Chapter 93 Mel's Advice

• Jules POV
• The café smells like cake when I push through the back door at six forty-five, fifteen minutes before my shift. Mel and I have fallen into the habit of using this window for actual conversation — the narrow space before the morning rush turns everything loud and purposeful.
• She's restocking the pastry case when I come in, moving with the unhurried good efficiency. She glances up at me the way she does — one sweeping look that reads the room in a second flat.