“Let me guess — mass influx of McAllisters?” Alex asked, that same grin flashing at her, making her just weak enough in the knees that she was glad she was sitting down.
“I don’t know about ‘mass,’ but there were a few…maybe enough to make someone at the registrar’s office wonder why so many of their incoming students had the same last name.” It was funny, because she’d never thought about it that way before. Then again, not all of her fellow clan members who’d transferred to Northern Pines even had the last name of McAllister, although of course they were all related in one way or another.
“Well, it makes sense. It would be a big deal to me, too, if I’d spent my life in a small territory like yours, and then had the chance to get out.” He seemed to stop himself, adding, “Sorry — I didn’t mean it that way. Jerome is great, from what I saw of it.”
“I’m not offended,” she replied, and offered him a smile of her own. “That is, our territory is a lot more than just Jerome, but compared to what the de la Paz clan controls, or even the Wilcoxes…yeah, it’s sort of underwhelming.”
“All the more reason for you to get out and stretch your legs.” He pulled off the freeway then, crossing back under it before heading…east? Northeast? It was hard for Caitlin to say for sure, since she really hadn’t gotten her bearings yet, and the position of the sun wasn’t telling her much, either.
They were headed up a main street, she could see that much, and the area around the freeway didn’t look too promising. It did improve, however, as they drove along, until suddenly on either side of the boulevard were official-looking buildings in a variety of different architectural styles.
“This is it,” Alex said.
Caitlin blinked. “You mean…you have this big road just going through the middle of your campus?” Not that Northern Pines didn’t have its own access roads, but the campus still felt somewhat segregated from the city around it. Here, the school seemed to have been plunked down right in the middle of town.
“Basically, yes. So what did you want to see?”
“I don’t know…where did you hang out?”
He didn’t exactly frown, but he also didn’t look quite as cheerful as he had a minute or two earlier when he’d been teasing her about the McAllisters invading Northern Pines. “I worked part-time at the store the whole time I was in college, so I didn’t do a lot of hanging out. But there was a coffee place I’d go to between classes. I think the Caffe Lucé espresso kept me alive during finals a few times.”
“Oh,” she said, her tone flat. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting him to say, but telling her that a coffeehouse had been one of his favorite haunts hadn’t even occurred to her.
“Right, you’re not a coffee drinker. They have tea, though, and good pastries, if you can grab one before they sell out.” A quick glance over at her before he turned right down another street whose name she didn’t quite catch. “Does that sound okay?”
It sounded way more than okay. Right then she knew she’d never make it to dinner without having something a little more than the few handfuls of grapes she’d eaten while Alex had his sandwich. “You had me at pastries.”
His smile returned, and after they’d gone another block or two, they came up to a row of shops dominated by a Trader Joe’s. The street parking was dicey, but he found a spot just as someone was pulling out, and so was able to park his SUV there. “Right this way.”
Because it was a dead time in the afternoon, they didn’t have too much trouble finding a place to sit after placing their orders for coffee and tea. “Should I feel guilty for snagging the last coconut raspberry scone?” Caitlin asked.
“Only if you want to.” Alex picked up his coffee and took a measured sip.
“Then I won’t.” She drank some of her iced tea, then broke off a piece of scone. “You want some?”
“I’m good. I had an actual lunch, remember?”
Caitlin nodded before popping the bit of scone in her mouth. It was very good, rich but not too sweet. Rachel McAllister would have approved. “I know I should have eaten something, but….”
“But you were mildly freaked about having to deal with Marie.”
“Something like that.” She washed the scone down with another swallow of tea. “Actually, for her, she was kind of mellow. I kept expecting her to rip me a new one for hiding my seer abilities from the clan.” Alex’s gaze slid away from her at that remark — just for a second, but enough that she thought he didn’t entirely agree with her. “What…did she say something while I was off getting Danica’s bracelet?”