THE SHADOWED ONYX: A DIAMOND ESTATES NOVEL Read Free Page B

altered state of grief consciousness overwhelmed her. Impossible.
    The coffee shop. Where the youth group went for
fellowship
during the adult Sunday school hour. A fancy name like fellowship didn’t elevate it above hanging out at best, gossip hour at worst. But in better times, Joy loved it. Flashes of herself seated on a stool while her friends stood around her, waiting for her to make them laugh with some witty comment, flew through her brain. Gone just as fast as they’d appeared. That had been some other life. Some other Joy.
    But today? The idea of unstructured socializing with random people where she’d be expected to make conversation, smile, even crack a joke now and then, terrified her. She would say something stupid, or worse, nothing at all. The last thing Joy wanted to do was bring everyone else down. Joy, boring? Never. She’d rather disappear than be boring.
    “Go on.” Mom nudged Joy’s arm with her shoulder. “You need to go hang out with your friends, even if only for their sake. They’re worried about you and want to spend time with you. They miss—”
    Joy put a hand up. “Okay. Okay. I’ll go.” Anything to stop the whining. Joy took a deep breath and flipped her hair over her shoulder. Might as well get it over with. She walked down the long hallway from the sanctuary, past the kids’ classrooms and the nursery, trudged up a ramp, and entered the airy new addition.
    Common Grounds coffee shop was more like a giant sunroom with banks of floor-to-ceiling windows and lush greenery. Clusters of tables and chairs surrounded a massive fireplace in the center. A bonfire in the middle of a jungle. Except jungles didn’t usually have four-dollar cappuccinos and frappés available made-to-order. At least regular coffee was free on Sundays.
    Which reminded her, just before Halloween and Melanie’s … death, someone from the Common Grounds staff had called in reference to the application Joy had turned in. Making coffee for the business-meeting crowd and stay-at-home moms would have been a good gig once upon a time. But now, the less Joy had to deal with people, the better off they’d all be.
    Okay, here goes
. Joy stepped through the vestibule and squinted against the sunlight.
    “Joy!”
    She heard her name several times.
    “Awesome! Joy’s here,” someone called from the far side of the room.
    “Ah. Now the fun can start.” Tyler winked and patted the chair beside him, near the fireplace.
    Perfect. She’d hide out with Tyler. She moved in his direction just as Wendy slipped into the seat. Lovely.
    Tyler grimaced and mouthed the word
sorry
.
    Knowing Tyler, it was probably true. Joy offered a weak smile and shrugged. No big deal. Whether he knew it or not, he was far better off with Wendy’s bubbly cheerleader company than her own. She could join them, but the sight of Wendy giggling and batting her eyelashes at Tyler was way too much syrup for Joy to take.
    An arm slid across the back of her shoulders. “Hey you. We sure have missed you around here.”
    Deena. Joy’s tension abated at the human contact. She’d better not let her guard down or she’d be crying in no time.
    The spunky youth leader had to stand on tiptoe to squeeze Joy tight. “I’m not going to bug you, but I’m here if you want to talk. Always.” As if sensing Joy’s wavering grasp on her emotions, Deena dropped her arm and patted Joy’s hand.
    Joy nodded, blinking away the sting in her eyes. “Thanks.”
    Deena held Joy’s gaze with her deep brown eyes then flashed a bright smile. “You can do this.” She winked and moved off to mingle.
    Joy peeled her stare away. She needed a distraction. Food. Was she even hungry? It was so hard to tell these days. Blueberry or cranberry-orange muffins, her fave, or yogurt? She paused and asked her stomach which she could handle. It responded with a churning gurgle. Yeah, food was not going to happen. Joy poured herself a cup of black coffee then added two packs of sugar