A soft laugh bubbles in my throat and my body relaxes a bit with how casual she is. I’ve never had any business meetings before and this is just the first of quite a few with some of the businesses in town. The last thing I want to do is be on edge because of them, so I’m quite happy with the way Sofia greeted me.
I grab a seat at the closest table and fold my hands in my lap as I glance to the entrance. Sofia quickly walks over and locks the door before stopping at the counter on her way over. She sets down two mugs with steam rolling from the top.
“We’re trying a new coffee bean and I thought it might pair nicely with your liquid gold.”
I can’t stop the smile that stretches across my lips as she sits down in front of me. Pulling my purse onto my lap, I dig inside and pull out three different bottles of the syrup she’s talking about. “I brought a few different ones for us to try.”
“Brilliant.” She stands abruptly. “We're going to need more mugs for this.” She retreats to the coffee bar and returns with afew different espresso mugs. Sofia lines them up, two in front of her and two in front of me.
“So,” she starts as she pours some of the coffee into each. “You mentioned doing a collaboration for the Harvest Festival. Tell me more.”
“We currently have three different syrups and I think we could do a fun collaboration for a drink. It could be featured just during the festival, pushing business to both of our shops. They get the beans from you and the syrup from me to make the same combination offered during the festivities.”
Sofia tilts her head to the side. “That’s a great idea. If it does well, we can keep selling it past the Harvest Festival too, if that’s something you’d be interested in.”
“Oh, absolutely. I’m not sure if you do flavored beans or how that would even work, but maybe if this were successful, we could work together to offer a maple flavored bean.”
She slowly nods. “That’s not a bad idea either. I think it would be beneficial first to see how the drink does.”
“I agree,” I say, dipping my chin. “Should we try some samples and then we can talk more in depth?”
A smile stretches across her lips. “Let’s get into it.”
We spend the next hour mixing spoonfuls of syrup into our drinks before we move behind the counter. Sofia comes up with a recipe for a latte with our original syrup and as we both lift it to our lips and take a sip, our expressions match one another as my eyes widen.
“Oh wow,” Sofia says on an exhale. “It’s like…” she pauses, searching for the words as she takes another sip. “It’s like a warm fall evening mixed with pancakes on a crisp morning.”
“It has just the right amount of sweetness.”
Sofia lifts it to her lips once more, her eyes closing for a moment as she savors the flavor. “You have a deal, Willow. I want to play around with the drink a little bit more, but I thinkthis is going to be a bestseller during the festival.” She pauses, lifting her mug. “To Harvest Fest.”
I clink mine against hers, maple still lingering on my tongue. “And good coffee pairing well with maple syrup.”
Sofia and I sit back down at the table and discuss the details of our partnership before we part ways. I slip back through the entrance, feeling a lightness in my chest. Things are finally coming together, just as I wished they would. I don’t know what exactly the future holds for the store, but I’m feeling so hopeful.
For the first time since coming home, failure doesn’t feel imminent.
CHAPTER TWENTY
JACE
“Erin is already pissed off at me.”
Setting my fork down on my plate, I chew the rest of my food before questioning Harrison. We met with the lawyer earlier today to get everything in order before the closing. We have a little under two weeks until then, so Harrison and I have been deep in planning mode for this project.
And it’s been three days since I last saw Willow.
Three days since she was in my truck… and since I kissed her.
“Why do you say that?” I ask Harrison as my eyebrows tug together.
He lifts his glass to his lips, taking a slow draw of the liquid before setting it down. “She wasn’t happy with my last job and with how much time it took up in the evenings. She’s less than thrilled about me dedicating even more time to something new.”
I suck in a deep breath, then blow it out. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t know things weren’t going well between the two of you again.”
Since Liam was born, they’ve had issues on and off. When Liam turned two, she gave Harrison an ultimatum. Either they get married so she knows he’s committed to her or they were done. Harrison gave her what she wanted for the sake of theirson. He wanted him to have a chance at growing up with his parents together.
Harrison purses his lips and shakes his head. “Yeah, it hasn’t been good for a while. I just don’t understand how she expects me to make money if I’m not working.” He pauses, running his tongue across his top teeth. “I’m done working for other people. I want to work my ass off now so I don’t have to later on in life.”
