Phyllis Bourne - Every Road to You

Tia stared across the table at her. She’d immediately noticed there was something different about her friend. Something that had nothing to do with her makeover or attitude shift. The handwritten item had been the clue, but Carol’s reaction confirmed it.

“Who is he?” Tia asked.

She held up a hand to forestall the denial forming on Carol’s lips. “I already know there’s a him. You were practically beaming when you walked in here, and now you’re blushing.”

Carol’s sigh held a dreamy edge. “His name is Glenn Davies and he once was the love of my life,” she admitted. “I think he still is.”

Tia leaned forward in her chair. Now she was really interested. “You didn’t mention him when you came in for your makeover, and you were at the spa all day. How long have you two been seeing each other?”

“A week.” Carol chewed at her bottom lip. “He’s only just moved back to town. We ran into each other last week and we’ve been seeing each other ever since.”

“You two are moving pretty fast, aren’t you?” Tia asked.

“We’ve wasted too much time already. Still, somehow when we’re together the decades melt away.”

Carol’s face glowed like a woman in love’s. Tia couldn’t help wonder what had broken them up in the first place.

“What happened between you two that you didn’t end up together? Well, until now.”

The older woman shrugged. “It’s a typical story, almost a cliché. Good girl falls for bad boy. I was young and my folks disapproved of our relationship. After high school, he got a job out of state and asked me to come with him. I wanted to but couldn’t bear disappointing my parents. I didn’t see him again until last week, fifty-seven years later.”

This time it was Tia who reached across the table for her old friend’s hand. “I’m happy for you.”

She meant it. Feelings that five decades apart had failed to extinguish deserved the chance to thrive.

“Thank you, dear,” Carol said. “Now, enough about me. The topic has dominated our entire conversation this morning, and it’s beginning to bore me.” She pinned Tia with her gaze. “You don’t seem yourself. Something bothering you, other than my ogre of a grandson paying you a visit?”

Tia shook her head. “Just work stuff,” she said.

The temptation to confide in Carol was strong. She hadn’t had anyone else to talk to but Max.

Her brother, Cole, was off doing his own thing, and her sister, Lola, the current face of Espresso Cosmetics, was more adept at causing problems than helping to figure out solutions.

Still, Tia didn’t want to mar Carol’s happiness by dumping her problems on her.

“Come on,” the older woman coaxed. “I’ve known you since you were seventeen. I know when you’re worried.”

Tia exhaled. “Yesterday, I tried to talk to my father about Espresso’s financial situation again. To say it didn’t go well would be an understatement.”

Concern creased Carol’s still-youthful face. “I didn’t realize things had gotten so bad.”

The pink uniform–clad waitress came to check their table, and Tia gave her the okay to clear her plate of now-cold pancakes. Replaying the scene with her father in her head had stolen her appetite anyway. She couldn’t remember ever seeing him so angry, and when she was younger she’d given her parents plenty to get angry over.

Tia grimaced. “The revenue from the spa division is the only thing keeping us afloat.”

“What about Cole?” Carol asked. “He practically ran the place single-handedly during your mother’s illness. Surely he can...”

Tia shook her head slowly. She was about to convey the brief conversation with her older brother, when the phone inside her purse rang.

She peeked inside her bag and saw it was Max. It was unusual for him to call this early, so it had to be important.

“You mind if I take this?”

“Go ahead,” Carol said.

Moments later, Tia ended the call.

“Everything okay?” Carol asked.

Tia rolled her eyes. This was the last thing Espresso needed. “It’s Lola. Apparently, there’s some trouble concerning the photo shoot for next year’s spring campaign in Albuquerque. Lola’s refusing to go,” she said. “You don’t mind if we cut this short?”

Although, technically it wasn’t her job to intervene in this issue, as a Gray, Tia considered it her responsibility to help. She signaled the waitress and quickly paid the check. Her sister was well aware of the company’s precarious finances. They no longer had the time or money to waste on her antics.

Carol glanced at her watch. “Of course not, dear. I’m supposed to meet Glenn in a few minutes anyway. There’s a special early showing of the new comic book superhero action movie opening today. Glenn’s a huge fan of the one that flies around in a red cape.”

Tia barely heard a word. Her mind had already fast-forwarded past superheroes to her next move—shaking some sense into her spoiled, entitled baby sister.

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