Josh brought the glass to his mouth and was about to throw it back when Manny stopped him.
“No, brudda, you gotta smell it first.” He mimed bringing the glass up to his nose and inhaling.
Josh mirrored Manny’s gesture and then drank the java in one gulp.
“Mmm.” Josh grinned as he set the glass down. “That’s good.”
Manny’s expression was expectant. “Do you taste the notes of berry and hazelnut?”
Nope. He just tasted sweet coffee.
Josh nodded. “Yeah, man. Really good.”
Manny smiled widely, clearly proud of his creation.
“Ahh, brudda.” Manny gripped Josh’s shoulder, easily able to reach him across the counter. “You make my day.”
With that, he grabbed the glass and went back into the back room probably to continue working on his next brew.
Josh looked around and saw that there were only two other people in the coffee shop. Mr. Jenkins, the high school principal and Mary Higgins who owned Say Cheese, the photography shop downtown. The two were huddled together in the corner and his first thought was wondering if there might be something going on there.
Damn, he’d been back in Hope Falls too long. This is what the town did to people and how rumors started.
He shook off that thought and looked around the rest of the shop which was empty. He specifically came at this time of the day because it was after the morning rush when most people were at work and Audrey was usually working the front by herself. He never stayed long. Just got his order and left. But those few minutes of just being in her presence kept him buzzing for hours. She was that potent. Which was why he did his best to limit the amount of time he spent around her.
Audrey stepped back up to the counter with his order in hand and a smile on her face. Her eyes were twinkling as she asked in a whisper, “Did you really taste berry and hazelnut?”
He grinned down at her as he shook his head slowly.
Her smile grew even wider and Josh’s heart swelled at the sight. “Thank you, for saying you did.”
He reached into his back pocket to grab his wallet, but she put out her hand. “It’s on the house.”
This was the same song and dance they did every time he came in, which was three to four times a week for the past eight years, so they’d done it approximately fifteen hundred times. From the first time he’d come in on opening day, Audrey had never let him pay. He always tried, she always refused.
“Audrey—” he started to argue but she cut him off.
“So, the next time I need to get my oil changed, you’ll let me pay for it? Or if my air conditioning goes out again then you’ll let me—”
“That’s different. Those things happen a few times a year, if that. I’m in here a few times a week.”
“Yes, but this is a few bucks as opposed to hundreds, even thousands of dollars.”
The bell rang above the door and Audrey looked past Josh and smiled to welcome the new customer in. When she was distracted, he put a twenty in the tip jar. Whenever she wasn’t looking, he always snuck twenties in the tip jar.
“Thanks.” He lifted his bag of croissants and his cup of coffee.
“You’re welcome.” She grinned, seeming pleased with herself that she’d been able to get him to accept the goods without paying.
He smiled and turned to leave. Twelve steps. That was how long it would be until he’d be outside the coffee shop. Those twelve steps he took away from her were the least favorite part of his day.
6
“Hey, Audrey!” Cindy Brown smiled from behind the desk at Golden Years Senior Living. Last time Audrey had seen her friend, she’d had gorgeous long braids down to her back, today her hair was in tight curls framing her perfect heart shaped face. Cindy was in her fifties, but she didn’t look a day over thirty-five. The woman never aged.
“I love your hair!” Audrey handed Cindy a peppermint macchiato with extra whipped cream, which she brought her every time she came to Golden Years.
“Oh, you are truly a saint.” Cindy took a sip and closed her eyes, when she finished her drink, she set her cup down before patting the bottom of her curls. “And thanks. I love my braids, they are basically no maintenance, but sometimes you just gotta let your hair breathe and go natural.”
“You look great!” Audrey enthused.
Cindy gave her a wink before smiling widely as she peered over the countertop. “And who do you have with you today?”
Audrey glanced down as she introduced the dachshund and golden retriever. “This is Duchess and Barkley.”
Every Tuesday evening Audrey brought in shelter dogs to the retirement home. It was a program she’d started after volunteering at both the shelter and the senior home. Dogs needed to be socialized and the residents at Golden Years loved the interaction. She also ran a program where kindergartners and preschoolers in after-school care came for a few hours every month and did art projects together. The kids and the seniors loved it. They thrived off the interaction.
That program had started after one day when she was volunteering at the library as part of a reading program. She couldn’t get through one page without one of the kids interrupting her. She realized that all they really wanted was for people to listen to them. And all the seniors at Golden Years wanted was company. She figured it would be worth a shot.
She’d contacted the school and worked with the principal to make it happen. So far, it had been a roaring success. The kids looked forward to it, as much if not more than the seniors.
“Hello, Duchess and Barkley.” Cindy rounded the counter and knelt down and gave each of the pups a good scratch behind the ears. “What’s their story?”
“Duchess was part of the hoarding case in Jasper County. And Barkley was picked up out at King’s Pond,” Audrey explained.
Cindy reached out and petted Barkley’s head. “I would take them both home if I could.”
“So would I,” Audrey concurred whole-heartedly.
Cindy, like Audrey, was a huge animal lover. She had four cats, three dogs, two rabbits and some chickens. The two women had bonded over their shared love of rescues and Cindy’s great appreciation for caffeinated beverages.
Audrey had two rescue cats, Liza and Frank. But since they were both special needs, and she was so busy with the coffee shop and volunteering she didn’t think it was responsible to take on more pets. If that wasn’t the case, she would have a zoo.
“Oh, I’ve been meaning to talk to you!” Cindy’s face lit up as she stood.
Audrey knew that particular brand of face-lighting-up all too well. Her friend was going to try to set her up in three, two, one…
“Davis just hired a new foreman. He’s forty, divorced, no kids, and he used to play in the NFL, that’s how Davis knew him. He’s just moved to Emerald Creek and Davis is going to bring him to JT’s on Friday night. You should come. It could be like a double date.”
Cindy’s husband Davis had played professional football for ten years and now owned a construction company. He and Cindy had been childhood sweethearts who had broken up in college. They’d both gone on to marry other people, have kids, raise those kids and then subsequently divorce their significant others. They’d reconnected at their twenty-five-year high school reunion and they’d been together ever since. Cindy was blissfully happy, and from Audrey’s experience, blissfully happy people who were in relationships, were always trying to recruit people into their club.