Jamie’s flight was hours long and she was completely exhausted when she got in. She took a cab out of the airport and picked out the nearest cafe she could find. She didn’t even know where she was going, she let her feet guide her. She needed to think. This is why I don’t do spontaneous. Where would Kieran Dillahunt be and how could she hope to find her without making a very creepy idiot of herself?

Jamie came into the Black & Gold Cafe just past noon toting a hastily-packed weekend bag and limp hair. She didn’t want to think about small planes or cramped seats or being thousands of feet above ground where people died for at least a day.

The woman manning the counter of the cafe reminded her of a younger Tracy, save for the fact that she had dark brown skin, locs down to mid-back and an undercut. Her smile made Jamie feel immediately, instinctively at home.

“You look dead on your feet. Kick ’em up.” She pointed to the nearest bar seat. “What’s your poison, hon?”

“Caffeine and any kind of pastry you’ve got. I think I’m dying of starvation as I stand here.” Come to think of it, Jamie hadn’t actually eaten any of the surely scrumptious vittles Tracy had provided her. She’d had butterflies filling her stomach and keeping the hunger at bay. Now, she was sure she’d digested the butterflies.

“Bless. I’ll rustle you up something sweet short-order and then bring a menu so we can get something savory in you. Espresso good to start?”

“Make it a dirty chai?”

The woman, with the name Sonny emblazoned on her name tag, threw her an ‘okay’ sign and jotted her order down on her notepad. “Back in tick. Really, I mean it, sit. You’re wobbling like hell and it’s making me nervous. Want me to put your bag in back?”

Jamie had almost forgotten her carry-on as soon as she set it down on the chair beside her. “Please, yes. I never want to see it again.”

“Leave it sitting there like that for long and you won’t. I’ll lock it in the office. Just give us a shout when you need it back.”

Jamie hefted her bag over the counter for Sonny to take. “Is Wonder Woman your secret identity, by chance, because you’re my hero.”

“Regrettably no, but now I know who I’m dressing up as for Halloween.” Sonny winked and disappeared through the swinging doors to the kitchen from which mouthwatering smells were emanating. They made Jamie hungrier and think more fervently of home.

Another dark-haired woman, this one Latina, appeared at the counter with Jamie’s dirty chai. Her name tag read Esme. “You must be the cute one my girl was going on about.”

Jamie made a confused face. She’d spent several hours on the plane agonizing over what to do to get her soulmate’s attention. She didn’t have much mental energy left for anything else. Not until she was at least half done with her drink.

“I’m a definite maybe,” she agreed after her first sip.

“Babe, you didn’t say she was the sarcastic one,” Esme called back toward the kitchen.

Sonny appeared at the pass. “She looks like a lemon. She’s adorable. Sit down and shut up.”

Esme snagged a plate from the warmer in the kitchen window and joined Jamie on the customers’ side of the counter. “You heard her, I’ve got my orders.”

Jamie raised an eyebrow. Esme smirked. She had sleepy eyes and a sort of rough demeanor that reminded Jamie of her last ex. It wasn’t the worst view in the house by a long shot.

“So, what are you here for, business or pleasure?”

“Pleasure. I hope so, anyway.”

“Surprise trip.” Soul journeys were the stuff of legend, the kind of stories you told your children, the most epic of which were taught in schools. Jamie had given up on having a story to tell when she had given up on love; all it had taken was losing her parents young. Guess I haven’t entirely given up, after all.

“Yup,” Jamie finally answered after another energizing sip.

Sonny reappeared bearing another dirty chai. She shot Esme an annoyed look when she saw that Jamie had already been served.

“I was trying to help!”

“Uh huh. I’ve got coffee cake cooling. Want anything else in the meantime, sweetie?”

“Try the crepes,” Esme recommended, mouth full with her own.

“Why do I love you again?” Sonny questioned, only half meaning it. Jamie could see it in the affection in her eyes.

“Because I make you see stars?”

“I see stars when I get migraines, but you’re not too far off.”

