The dots dance, and my foot shakes with anticipation.
LIAM: It’s going to be hard to keep him grounded now.
ME: How long have you had that brewing?
LIAM: Not long, puns are the only way I know how to espresso myself.
ME: I missed this a latte. Thank you.
Again, the dots dance for some time.
LIAM:I miss this too, Peaches. Talk soon?
I glance at the pile of boxes I have ready to pack up my things. Maria and my lease ends at the beginning of September, along with my expiring visa, and we both decided even though it’ll be crazy chaotic for me and a heck of a lot of changes all at once, the best thing to do is really just go for it.
ME: Things are kind of busy right now, but I should have some time in a few weeks.
24
Sprinkly the Best
“I’mnotsurewhyyou want me to go there, sir. This really isn’t my role,” Liam Kelly grumps through the phone to his dad. My heart races hearing his voice on the other line. It echoes against the stainless-steel appliances in the back kitchen of our soon-to-be café and reverberates in my heart. I haven’t heard his low, steady cadence in months, and I miss it terribly. I busy myself with a bag of frosting, attempting to pipe a cinnamon and caramel-flavored buttercream inside a pumpkin-spice-inspired macaron I hope to include in the menu where we’re set to open at the end of September. My hands shake, and the buttercream bursts out of the bag. Apparently, I didn’t secure the piping nozzle correctly.
Mr. Kelly jumps back, narrowly avoiding getting the sugary explosion all over his shoes. “I’m asking you to go because the shop is a block from your apartment, and I don’t want to drive there. What, do you have something better to do?”
“Kind of. I’m supposed to talk to Evie.”
“I’m sure she’d be fine if you moved your call for an hour later.” Mr. Kelly winks at me.
I rest my hand on the counter, breathing through a spasm. I accidentally knock over one of the baking trays, cursing as it falls to a clatter on the floor.
“Shit. Shit. Shit,” I mutter, gathering a hoard of wildly flung macarons off the floor. Seriously, what was I thinking trying to bake on a day when Liam could walk through that door at any minute and decide that none of this was a good idea?
“What was that?” Liam asks.
“What was what?” In a panic, Mr. Kelly coughs into his hand, drowning out my hushed “sorry.”
“There was a clang and a voice? Is Alice with you?”
“Yes. Alice. Alice is here. Are you sure the clang wasn’t on your side, though? I thought I heard it through the line.”
“No?”
“Just go check up on the shop, kid. I want to make sure that we start this investment off on the right foot. It’s an important one.”
“Do I need to suit up? Otherwise, I can head there now. I’m actually a street over finishing my run.”
“Nah, doesn’t need to be formal. Who knows, she might appreciate those tight-ass shirts you run in.”
I cover my mouth with my hand to muffle a laugh at the eyebrow wag Mr. Kelly supplies with this. I wish I hung out with him more growing up because he’s freaking hilarious and a total softie.
“Right, well, this has been the weirdest phone call from you. Congratulations on that. I’ll let you know how it goes. I’m hanging up now.”
Mr. Kelly chuckles to himself, shoving the phone in his pocket. “He really has no clue what’s about to happen.”
My phone pings a second later, and I wipe my hand on my towel and reach for it. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing,” I say with tremoring hands.
LIAM: Hey, I have a quick work thing to deal with. Do you mind if we move our call back an hour?
