“Shut up. You know I hate it when you talk like that.” She examined his face. “You didn’t want to help out an old friend asking for a job?”
“She’s not an old friend,” Ross corrected quickly. He had to prevent Luna from getting the wrong idea—or any idea. Her hobby was conclusion jumping, and this situation didn’t require any.
“Ooh, a girl,” she responded with a cocky grin of her own.
Goddammit.
“Is she cute?”
He blew out an impatient sigh. “I don’t know, and I don’t care. Working with her would get on my last nerve.”
“So, sheiscute?”
“It doesn’t matter if she’s cute or not, because I don’t care. I’m not going to hire her.”
“Are you going to miss working with me?”
“No, working with you gets on my nerves, too. You’re doing me a favor going off to college. Good riddance.”
“When everyone bugs you, it’s probably you,” she said.
“Hermes doesn’t bug me.” Ross nodded to the sleeping dog on the carpet.
“Poor Aanya doesn’t know what she’s walking into.”
Luna bent to claim the dog, cuddling Hermes to her chest. They made their way to the shop door after Ross locked the office behind him.
“Can I take Hermes with me?”
“No.” Ross couldn’t lose his pet as well. That might make him openly sob.
“What a mean man,” she said into the dog’s floppy ear. “He’s definitely going to miss me when I leave tonight.”
“Tonight? I thought… I thought you weren’t leaving until tomorrow. I don’t like the idea of you driving when it’s dark. Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you, Lulu?”
“Luna. And it’s not dark yet. Plus, if you take me, we might never get there. You have the worst sense of direction in the whole world. It’s just…I’m already packed. I thought we could get a quick bite to eat at the diner down the street and then I could leave. I’m ready.”
But Ross wasn’t ready. Not even a little. His jaw tightened as he stared at his younger cousin hugging Hermes, and a lump invaded his throat. Adjusting to a home with a single occupant was still a punishment, even while believing Luna deserved this opportunity—for her, for him, for the business. This was what he had to focus on.
“You’ll take care of my store, right? I’m counting on it to help pay for my degree.”
“Ourstore, smartass. It’s only in your name as a technicality.” They smiled at each other. Having the old standard argument one final time was fitting. It was Ross’s store as much as hers, but he didn’t have a stellar history and therefore technicalities were a reality.
Luna’s hazel eyes glossed with new tears. “You’re going to be fine, Ross. And don’t worry. I’ll be back.” She gave him a wry grin. “If you’re really going to miss being annoyed you should consider hiring your cute friend. Maybe being driven wild will be good for you.”
“Well, there was a chance I would have. But, unfortunately for her, she just ran out of time.” And with smug satisfaction, tinged with some unexplained disappointment, Ross flipped theOpensign toClosed.
Chapter Five
Failure sucked. Butworking in a coffee shop actually wasn’t that bad. Yes, Pony Expresso had busy mornings due to caffeine-addicted locals and tourists, but the task of making coffee was simple. Of course, there were days when Mia’s feet hurt, or she had to deal with the occasional crabby customer B.C. (before coffee). But even on the busiest, worst mornings, it was better than working for a political campaign. Plus, Natalie made for a fun coworker as she attempted to guess people’s drinks before they ordered. (Amazingly, she was right more than wrong.) Mia came to the conclusion that burger flipping and coffee pouring wasn’t the worst fate to befall a person. Not that she would tell her father this.
If there was one thing she excelled at, it was learning, and she’d use the opportunity to learn as much as she could about the coffee business. Macchiato, cappuccino, latte, Americano, cafe crema. After a week at Pony Expresso, she understood what these words meant instead of them being random coffee names for hot beverage snobs.
To a busy and ambitious student, coffee was coffee. When she needed caffeine, Mia didn’t want to waste time and energy on the particulars. The same had been true when she worked long, late hours for the Sacramento campaign. Perhaps this was her chance, as she stated during her job interview, to decide what she liked, instead of settling for whatever was easy, convenient, or handed to her.
She was in the groove, blocking out the usual coffeehouse chatter inside the shop. Her mind was focused on making an Americano. After pouring the espresso shot into the hot water, she popped the plastic lid on the paper to-go cup and slipped on the cardboard sleeve. She raised the cup to eye level, giving her clear sight of the name scratched in black Sharpie.
“Ross!” Mia called.