Esme stuffed another forkful of crepe into her mouth. “Remind me to leave you for somebody nicer after I finish this.”

“If you think there’s a woman alive willing to tolerate your nonsense with a smile and still love you, you’re not only lying to our young friend here, you’re living a state of confusion. Seek help.” Sonny swooped past to snatch Esme’s plate from under her. Esme’s fork clanked mournfully on the Formica counter top.

“I wasn’t done with that.”

“You’re more than done with that.”

Esme looked at Jamie mournfully, if not a little playfully. “Love is killer, kid. Just killer. Beware.”

Jamie couldn’t help but believe her.

Left to her own devices without Jamie on hand, Nix was back at the Bookstop the very next day, as was her habit. Tracy was making the rounds, directing the servers, and setting out the delectable pastries that assured that Nix was never going to be size 10 again. I’ll make the sacrifice, she mused, and popped a bit of bear claw in her mouth.

“You remain the queen of my heart,” she declared as it melted in her mouth.

“Aren’t you darling?” Tracy smiled, her lips painted a strawberry pink. She had gone to extra effort to look smashing today. More so than usual and Nix could give a guess why.

“Sooo, who was the dishy Scot who took your tonsils for a spin yesterday?”

Tracy demurred. Tracy never demurred. She was easily more shameless than Nix. This was good, had to be. “You’re far too cheeky for anyone’s good. What’s it to you?”

Nix blew on her flawless lavender manicure. It reminded her of Lady Grey tea and home.

“You like him more than anybody else and you can’t stop looking at him. Of course, I noticed. Out with it, goddess. I need to vet him.”

Tracy propped her head on her chin. “Has anybody told you you’re horridly overprotective?”

“You know, nobody has, but you can be the first.” Nix pointed at the stool beside her. “Park it.”

Tracy was a good sport. She took off her serving gloves and just did that.

“Name, occupation, and relationship history.”

Tracy rolled her eyes. “His name is Pax Newton. We found each other early--don’t ask how long ago, please--and lost each other many times. I don’t intend to lose him again.”

Nix watched her friend carefully. People lied to themselves constantly about soulmates as if they no longer mattered once the colors had come. As far as she was concerned, ever after was a terribly long time not to live happily.

“He a good man?”

Tracy’s grin stretched from cheek to blushing cheek. “The very best of them.”

“Even after letting you go more than once? I don’t know.”

“I love him. Not just because we go together, but because we’re happy together. Don’t worry, I value myself too highly to tolerate an unhappy union for long.”

“Promise?” Nix stirred her Lady Grey to sooth her worried hands.

“You going to bump him off if he wrongs me?”

“Only ruin his credit rating and destroy his professional credibility, nothing more and nothing less.”

Tracy drew Nix to her side to give her a hug. Nix was going to pretend she wasn’t about the hugging but she didn’t mind it, not for people she adored already. Tracy was kind without wasting her time on sympathy. Nix was fine, she didn’t need sympathy to get through the day. Yes, she’d had a soulmate once and they were gone. So what. She was still a whole person. There were still so many people that loved her. One was a loss, not a disaster.

“I know you don’t care to hear it, so I’ll say it quickly. You’re going to find another someday. Life is too grand and strange and people too changeable to only have one immutable love. Believe it.”

“Only because you say so.”

“If you’re in the business of believing me without evidence, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Still. Believe me.”

“Someday my parents are going to stop looking at me like I’ll fall apart without them. I keep waiting.”

“Don’t wait. Forget about their expectations because you don’t need them.” Tracy punctuated her words with gentle squeezes. “From time to time, you’ve got embrace the girl you used to be. Embrace the idea that who you are is just fine, rather than being a stop gap between your past and your future self. You’re fine, mausi. Nobody else thinks there’s a thing wrong with you that can’t be fixed by loving yourself as the rest of us love you.”

Nix blinked very quickly lest she ruin her makeup. Never mind that it was waterproof. She had an image to maintain.

“And this is why you’re the mom friend,” she declared while dabbing her eyes.

“Yup,” Tracy agreed. “This is why I’m the mom friend.”