Chapter 12

12

T he bell above the door chimed as Audrey entered Haven Café. She made her way to the counter where Lisa greeted her with a bright smile.

"Morning." Lisa gave her a smile. "Did you lose power?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yes, but thankfully it came back before I was up this morning. Do you want your coffee to go?"

Audrey nodded, stifling a yawn. "Yes, please."

As Lisa prepared her coffee, she gave Audrey an appraising look. "Are you using a different foundation?"

Audrey pressed her lips together. "No. Same one I always use. Why?"

Lisa shrugged. "You look good. You're almost glowing or something, and I'm here trying to cover up the bags under my eyes. I couldn't sleep with all that thunder."

"Uh, thanks. Yeah, I didn't sleep well, either, really." Heat crept up Audrey's neck, and she hoped her makeup would hide her blush. She definitely hadn't slept more than four hours, and she should have felt completely exhausted, but her body hummed with an energy that a full night's sleep could never provide. Memories of last night flooded her mind, and she cleared her throat, trying to focus on the present.

Audrey paid, and Lisa handed her the coffee. "Thanks, Lisa. I better get going."

"Enjoy," Lisa said with a wave before turning her attention to her next customer.

Audrey stepped out onto the sidewalk, taking a sip of her coffee as she walked to her truck. She spent the thirty-minute drive to her first job thinking about last night. She still couldn't believe that any of it had happened.

She'd only meant to drop over the candles and a flashlight in case Piper didn't have any, and then leave. She never could have imagined how the night would have gone. When she'd been sitting beside Piper, trying to act normal, trying to act like she hadn't just seen Piper on the big screen at her local movie theater, Audrey had realized that she already felt way too much for her. She'd finished her wine, ready to leave, to stop torturing herself, but Audrey never would have guessed that Piper felt the same way about her.

"This is madness," Audrey muttered to herself as she parked in front of the two-story home, ready to pick up where she left off last week. But it hadn't felt that crazy last night. It had felt surprisingly easy. Nothing like her first time with anyone else had been.

But the situation was madness. Even this morning with Lisa, Audrey couldn't tell her about Piper even if she wanted to. She trusted Lisa not to tell the whole world that Piper was here, but it was too big of a risk to take. This was an even worse situation than she'd found herself in when she met Morgan all those years ago. She should be running from this.

Instead, she was thinking about tonight, wondering if she should invite Piper over for dinner.