Kerry Winsor:I FIGURED OUT HOW TO MEET PIPER, EVERYONE! See you at The Reserved Bean today!
Comments:
Tammy Jane:This isn’t an airport, Kerry. You don’t have to announce where you’re arriving and departing from!
Kerry Winsor:I said it for all the other people who want to meet her!
Jade Clark:Read that sentence again and tell me if you think you’re doing the right thing.
Kerry Winsor:What?
Kerry Winsor:Oh. Yeah, maybe I shouldn’t. Deleting!
Jade Clark:So you do have sense ...
I camein at my usual afternoon time, determined to walk into The Reserved Bean with a smile on my face. Theo was behindthe counter and Kelsey was working on drinks. It was as if nothing had happened.
I enjoyed that.
Without a shadow of a doubt, I knew Theo wasn’t going to tell a soul about what he knew.
And after being in the middle of Joey’s and Mitch’s arguments for the last few years, I needed this. I didn’t want Kelsey to look at me with pity or constantly ask if I was okay. I wanted things to appear normal.
“Hi,” I said to them both. “Can I get my usual? I have a lot of writing to get done.”
I really did. With the knowledge that I was fine staying in Strawberry Springs, Mitch had reached out the second Joey came home, asking about my manuscript. He said he would be sympathetic if I needed him to be, but I needed to make progress.
“Yep.” Theo’s eyes flicked to me and back down to his tablet. That was it. There was no pity in his gaze. There was no questioning how I was doing today. Nothing had changed.
Good.
After I paid, I went to my table, feeling lighter than I had when I walked in. Theo was the first person to know about my past who didn’t make it a huge deal. Mitch tried to, but I saw the way he looked at me when he thought I didn’t notice.
I gave myself one more moment to smile over at Theo before I tore my eyes away. I did have work to get done, so after a sip of the perfect coffee he had made, I turned my attention to my laptop.
I’d thought that the last few days would have killed any inspiration I had. But talking with Theo made the opposite happen, and words flew out of me faster than they ever had before.
Timeshifted into something nebulous as I worked on my manuscript.
When I finally tore my eyes away from the screen, Kelsey was gone for the day and it was just Theo and me. A quick check of the time told me that the shop wasn’t closed yet, and I knew better than to try to talk to him until it was completely shut down.
Still, my coffee was empty and I needed a refill, so I grabbed my cup and headed to the counter.
“Mind if I get more? I can pay again.”
“Customers get free refills of drip coffee on me.” Theo gave me a smile that made my heart skip a beat as he turned to refill the cup. He was so attractive, even more so now.
He knew my past and didn’t change anything. Would he also be patient with me? Did he feel this spark too?
I was tempted to ask, but with Kelsey warning me that he didn’t date, I had a feeling he would say no.
Plus, he’d mentioned my age many times. He’d never once made an untoward move with me, other than to make sure that I was protected when I needed it. I was a romantic, yes, but I was also a realist.
I needed to keep myself in line. It wasn’t like I could touch him anyway.
Theo slid the cup over to me, putting the lid back on. He deviated from his normal by walking around the counter to lean against it. Was it already time for us to catch up? I was about to ask when the door opened, breaking up whatever was about to happen.
A woman I’d not seen before walked in, but when Theo cursed, I had a bad feeling about who she was.
