“To stay, actually,” she said in a delighted tone. “I have some extra time this morning.”
“Coming right up.” I got busy preparing her latte. I hummed along with the sound of the espresso machine as it prepared her shot, followed by the steamed coffee. It was a relatively simple order but how much it delighted me to fulfill it.
This is your dream,my mind continued to tell me. Unfortunately, that doubt was quickly followed up by the realization that one customer alone couldn’t keep the doors of this place open.
“Mm,” Kayla moaned after taking a sip of her drink. “So smooth and creamy.” She blushed slightly. “Don’t tell my husband I said that out loud for anyone but him.”
I covered my mouth as I laughed along with her. “I heard nothing.” I covered my ears, causing her to laugh a little more.
The front door opened again, and Destiny Townsend walked in. “Perfect, you’re open. I couldn’t wait to get here,” she said as she wobbled over to us.
“Good morning,” I greeted as she came to stop in front of us, her hand resting on her belly.
“Morning, Mia. Hey, Kayla. Resha and I are recording early this morning and we’re interviewing a couple of people, so we need coffee for the whole team.”
“Oh.” I moved around to the counter to start to take Destiny’s order.
“This is probably going to be a big one. And you have muffins, right?”
I pointed to the glass case. “We have what’s there plus more in the back.”
“Perfect. Resha loves her a good muffin. This kid, too.” She rubbed her belly.
“Would you like to sit?” I offered, extending my hand toward the closest free chair. “I can come over and write your order down.”
She waved me off. “No, I’m fine. Okay, let’s see …” She rattled off orders for ten drinks in total, three muffins, a couple of scones, and a few more pastries.
I grew concerned over how she was going to carry this all to her car, but before I completed her order, the door opened again and in walked Tyler.
He approached the counter wearing a frown. He glared down at his wife. “You were supposed to wait for me.”
“Hey, Ty,” Kayla called with a wave from her seat.
“Kayla.” He acknowledged before scowling at his wife again.
“You were taking too long to get ready. I knew you’d meet me here,” Destiny said.
“You’re lucky I had the morning off.”
The two bickered in a way that was extremely cute, Tyler obviously upset that his wife would even attempt to lift a finger in her condition. And Destiny having to remind him for what seemed like the thousandth time that she was pregnant, not incapable.
I giggled at how adorable they were. And for a moment, I wondered if Brutus would be that protective over me if I ever got pregnant with his baby. I remembered our time in Mexico when we’d gotten a little carried away and failed to use protection. He hadn’t even seemed frightened once we realized what we’d done.
Then I brushed the thought aside, because of course he would be as protective. Hell, I would venture to say that he might even be worse. He was already protective. The measures he went through to ensure that I had a security system that met his standards in my shop were incredible. All of the system hadn’t been completely installed yet, a fact which led him to try to get me to delay the opening, until it was finished.
My thoughts about his protectiveness scattered when the door opened again, and in walked Patience with their mother-in-law, Deborah Townsend. A twinge of awareness scattered up my spine, and I started to suspect something was going on.
“Deb, you have to try the fruit pastries,” Kayla insisted to her mother-in-law. “But the latte is even better.”
Deborah’s blue eyes gleamed in delight. Before I knew it, Gloria and I were making a dozen beverages between the two of us for their staff at the community center. Patience also ordered a few of the scones and a couple of smoothies for the volunteers at the center who didn’t drink coffee.
I had just completed their order when a handful of more customers began filing in. My heart smiled as the café filled with people eager to try a new coffee shop, or having already sampled our coffee at one of the pop up stands I’d done in the weeks running up to our opening.
Before I knew it, the clock read close to nine-thirty. Yet, the shop felt as if it were just getting started as more patrons poured in. I glanced over at Gloria and worried if I had enough staff for this morning rush. Biting my lower lip, I looked around the shop and my stomach filled with butterflies. As much as I enjoyed the experience of preparing the different beverages we sold, I itched to get from behind the counter and interact with the people who stopped by.
“I hope you enjoy it,” I said to my latest customer while I stood at the register. “Please come back and tell your friends.” I handed the man in a business suit his green smoothie and watched as he exited through the door closet to the counter.
I didn’t have time to watch for too long before I was serving another customer. Don’t get me wrong, these were great problems to have, but I felt slightly stifled behind the register. I wanted to learn the stories of the customers who chose to take a seat while they enjoyed their drink or breakfast sandwich.
