After standing for her No smiling! photo, Juliette left with a new license and a significant urge to get on with her day.
“Juliette, wait a sec!”
She paused and turned, only to see Peyton jogging after her into the parking lot. “I just wanted to say that it was nice to meet you. That’s all.” She adjusted the yellow leather tote on her shoulder. “I haven’t had a chance to meet many people since I moved here, and you seem, well, great.”
How was that possible, Juliette wondered. She felt bad now, because the conversation had mattered to Peyton, while Juliette had made only the smallest of efforts. There was a lesson here, and she planned to learn it. “Oh. Well, it was great meeting you, too. I’m sorry if I seemed mired or distracted. It’s my default lately. I could honestly be less rigid.”
“Well, I think you’re awesome. You can carry that with you. Back to work?”
Juliette hooked a thumb behind her. “Yes. Can’t afford to stay closed on a perfectly good day of the week.”
“I was thinking of checking out the zoo. Maybe you could steal an extra hour or two?” She passed Juliette a hopeful look. “I realize the chances are slim.” Peyton seemed a little lonely.
“Oh. Sounds fun.” She didn’t want to point out that the zoo was really just about four exhibits of small rodents and some birds. Knowing Peyton, she’d probably think the place was magnificent. “But I really can’t.”
Peyton’s perfect face fell, and as if her feelings compelled her, she stood taller. She had a good three inches on Juliette, but then again she was in heels. Her lip-glossed mouth turned downward. “I get it. It’s okay. But have a great one.”
She wasn’t sure, but the dip between Peyton’s brows might have indicated that she’d gotten the larger message. Juliette didn’t only have to work. She was rejecting the invitation outright and felt bad about that now. Maybe she should have just swallowed back her disdain for forced social interactions and stuck with her new obligatory friend. They could smile randomly and chat all day in front of the anteater hut.
The man who had sat with them in the holding area appeared. “Hey, Peyton. Just got my renewal. I’m gonna grab an early lunch across the street before I head into the office. Want to come?”
Juliette smothered a smile. When you radiated sunshine and happiness, the world flocked to you.
“You can come, too,” he said to Juliette by way of an afterthought.
“Gonna have to pass. Work calls.”
“I’ll go. Thanks for asking,” Peyton said, meeting his gaze. There was a touch of sadness behind her eyes before she brightened again. “Maybe I’ll see you around, Juliette.”
“For sure.” For now, she had a greeting card wall to restock and an illustration for a custom birthday card due in three days. “You guys have fun.”
“If they have a decent BLT, I’m all set,” Peyton said, pointing at her as she walked away. The sun made her blond hair sway even brighter. Just look at her. Juliette shook her head at the unicorn she would likely never see again. Probably for the best. Pretty. Confident. Happy. What a way to be.
She had absolutely zero ability to identify.
Chapter Two
Two months later
The Station was hopping for a Tuesday in August, and Juliette couldn’t have been more pumped. In-store traffic meant sales, and the more people who came to the front to check out, the more she could send home with a brochure about her custom-made, personalized greeting cards.
Juliette had six whole people in the store, and two of them looked like they were going to buy something. A third, Mrs. Wunderlich, was here to pick up the customized birthday card she’d purchased for her husband, Pete, the week prior. She’d composed a poem, which Juliette had dutifully copied into the card in script, along with a colorful illustration of the two of them on a park bench. Simple, elegant, and personal. She loved the way it had come out and handed it over in its golden envelope with The Station’s choo-choo-train logo. Her heart squeezed with pride and love for the cute couple.
“Oh, this is lovely,” Mrs. Wunderlich said. “We’re like royalty. A picture of us!”
“Thrilled you like it.” She grabbed a couple of brochures and handed them over. “Definitely tell your friends about the personalization option. I can handle all types of font requests, too, and if they don’t feel comfortable composing the text themselves, I have tons of ideas.” She did, too. She was bursting with cute, quippy, sincere, and heartfelt messages to be paired with the illustrations she’d already compiled in her head. Name the occasion, she had plenty of ideas. She was a greeting card aficionado.
“I will tell everyone I know to scoot here like the wind and hand over their money. You take cash, right?”
“Of course.”
Mrs. Wunderlich was a resident of the Morning’s Glow Retirement Community, and those folks ran in a posse not to be messed with. If Mrs. Wunderlich was pleased, there would likely be more business.
“Good. We love cash. Not a fan of PayPal. Don’t get me started. It’s not our pal at all.”
“I wouldn’t dare.” She offered a wink.
“Mainly, though, my thinking is that my gals from hot yoga will eat this up. We have all gotten quite good at both down dog and child’s pose in extreme heat. The trick is to pretend you’re a polar bear in the Arctic.”
“I’m impressed.”
“So is Hot Timothy, our instructor. His name has nothing to do with the temperature in the room, if you feel me.” Mrs. Wunderlich added a wink of her own. “Don’t tell Pete. His jealous rage knows no bounds when it comes to Hot Timothy, who graduates from the university next semester.”
“My lips are sealed.”
“Men will never understand us. I don’t know why they try. You should know. You divorced one.”
Juliette laughed, understanding all too well. Her marriage, though pleasant enough, often reminded her of a movie with two people speaking in entirely different languages while trying to build an important rocket ship, or in their case, a life together. Nope. She and Thomas had had very little chance of romantic bliss. They were so much better at being best buddies that met up at The Frog and Dog bar for football and Tuesday night trivia. Bowling on Wednesdays. Who knew?
“We should all just date the girlies like you do, Jules. Though that would mean giving up Hot Timothy, and that’s a deal breaker in the making. I could drop Pete, though. Don’t tell him.”
“Sealed lips, remember?” Juliette placed a finger over them just as a very loud industrial-sounding noise roared to life from somewhere nearby. What the hell?