As they stepped up to the counter of the small space where they were making coffee, he smiled at the two women workingthere. One was on the tall, slender side with dark brown hair, pulled back in a ponytail, who looked like she was just a teen. She wore a plain pink T-shirt tucked into a pair of jeans.
Though he couldn’t see her face clearly, the other woman appeared to be a bit older, and she had light brown hair that fell in waves over her shoulder, almost to the middle of her back. She was shorter than the other woman and had a curvier figure. Her dress flowed around her as she moved.
The younger woman smiled as she greeted them, drawing Ben’s attention to her. “What can we get for you today?”
“What are our options?” Ben asked.
“Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. Nothing too fancy here.”
“Good thing I’m not about fancy,” Ben said with a laugh. “We’ll just take two coffees.”
The teen pulled two cups from the stack, then handed them to the other woman, who set them on the counter in front of the hot beverage dispenser and removed one of the carafes to pour coffee into them.
“There’s no charge?” Ben asked. Since it was set up like a café, he wasn’t sure.
“Nope,” the younger woman said, then gestured to a sign and box on the other end of the counter. “But you can give a donation if you’d like.”
“I don’t have cash.” Ben turned to Luca. “What about you?”
“I do.” Luca pulled out his wallet and pulled out a twenty. When he gave Ben a questioning look, Ben nodded. The guard dropped the bill into plastic box.
When they returned their attention to the coffee, their cups were full and sitting on the counter.
The younger woman placed lids on the disposable cups and held them out to Ben. “Here you go. Cream and sugar are over there.”
He took them, then handed one to Luca. “Thank you very much.”
“You’re very welcome,” the young woman said with a beaming smile. “Enjoy the service.”
Knowing that Luca preferred a little cream in his coffee, Ben headed toward the area the young woman had indicated. After taking a sip from his cup, he decided he might need some cream as well as it was quite strong. Perhaps it was made that way in an effort to keep people awake during the sermon.
When they returned to the doors of the sanctuary, he spotted Annie and Cole and headed in their direction. Cole held a cup, but Annie didn’t.
“Did you talk to Amelia?” Annie asked, gesturing to his cup.
“Amelia?” He shook his head. “I didn’t see her.”
“She’s working in the café,” Annie said. “I assumed you had talked to her since you got coffee.”
Ben thought back to the two women who had served them, but neither had been Amelia. It had been ten years since he’d last seen her, but he didn’t think she would have changed so much that he wouldn’t have recognized her.
And surely, she would have said hi to him if she’d seen him.
Maybe…
They hadn’t talked at all in the years since she’d ended things between them. She’d said she needed to focus on her skating, and though he hadn’t understood at first—and had been hurtthat she hadn’t wanted to continue their relationship—it hadn’t taken long for him to see that she’d done the right thing.
She’d gone on to achieve Olympic success, though as far as he knew, Olympic gold had eluded her. And much to Ben’s surprise, she’d retired from competition a couple of years ago, without ever attaining that gold. Not much had been said in the news about her abrupt retirement, and when he’d asked Annie about it, she’d just said that Amelia had decided it was time.
Though he’d watched her compete a few times early on after their breakup, Ben had eventually accepted that things were well and truly over between them. That wasn’t to say he held any ill will in his heart toward her. He didn’t. Once he’d accepted that the breakup had actually been a good thing for both of them, he’d hoped that she would be able to reach all the goals she had set for herself.
It was a rare moment when she entered his thoughts these days, but perhaps he should have given more attention to the fact that they’d likely run into each other while he was there helping Cole with the clinics. Not that it should be that big of a deal.
He didn’t think there was too much water under the bridge for them to rekindle their friendship. Or at least interact without awkwardness. If he’d broken up with her, maybe it would have been more tense. But since she’d initiated the breakup, if he wasn’t upset with her, then perhaps they could at least be friendly in their interactions.
Ben glanced over at the café, but the people standing around the counter blocked his view of the women who were working there. Amelia must have stepped away in the time between when Cole had gotten his coffee and Ben had gotten his.
He might have missed an opportunity to talk to Amelia that morning, but Ben was fairly certain that there would be more chances for them to chat in the weeks ahead.
