Firehouse Café was housed in the town’s old fire station. I walked inside, marveling that even the chime above the door sounded familiar. The former garage had been transformed into the dining area with a bakery and kitchen in the back. Fireweed flowers, Alaska’s beloved and beautiful weed, were painted on supporting poles. Artwork decorated the walls, and tables were scattered about with a counter that offered additional seating.
Nostalgia slammed into me. I thought coming home was only about finding Brynn. I felt so distant from the boy I’d been. Fame could do that. You could lose sight of who you were underneath the glitz and glam of the façade. Even though our band was billed as an alternative folksy rock band, it still came with shackles and loads and loads of attention that was hard to deflect. I was more nervous walking in and seeing Janet James behind the counter than I’d been playing at concerts with thousands of fans.
Nobody seemed to notice me just yet. The café was quiet with a low hum of conversation as people chatted at the tables. The scents of rich coffee and sweet and savory baked goods assailed me. It was warm in here, a cozy contrast to the cold winter morning outside.
When I got to the front of the line, Janet James had her head down. She jotted something down with a pencil on a small notepad. To the side of the high-end cash register was a sleek computer tablet. Things had been upgraded since I worked here.
I waited quietly, wondering if she’d recognize me. She lifted her eyes, smiling instantly when she saw me. Maybe she had a new register and computer tablet, but Janet was the same. She still had dark hair streaked with silver, and it was twined into her usual style of a simple braid. She was round and warm, and I didn’t realize how much I’d missed her. The feeling was as profound and instantaneous as when I found Brynn’s card. While Janet meant something very different than Brynn, they both represented a sense of the heart. While I’d been aware fame had blurred the edges of my life in strange ways, I hadn’t realized how thoroughly I’d buried some memories. And how much I craved the palpable sense that a person knew me—the me behind the image.
“Look at you! Our very own rock star come back to town.” She rounded the counter, swinging her braid off her shoulder. “Give me a hug,” she ordered.
I didn’t hesitate. Janet gave the best hugs. She was shorter than I recalled but still warm and motherly as she wrapped me in her soft embrace and gave me a firm squeeze before stepping back and briefly pressing her hands on my shoulders.
“Hey, hon,” she said, a warm understanding contained in her voice that I didn’t even know I needed.
“Hey, Janet,” I said, feeling abashed.
“Come back here,” she said, gesturing for me to follow her.
She rounded the counter and went into the kitchen through a waist-high swinging door that was more like a gate than a door. I obediently followed.
She called over to a young man standing by the sink. “Can you cover the front?”
“I’m on it,” he said quickly, drying his hands before dashing out front.
“Sit,” she said, pointing at a stool beside the table in the middle of the kitchen.
I looked around. Shelves lined the walls with large baking ovens on one side, and the pastry refrigerator and another massive walk-in refrigerator on the other.
When my eyes made their way back to Janet, my lips tugged into a smile. “It looks exactly the same.”
She shrugged as she reached into the oven and pulled out a tray, sliding it onto the stainless-steel table. “No need to change something that works. I heard you were back in town, by the way.” She fetched a plate from one of the shelves and slid a pastry on it before handing it over to me along with a napkin.
“Oh, I get breakfast?” I teased.
“Absolutely. Plus, it’s your favorite—a ham, brown sugar, and Swiss popover. Shall I run up front and get you a coffee?”
“I’m never going to say no to coffee, Janet, but you really don’t have to. Plus, please let me pay. I don’t work here anymore.”
She pursed her lips, shaking her head as she hurried to the front. “Absolutely not.”
I chuckled to myself when I reached for the pastry and took a bite, closing my eyes and letting out a sigh as the flavors broke across my tongue. When I opened my eyes again, Janet was already returning with a coffee in hand along with one for herself.
She sat down across from me and slid the coffee over the table. “Catch me up on everything. And what took you so long to come back?”
“Where should I start?”
She cocked her head to the side. “I don’t know. Rumor has it, you were seen with Brynn at Wildlands last night.”
I was accustomed to people knowing my business ever since our band became famous, but news never traveled so fast as it did in a small town. It was like a match tossed in dry kindling, the rumors traveling as swiftly as air rushed in and flames took hold.
I chuckled and set the pastry down before taking a sip of coffee. “Delicious,” I offered as I lowered the cup. Janet simply arched a brow. “Yes, I saw Brynn last night. As for why I’ve been gone so long, well, I’m sure you know my parents’ divorce wasn’t pretty. Then I was in college and then…” I circled my hand in the air.
“You’re a rock star. And probably too big to be bothering with us these days,” she teased warmly.
“Janet, that’s not it at all. I don’t have any good excuse, other than I have been insanely busy. Before that, you know how ugly things were between my parents. It’s not like I had the money to fly myself back. I did see my father, but it was easier not to come back. He left me his house.”
“So, that’s why you’re back?” she pressed.
I contemplated her question for a moment. Ostensibly, that was a part of the reason I was in Willow Brook. But if I was being honest with myself, I could’ve arranged for Grayson to deal with my father’s old home. He’d been the one who arranged for someone to mail the boxes from storage to me in Seattle. The very boxes that contained the card from Brynn.
I shook my head. “Not really. I heard Brynn was here, and I wanted to see her.”
Janet was quiet for a long moment before a smile stretched slowly across her face. “Well, then. Good.”
“Good?” I pressed, curious for her to elaborate.
She took a swallow of her coffee. Setting the mug down, she drummed her fingertips on the table. “Perhaps. She was teenage heartbroken when you moved away. It’s good if you’re trying to reconnect with her because she really means something to you. But it’s absolutely not good if it’s some kind of fun passing fancy for you. You are a rock star, after all.”
For a split second, I felt like that teenage boy who used to work for Janet. When it came to relationships, I’d learned more about what I didn’t want than what I wanted since I’d moved away from here. Brynn remained the most genuine relationship I’d ever had.
I took a quick gulp of my coffee. I needed the fortification. “I’m not here to take advantage of her. Maybe it’s crazy, but I came across a card she sent me back in high school. And it reminded me how much I missed her. It’s hard to know who’s genuine in my position. Brynn is.”
Janet regarded me quietly. “That’s understandable. Don’t you dare hurt her, though. She’s already been through enough.”