She turned off the machine.She unplugged it and then plugged it back in, hoping it would reset something.She really couldn’t afford to replace the machine, even if it was well past its prime.She’d just finished putting in a new water heater.
“Do you have a toolbox?”Brad stepped up next to her.
“A toolbox?”She turned to him.“You know how to fix it?”
“No.But I have some experience working on appliances.”
Her brows drew together as she stared at him.“I thought you worked on computer programs.When did you get experience fixing machines?”
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.“When I was a teenager and started to get in trouble with my mother, she got me a job at the corner store.The old man there took me under his wing.He showed me how to fix the equipment when it broke down.”
“You had a corner store in Chicago?”
He shook his head as he lowered his gaze.“No.I grew up in a small town south of Chicago.”
Her eyes widened.All this time she’d thought he was born and bred in the city.He certainly acted that way.
He frowned at her.“Don’t look at me like I just told you I came from Mars.”
“But you let me think you were from Chicago—from the big city.”
“I never said I was born or raised there.”
“But any time we talked about Bayberry and it being a small town, you made it seem like you weren’t familiar with a small town way of life.”
“I’m sorry if it seemed that way to you.I was just curious about life here in Bayberry.”He held out his hand.“The toolbox, please.”
She hesitated for a moment, still trying to figure him out.It wasn’t like anything she was doing was making any sort of difference.Her heart sank at the thought of facing the morning rush with no espresso machine.
She looked at Brad while he was busy checking something on his phone.Was it Linda again?She might not be his girlfriend, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to be.Maybe she was pleading with him to rush back to Chicago.
As soon as Abby realized the direction of her errant thoughts, she gave herself a mental shake.Why in the world should she care if there was someone waiting for him?
He was nothing to her.In fact, he was more of an annoyance than anything else.It would be a good thing when he left Bayberry.
As though he could read her thoughts he glanced up and looked at her with a what-are-you-still-doing-here kind of look.It appeared he wasn’t going to leave until she found him some tools.And so, she walked away.
She entered the kitchen area and kept going until she reached the little office in the back.It was in there she had a small toolbox with limited tools.She kept those things on hand to tighten a screw here or unjam a clogged line there.There certainly weren’t any specialty tools to fix something like the espresso machine.
But still, it was nothing more than an oversized paper weight at the moment.And there was absolutely no way to get a new one before her morning customers arrived for their fix of caffeine—that all presumed she had the money for a new machine.She didn’t.
She returned with the toolbox and handed it over.“That’s everything I have.”
When Brad went to take it from her, their hands brushed.The brief touch sparked a shiver in her that raced up her arm and set her heart racing.She yanked her hand away.Luckily, he had a firm grip on the toolbox.
His gaze searched hers, as though inquiring as to whether she was okay or not.She wasn’t sure about the answer, so she turned away.She busied herself by checking to see if the closing procedure had gone smoothly in her absence.
Brad didn’t say anything as he got to work.She wanted to turn around and watch him, but she wouldn’t allow herself that pleasure.After determining that Mia had done a fine job closing up, Abby busied herself by restocking under the counter.She started with the mini-marshmallows.It was quite unbelievable how many of those they went through at this time of the year.And this year, she’d ordered marshmallow snowmen.After all, the snow folk weren’t just for Christmas.
This year, she was doing an experiment.She was carrying some of her holiday specials over into the winter months such as peppermint bark tea and the gingerbread latte.So far, her experiment was going well.Seemed her customers liked having something special to drink on a cold snowy morning.She’d keep that in mind for next year.
“Can you give me a hand?”
Brad’s voice made her jump.For a moment there, she’d been all wrapped up in her thoughts and forgot that he was still there.She wouldn’t have thought that was possible.
She walked to the other end of the counter where he was working.It looked like he’d made progress as he had the back panel on the counter along with a little pile of screws.And there were some other parts lying there that she couldn’t name.
As she came to a stop next to him, she said, “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
