Polly came trotting up to the front. “Oh, Lila, Lila!”
Lila took a deep breath, handed the customer his change, and turned to face the elderly woman. Polly looked frail but adorable, like a porcelain doll that had developed opinions. And she never stopped fidgeting.
“Yes, Polly?”
“Oh, Lila, Irene just made three new pots of coffee! Isn’t that wonderful? Light, medium, and dark.”
Lila pressed her hand to her temple and rubbed gently. “I told you, we have the coffee dispensers right here. You put the coffee into the filter, add hot water, and it brews by itself. You don’t need the percolators anymore.”
“Oh, but we’ve been making coffee this way for longer than we can remember.” Polly laughed, a bright, fluttery sound. “Besides, those machines look so complicated.”
“They’re not, I promise.” Lila mustered a smile. “In fact, I’m going to show you how to use them right now. Go get Irene, Wilfred, and Cyrus.”
“Oh! But Irene went through all that trouble, you know, and she’ll…” Polly twisted her hands.
“I’ll what?” Irene barked as she came up the hall, her voice like gravel in a coffee grinder. “What’s happened now?” She gave Lila a look that could sour cream.
Lila fought the urge to step back. She’d learned in a very short time that Irene was the loudest, bossiest, and most terrifying of the bunch. Polly was sweet. Irene was… a challenge. “Irene,” Lila began carefully, “I’m going to teach the four of you how to make coffee using the dispensers.”
“I already know how to make coffee,” Irene snapped. “Been makining it since before you were born. You can’t teach me anything!”
“Irene!” Polly gasped. “Listen to the girl!”
“Thank you, Polly,” Lila said through a tight smile. “And after coffee, we’ll move on to the espresso machine.”
“Oh, that thing,” Polly said, wringing her hands again. “It might be easier than that confounded cash register.”
“Confounded contraptions, all of them,” Irene groused, and marched down the hall.
“Irene, come back here!” Lila called after her.
“I’m getting the menfolk!” Irene shouted over her shoulder. “Come on, Lila wants to teach us something!”
“Oh dear,” Wilfred’s voice drifted from the storeroom.
Moments later, the entire crew shuffled up front, gathering around like schoolchildren caught in detention. Cyrus gave Lila an apologetic smile. “We’re sorry, Lila. I guess we’re all sort of set in our ways. This is turning out a little harder than we thought.”
Before she could reply, Paddy, Mary, Grandma, and Doc came in for their shift.
“Good, you’re all here,” Lila said, scanning the room. Only one couple sat in the corner, chatting quietly. Thank heaven. Who knew what might happen once she powered up the espresso machine? “Now, everyone, gather round. We’re goingto learn this. If we’re going to survive the next few weeks, we have to be able to make every drink on the menu.”
Paddy rubbed his hands together. “I’m all ready for it, lass. Fire away!”
“Thank you, Paddy,” Lila said, trying to sound confident. “All right, here’s how it works.”
She gestured to the machine like a magician about to reveal a trick. “This,” she said solemnly, “is an espresso machine. It makes the base for most of our drinks. You start here—” she pointed to the grinder— “where you put in the beans. They grind down and fall into the portafilter. That’s this little handle thing. You tamp the grounds flat—lightly, mind you—and twist it into place under the group head. Then you press this button, and…”
She stopped.
Every face before her was blank.
Wilfred leaned forward slightly. “You said… filter, head, and… tamp?”
“Yes.”
Cyrus scratched his chin. “Sounds like engine parts.”
Mary whispered to Polly, “Did she say port-a-filter or part of filter?”
