He’d never once talked to her about what had happened with Joanna all those years before. Joanna breaking up with him and leaving with Cliff was the single biggest emotional blow they’d suffered in the first two decades of their lives, and yet Nate had never once discussed it with her. He’d spent a lot of time surfing, then headed off to college and traveled a bit before returning home and taking over the café.

Whenever Mel had tried to raise the subject of Joanna, he’d shut her down, and then time had passed and eventually she’d stopped asking.

But then Cliff Whitman had driven into a ravine.

And still Nate hadn’t mentioned it.

“You see?” Rhonda took her silence to mean a win. “You know him better than anyone, and you can’t find anything wrong with him.”

Mel decided the conversation needed to end. “If I started on all the things wrong with him, I’d still be going at lunchtime and I have work to do. Have a great day, Rhonda.” She flashed a smile and wound her way through the other tables, throwing out greetings like confetti but not pausing long enough for anyone to engage in conversation.

Nate saw her approach and lifted an eyebrow. “You’re early. Who are you and what have you done with my sister?”

“She’s gone, replaced with a better version. Do you think I should have studied psychology?”

“You?” Nate laughed. “Since when did you become interested in the workings of the human mind?”

“Since I don’t understand humans. Are you going to take pity on me and feed me coffee?” Mel waved a hand toward the machine that looked more like a space station than a device for producing her favorite beverage. “I need strong coffee before I switch on the computer and see how much money you’ve been spending.”

“Make it yourself.”

“You want to spend the rest of the day fixing what I’ve broken?”

Nate sighed, relented and stepped toward the coffee machine. “So why do you need to understand humans? Whose behavior is leaving you baffled today?”

Mel thought about Eden. She thought about Joanna. “I’m not great at reading people, that’s all.” She watched as he produced a perfect espresso. “I prefer people to say what they’re thinking and feeling and save me doing all the work. Take Rhonda for example. She never makes any secret of the fact she wants to marry you. She just puts it right out there for everyone to see.”

Nate almost dropped the cup he was holding. “What?”