Chapter 42. A Warning

Rae:

With Karina gone the café feels warm again.

Not just the lights or the oven heat lingering in the air — it’s the kind of warmth that sinks into your bones. Familiar. Safe.

Eliza’s stopped laughing and is wiping down the counter, hair tied up in a loose, frizzy knot, flour dust still clinging to her cheek.

I glance over at her, watching her hum off-key to the low music playing from the speaker in the corner. She’s mouthing the words like she owns the stage.

God.

“Still tone-deaf,” I tease, flipping the sign on the door to CLOSED.

“Still nosy,” she fires back, grinning. “You said nothing when that guy asked if I was single earlier.”

“He was like... fifty.”

“He had good skin!”

I laugh, grabbing a tray of leftover pastries.

We work in sync. Always have.

She scrapes crumbs into the bin. I box up the ones we’ll bring home. The espresso machine hisses one last sigh before powering down.

The last cus