Chapter Five
‘We come bearing gifts!’
Jeanie was wiping down the front counter for the twelfth time when the bell rang over the café door. A
‘Oh, my gosh, what is all this?’ Jeanie asked as they piled them up in front of her. She had to peer over the top of the tower to see them.
‘For your grand reopening tomorrow!’ A
Jeanie’s stomach swooped with nerves. ‘They are?’
‘Definitely. Didn’t you see them last night? They need their caffeine fix.’
Hazel opened a box and pulled out a scone. ‘Are you ready?’
I ... uh ... I guess.’ Jeanie grabbed a scone, too, and nibbled at the corner. ‘Norman’s been a big help. Thankfully, he knows all the ins and outs of the café.’
A
‘Honestly, I’m surprised Norman is still here,’ Hazel said, propping an elbow on the counter.
‘Really, why?’
Hazel shrugged, her brown curls bouncing on her shoulders. ‘I always thought there was something going on between him and your aunt.’
A
‘Laugh all you want. I saw the way Norman looked at Dot. Something was going on there.’
‘Well, I saw the way you were eyeing Noah at the town meeting last night. What’s going on there?’
‘Nothing,’ Hazel mumbled, around her mouthful of scone. Her face had turned red up to her hair. Jeanie bit down on a smile. She’d thought the fisherman who supported her ghost theory was cute, too, but she didn’t know these women well enough to join in on their teasing. She could picture it, though. She could imagine herself being friends with them, fitting in here. It was her new favorite fantasy when she couldn’t sleep at night.
‘So, why have we never seen you around town?’ A
‘Oh, yeah...’ Guilt, sharp and sudden, settled in her gut. She’d neglected a lot of things when she’d been so busy at work. Her Aunt Dot was one of them. ‘We came to visit a few times as kids. I used to love it here, actually. Spending time in her café. But then, I don’t know ... my brother moved to California and life got busy, I guess.’
A
‘What do you think of Logan?’ Hazel blurted out, pulling A
‘Just dive right in, Haze,’ A
‘I think he’s very ... uh ... nice.’ Jeanie fidgeted under their intense inspection. ‘It’s nice of him to help me figure out the noise problem.’
‘How is he helping with that exactly?’ A
‘He ... uh ... we ... decided to do a stakeout.’
‘A stakeout?’ Hazel’s eyes widened behind her glasses.
‘Yeah, like on police dramas. We’ll stay up and try to catch whoever, or whatever, is making the noise.’
‘And Logan agreed to this?’ A
‘Yes, it was his idea. We’re doing it Monday night.’ In fact, Jeanie had waited until most of the meeting hall had emptied out before finding Logan waiting for her by the door. She’d intended to tell him he was off the hook, but instead, he’d told her his plan to come by on Monday to see if he could hear the noises for himself. Although if she was being honest, he’d never called it a ‘stakeout’. That had been all her.
She warmed at the memory of his amused smile when she’d said it. She liked making the quiet farmer smile.
Hazel let out a small moan. ‘Oh, no. It’s worse than we thought.’
‘What is?’ Jeanie broke off another piece of scone and popped it into her mouth afraid of saying the wrong thing.
‘Here’s the thing, Jeanie,’ A
‘No, no, no . . . it’s nothing like that!’ Jeanie interrupted, holding up her hands to stop A
A
Jeanie did not want to know how Logan got hurt before, not from A
‘Really. It’s just about getting a good night’s sleep. I didn’t come to town to seduce the local farmers.’
Hazel giggled at that and stooped down to pick up the piece of dropped scone. ‘We’re sorry to come and attack you like this,’ she said. ‘The town sort of has a soft spot for Logan. His dad left before he was born, and his mom died when we were kids. The whole town sort of adopted him after that.’
Oh, God, she did not need to think about an adorable little Logan losing his mother.
‘I won’t hurt him,’ she croaked. She shook her head. What was she even saying? ‘I mean, I won’t do anything with him, to him.’ Oh, this was coming out all wrong. ‘I mean, I’m not here to date anyone at all. I just want a fresh start. That’s it.’
A
‘Thanks.’
A
‘I’m sure he is.’
‘I don’t think it would be the worst thing if you wanted to do something to him.’ Hazel winked.
‘I...’ Jeanie’s cheeks heated.
‘Just don’t run off back to the city and abandon him!’ Hazel said cheerily as she turned to go. ‘See you tomorrow, bright and early, for my pumpkin-spiced latte!’
‘Bye,’ Jeanie said faintly, but her head was spi
It didn’t matter, anyway. She was being honest with them. She didn’t come here to seduce the local farmers or to date them.
She was just here to serve coffee and ideally not die of a stress-induced heart attack at the ripe old age of twenty-eight.
Several hours later, the bakery case was lined with scones, muffins, and pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies for the morning. Every surface was gleaming, and Logan’s little pumpkins were on every table and counter, providing just the right amount of fall-y-ness. The café was ready, but Jeanie still felt a current of nerves ru
She slumped down on a stool behind the counter and surveyed her new domain. It was certainly different from her desk outside Marvin’s office. No smudged computer screen to stare at, no incessantly ringing phone to answer, no dirty coffee mugs that she was always behind on bringing back to the break room.