Crazy Stupid Bromance (Bromance Book Club #3) - Lyssa Kay Adams Page 0,20

purse.

Alexis quickly filled the woman’s normal order, promised to stop by her yarn shop up the street soon, and then fell into the wonderful routine of the morning rush hour. It would last until at least eight o’clock, when it would finally slow down just long enough to restock the pastry display before the next wave hit.

At precisely eight fifteen, Alexis served the last customer in line and then went into the kitchen to load up on more muffins, scones, and apple turnovers.

The swinging door flip-flapped behind her, and before she had time to turn around, Jessica’s voice echoed against the stainless-steel appliances. “What’s going on?”

Alexis pulled a tray of muffins from the tiered cart against the wall. “Nothing. Why?”

“First you ran out of here last night like you’d just seen a ghost. Now you come back in looking like, well . . . like shit.”

Alexis set the tray on the counter. “Gee, thanks.”

“What’s going on? And don’t even think about pretending you’re fine. I know you better than that.”

Alexis paused, her hands hovering over the muffins. Jessica did know her. They’d been through hell and back together. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Try the beginning.”

Alexis planted her hands on the edge of the counter and let out a long breath. Words tumbled out with it. “Noah spent the night at my house last night, and I think I found my father.”

Alexis might’ve laughed at Jessica’s openmouthed expression if the entire situation weren’t causing actual heart palpitations. Jessica closed her mouth, swallowed, and blinked several times.

“So, okay,” she said. “We’re going to get back to the Noah thing, but first things first. What do you mean about your father?”

Alexis returned to the task of transferring muffins from the tray to a bakery display platter. “That girl last night. She says she’s my sister and that my long-lost father is apparently dying and needs a kidney transplant.”

“And you believe her, this girl?”

“I don’t have any reason not to, at this point. We have the same eyes, and someone named Elliott sent flowers to my mom’s funeral. It all adds up so far.”

The pinch of Jessica’s eyes forecasted an incoming storm. “Where the hell has he been all your life?”

“I don’t know.” Alexis tasted the sour tang of betrayal at the back of her throat. “I don’t know if he knew about me.”

The words stung. Was it possible her mom hadn’t even told Elliott that she was pregnant back then? Would her mother have done something like that? Would she have purposely denied Alexis her own father?

Alexis shook her head to clear away the thought. No. Her mother would never have done that. The only thing that made sense was that Elliott had simply told her that he wanted no part in Alexis’s life because he was about to marry someone else.

Jessica moved closer and softened her voice. “This all feels a little too coincidental, though. This girl just happens to find you through some ancestry DNA test when he needs a kidney?”

Alexis’s stomach fired a warning shot. “What are you suggesting?”

“Your face was all over the news last year. Maybe . . .” Jessica shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe this is just some twisted joke or something.”

“No one is that cruel, Jessica.”

“I don’t even know how it’s possible that you of all people can still believe that.”

Alexis shrugged. “I try to assume the best about people until they give me a reason not to.”

“Which is why you are a way better person than I will ever be.”

Alexis shook her head and shoved the platter aside to make room for another. “Anyway, Candi said she took the DNA test three years ago.”

Tiny bolts of lightning flashed in Jessica’s eyes. “Are you kidding me? And she just came to find you now that he needs a kidney? You’re not a farm for harvesting.”

Alexis winced and looked away.

Jessica immediately softened her tone. “I’m sorry. That was . . . I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s true, though, isn’t it?”

Jessica chewed on the corner of her lip, a sure sign that she wanted to ask an impertinent question but wasn’t sure if she should. A moment later, she let out a breath and blurted it out. “What if you’re not a match?”

“I don’t know.”

“What does Noah think?”

Alexis’s cheeks burst into flames.

Jessica tilted her head. “Maybe we should talk about the spending-the-night thing now.”

Alexis walked back to the tiered cart to get another tray of muffins. “I was upset last night, and he said he didn’t