“Coming right up.”
Willow rang up the sales while Molly set to work on the drinks. Cassius and Aaron drifted to the end of the counter, still ribbing one another, as Ezra stepped up. The other two guys were ripped beyond belief, but Ezra took the concept to a new level. She sometimes wondered where he got shirts broad enough for his shoulders, sleeves wide enough for his upper arms. His hair was sandy blond, shorter than that of the other guys, just this side of a buzz cut. And his eyes…well.
“Hi,” she said. Wow. Great opening.
“Hey, Willow,” he said.
Warmth rolled through her whenever he spoke her name in that smooth, rich voice of his. She cleared her throat. “The usual?”
“Please.” His lips curved.
She rang up his drink—grande iced hazelnut latte with regular milk. He handed her cash. She made his change, handed him his receipt. Her motions were automatic, but her heart beat so strongly, it ought to be visible through her shirt. She grabbed a plastic cup and a sharpie and wrote his order on it, then his name. She dipped the marker to make a small flourish on the base of thez, the way she did when she wrote her own last name,Fitzgerald. She’d never live it down if Molly knew this.
Molly took the cup and winked at her, knowing too much already. Ezra didn’t move to the end of the counter, no line behind him.
“Good day?” Willow said.
“Sure. You?”
“No complaints.”
She had to keep him talking long enough to ask her question, never a problem when he was alone. Of all the days to come in with his buddies instead. He’d be quieter. He wouldn’t stay as long. She wished she could ask Cassius and Aaron to give them a minute. Of course, that was out of the question.
“Any new discoveries lately?” He leaned a hip on the counter while Molly pushed Aaron’s drink across the counter and started Cassius’s.
“I think the long-lost great-great-cousin was some kind of horseback lawyer. Kind of like horseback librarians?”
One blond eyebrow lifted. “That was a thing?”
“Oh, yeah, in Kentucky mainly, around the 1930s. I think this cousin had a law practice but not a law office. He was kind of a maverick nomad. I’m still looking for documents on him. There really isn’t much.”
“That’s cool. Hope you find whatever has survived.”
“Thanks.”
Their silences were never awkward. Except for right now. Cassius got his coffee, and then Ezra moved to the end of the counter to wait for his, and Willow stood behind the cash register sending her best attempt at telepathy toward the door.No new customers. No new customers.
And a wondrous thing happened. Cassius and Aaron, chatting about their work day, wandered to the door and stepped outside. Willow kept her mouth from falling open.
“Ezra,” Molly said as she slid him his drink.
“Thanks.” He sipped it, smiled, tipped his head toward Willow. “Well, I’ll see you.”
“First I should say congratulations.”
“Oh?” That eyebrow lift again. “What did I do?”
“Well, the word around town is you got married.” She smiled or tried to.
Ezra chuckled, and the sound was too appealing. “Wrong Sterling.”
“What?”
“My brother Trevor, he’s the newlywed.”
“Oh, good.” Heat flooded her face. Stupid. Awkward. Go and hide now. “I—I mean, I just—well, good, to have the misunderstanding cleared up and to hear from the source rather than—rather than the Harmony Ridge rumor mill.”
Ezra’s mouth tilted up slowly as she rambled, and his eyes twinkled. Green eyes. Not pale green, not gray-green. Deep, dark, the color of moss. He nodded.
