Once Upon A Friendship. Tara Taylor Quinn

go in the front door,” Marie said, her grin bubbling over as Gabrielle pulled out her key and turned toward the private back entrance off the parking lot. “Let’s be like landlords checking up on our business tenant...”

      Even at thirty, Marie had a playful, girly streak. It was one of the things Gabrielle loved about her. “You are the business tenant,” she reminded her on a laugh.

      They were in partnership, she and Marie and Liam. A legally binding arrangement that kept the three of them together. Solidifying their odd little family into the future. More than the building, the investment, the asset, it was that fact that put the smile on Gabrielle’s face.

      * * *

      “WHAT’S TAKING THEM so long?”

      “They’re coming around the front.”

      “Janice, watch your mother, she’s at it again.”

      Standing behind the counter of Marie’s quickly decorated coffee shop, Liam turned when he heard Grace speaking to Janice in the cacophony of voices around him.

      Janice’s mother Clara, a ninety-five-year-old woman who lived with her seventy-three-year-old daughter in apartment 491, was picking up the chocolate Hershey’s Kisses that Grace had had a couple of women spreading around the tables. Clara was stashing them away in the covered compartment beneath the seat of her walker. The old woman was known for her stealing. Most often involving chocolate.

      Marie was known for buying chocolate and purposely leaving it lying around just to watch the elderly woman’s joy as she found it. Grace, an eighty-year-old resident who baked every morning for Marie and was the organizer of all functions among the residents of the building, was still tying balloons to chairs. Knowing everyone well from his years of visiting the girls, Liam had known just whom to seek out in planning the homecoming that was to have been in lieu of dessert after the fancy lunch that was supposed to have happened that day.

      The lunch, of course, hadn’t happened. And the party would have gone on, with or without him, too. That’s how it usually was with him and the girls. He came and went at his pleasure. If he was there, great. If not, no big deal. Was that why it worked so well?

      The realization, on this day of standing up as a man, didn’t sit well with him. At all. He loved Marie and Gabrielle more than anyone else on earth. They were his sisters in his heart. He looked out for them. Felt protective of them.

      And, he supposed, he used them, too. Like a brother used sisters.

      To whine to.

      To have them always be there.

      And to know they’d always be happy to see him when he bothered to show up.

      Like now, as he stood there, hands in his pockets, watching as the residents got ready for the big moment. He’d paid for the party.

      And here he was thinking it was a bonus that he’d been able to show up.

      Liam didn’t like the man he was seeing.

      At all.

      Was the old man right then? Was he worthless?

      “Shh, quiet, everyone, they’re rounding the corner! They’re coming in the front!” Susan Gruber, wife to Dale, said, with a sideways smile to her husband. Liam had never seen one without the other.

      The front door opened. He pasted a huge smile on his face, glad that he’d made it back in time.

      “Surprise!” More than fifty voices chorused at once. His was among them. And the shocked happiness on both of the girls’ faces was worth the effort it was costing him to hang around, to pretend that all was well. That he was going to be fine.

      He was a good man. Maybe he’d taken advantage of the girls all these years. Maybe he hadn’t seen that. And maybe, now that he did see it, it was up to him to do what he could to rectify the situation. Maybe, very soon, he’d be in a position to be around more, to tend to them for a change.

      Because he was decent. His father be damned.

      He’d remembered every birthday. Always took them out. Brought gifts that he’d picked out himself and that they’d loved. Whenever they needed a favor, he did what he had to do to grant it.

      He should have noticed that they didn’t call much.

      And maybe he should call them more often, instead of just stopping in for his weekly home-cooked meals when he didn’t have anything else to do. Or dropping by after an evening function when he needed to whine.

      He watched as their gazes scanned the crowd gathering around them—residents and many of Marie’s regular coffee customers, all with cards and good wishes. Both of his partners were grinning from ear to ear. Gabi noticed him first, elbowed Marie and nodded in his direction. Their shock at his presence was obvious. Their gazes met with his. Nothing was said. They didn’t know he’d just lost the only life he’d ever known. They’d just been glad to find him there.

      And he was glad he’d come.

      * * *

      PEOPLE STAYED FOR over an hour. Eating cake. Drinking coffee. Conversation flurried. As some of the older residents drifted upstairs to their homes, more customers came in with cards and congratulatory messages. Police officers. A couple of board members from a downtown historical society. The district state representative.

      They might not be expecting to turn much of a profit, but the building they’d purchased was valuable to the community. At least in a historical sense.

      And Liam had written the guest list. Gabrielle had just learned that from Grace. But she knew that he’d wanted people to know that a good thing was happening at the Arapahoe. He thought if people knew, they’d be more apt to support Marie’s shop.

      He’d wanted that for her.

      He’d always wanted what was best for them.

      Gabrielle couldn’t remember feeling so utterly...almost content. They’d done a good thing, her and Marie and Liam. Threefold. A goofy name for their business, but it fit them.

      Her partners, who were both more social than she was, were working the room now, moving from group to group while Gabi made certain that everyone had enough to drink. Liam had stood back until she and Marie finally noticed him there. But he was making up for his reticence. And seemed to be just fine. So, good. Her concern that morning had been unwarranted.

      Grace was keeping the coffee flowing. The shop was still open to the public and business went on even in the midst of celebration. Sam, one of Marie’s full-time employees, was taking orders and serving organic sandwiches as well as coffee.

      Gabi had to get back to work, too. While she’d kept her afternoon clear of appointments, she had a hearing in the morning regarding an estate dispute between siblings and had notes to prepare. She’d brought everything with her to work from home where she wouldn’t be interrupted.

      She was surprised Liam hadn’t left.

      Glancing his way as she carried a coffeepot around the room, refilling the cups of those who were just drinking it straight and black, she tried to catch his eye. He’d been managing to avoid her.

      Because they were crowded with well-wishers? Or because he had something to hide? Maybe her relief had been premature.

      “Have you had a chance to talk to Liam?” she leaned in to ask in Marie’s ear as she passed her friend standing with a couple who ran a print shop down the street.

      “Not a word,” Marie told her, and then said, “Put that pot down, Gabi. This is your party, too.”

      Nodding, Gabi continued on through the room, filling cups and accepting well-wishes as she made her way back to the counter to dispose of the pot. Two hours and fifteen minutes had passed since her lunch hour. She needed to get upstairs and could probably say a quick word to Marie and slip out without many noticing...

      “I need to talk