted her coffee cup slightly. “Thank you. You didn’t have to get my coffee.”
“I wanted to.”
“You already gave me your grandmother’s brownies, and now this coffee. I feel like I owe you one.”
“Did you forget you let me share your picnic the other night?”
Alice flushed slightly. “I didn’t do much for that.”
“There was fresh bread,” I insisted.
She laughed softly. “True. I’ll get you a coffee next time, or we can have an actual dinner.”
“I’ll take you up on either,” I replied.
A moment passed as we simply stood there, looking at each other quietly, and it occurred to me that perhaps the time had stretched too long. Alice had that effect on me. I wanted to linger in her company. It wasn’t as if we were doing anything special.
I cleared my throat. “I’ll see you around. If you insist, you can get my coffee next time I run into you here.”