Like Never Before Read Online Free PDF Page B

impression . . .
    â€œWhatever’s happening, the only important question is, can we still get coffee?”
    â€œOh, we’ll get you your coffee.” This one thing she could get right. She pushed through the entrance, the jingle of bells above the doorway mingling with the commotion inside.
    â€œNow, I know it’s confusing.” Mayor Milt, with his salt-and-pepper beard and usual cardigan, stood on a chair up front, exaggerated exasperation in his voice. “But since the mother insists she doesn’t like the traditional pink and blue, you’ll see the ribbons are green and yellow. Green for a boy, yellow for a girl.”
    All around the eclectic coffee shop, townspeople sat at tables of varying heights and lounged in leather furniture. Behind the mayor, an espresso-hued counter fronted the back wall, with its chalkboard menu and mosaic backsplash.
    â€œWhat is this?” C.J. leaned toward her. “A community-wide baby shower?”
    â€œI don’t think so.” She would’ve heard about that kind of thing. This smacked of exactly the kind of impromptu town meeting Mayor Milt loved to throw.
    â€œSo pick whatever gender you think the baby will be. Wear the ribbon any time you come in to Coffee Coffee until next week to show your support for Megan.”
    Megan. Of course.
    The pang started in Amelia’s heart and landed in her stomach.
    â€œDouble shot espresso.”
    Amelia blinked. Right, coffee. “Got it. I’ll be back.”
    She arced around the throng and made for the counter, scooted behind it and—not seeing any employees in sight—went for the espresso machine. She had the cup half filled, the machine’s whir nearly drowned out by the crowd, before the voice cut in behind her.
    â€œWhat’re you doing back here, Bentley?”
    Amelia finished filling the cup before turning toward the droll voice. Megan, the coffee shop’s young owner—jet-black hair and charcoal-like eyeliner, as surly as she was resilient. Meg had been forced to close for nearly a month after the flood last year.
    But that hadn’t been the biggest of the young owner’s challenges.
    Amelia glanced at Meg’s protruding stomach under her purple apron and felt the knobby ache grappling through her—familiar, dense with memories.
    What should have been one of the happiest days of her life taking a sudden and harsh turn.
    Dani’s decision to back out of the adoption.
    Mary’s wails in the hospital nursery.
    And the chafing realization that Amelia wouldn’t be the one to soothe her. Not now. Not ever.
    Should it still sting so much this many years later?
    â€œWell?” Meg’s fists were on her waist. And oh, she reminded Amelia of Dani in that moment.
    Amelia swallowed. “I’m making sure you get at least one paying customer out of this chaos, that’s what.”
    The girl, who couldn’t be older than twenty-one or twenty-two, lifted one pierced eyebrow. “Can you believe this town? I tell one person I’m finding out the gender next week, and before I know it, they’ve turned it into a full-blown event. Maple Valley will use literally anything as an excuse to celebrate.” She pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Even a single girl’s unplanned pregnancy.”
    Amelia had to work not to flinch. “I thought you didn’t work on Thursdays.”
    â€œKeeping tabs on my schedule?”
    â€œUh, no, not keeping tabs.” But maybe, truthfully, avoiding. Was it so wrong to know her weak spots? To do her best to keep the whispers of her past entombed where they belonged?
    Focus. C.J. Cranford. The News . The jobs you need to save. Things she might be able to change.
    Versus things she couldn’t. No matter how hard she tried.
    Megan kneaded the small of her back just below her apron’s knot. “Hired a new girl last week and turns out, she’s about as