“Argh, we don’t have our liquor license just yet, but we’re working hard on it. Sorry, guys.” Mia tried a furtive glance at Lou again, but she was staring in the other direction. This was beginning to feel like simply being ignored. Mia couldn’t escape the vibe of animosity at this table. Beardless guy was not looking her in the eye either. “Can I get you some coffees, perhaps? Or one of the virgin cocktails we have on offer tonight?”

“We’ll get it ourselves, thank you very much,” beardless guy said and, with that, rose. Lou followed him so Mia was left standing there, towering over the one remaining member of their party of three.

“My name is Mia, by the way. I’m new here but we’ve seen each other a couple of times the past week.”

“Oh, I know who you are,” the guy said and ignored Mia’s outstretched hand.

This was getting downright weird. What had she done to these guys?

“Okay, I’ll leave you to it. Enjoy your evening,” she said and skulked off in search of a warmer reception elsewhere.

Chapter Six

“I wish they had their liquor license already,” Lou said while impatiently tapping her fingers onto the counter. “I could do with a drink right about now.”

“I do believe she doesn’t have a clue who you are, Lou,” Phil said. “Although after the way we just treated her she might start putting two and two together.”

“She shouldn’t be prancing around here all happy and ready to take the Pink Bean by storm. It’s not right.” Lou tried to calm herself down, applying the breathing techniques she had learned during her yoga training, but it wasn’t working.

“Hey Phil,” Amber’s voice came from behind them. “How’s that mermaid pose coming along?”

They both turned around. Amber always had a soothing influence on Lou and just looking into her friendly face made her feel better, a bit less alone—even though she had Phil and Jared on her side.

“There’s life in this old dog’s limbs yet,” Phil said.

Amber introduced Phil to her partner Martha and when they discovered they were both employed in the science field—Martha as a physics professor and Phil as a pharmaceutical researcher—they got chatting about something Lou didn’t know the first thing about.

Their drinks took a long time to arrive and the queue was growing. The two people behind the counter had a hard time keeping up with the orders. Most likely because no one—not even all-foreseeing Kristin—would have expected this kind of crowd to show up for Josephine tonight. Jared had probably been right when he said this might be the last time they’d see Josephine perform at the Pink Bean. She was outgrowing the tiny venue a little more every time she took to the stage.