CHAPTER 29
Mina
At one minute past five, I flipped the “Open” sign over and locked the door. While I would miss closing early once the café opened, I relished the thought of a quiet evening now. Ultimately, my plan was to appoint one of my baristas—probably Gwen—as the evening café manager, but until it was up and running smoothly, I’d be pulling some long days.
That was for this fall, though. Right now, I planned to head to the grocery store for some strawberry syrup, then head home for dinner and my highly anticipated dessert.
Flipping off the lights in the main dining area, I entered the back room.
“See you in the morning,” Kayla called on her way out the back door.
“Have a good night.” I waved as I walked to my office to collect my purse and keys. We’d been slow for the last hour of the day, so there was little to do except lock up. I tallied the day’s receipts half an hour ago.
With my stuff in hand, I exited through the back door and pulled it shut, making sure it was locked, then headed next door.
When I stepped into the café, the sound of construction had already ceased. The crew was busy packing up.
Waving to several of them, I waded deeper into the building until I found Luke, stowing tools in the pile they’d made under the skeleton of the stairs.
“Hey.”
He glanced back, then smiled. “Hey. I’m just about done.”
“No rush.”
Locking the toolbox, he stood. “I’m glad you say that, because I was wondering if you want to make a pitstop?”
A sultry smile ghosted over my lips. “For strawberry syrup?”
Heat licked in his eyes, but to my surprise, he shook his head. “We can, but I had another place in mind first.”
With a quizzical frown, I tipped my head in question. “Where?”
“Toren’s house.”
“Toren’s—” My frown deepened. “You told me to let Ozzie talk to him and to stay out of it. Why the change of heart?”
“I have questions.”
“I did, too, so what changed?”
“I talked to Kent Morrison and got new information. Did you know Walter Shuman is all about the money?”
I snorted. “Yeah. He hired Miranda Benning to sell his property. That alone tells me he doesn’t have much interest in anything else.”
He chuckled. “Well, even if Ozzie talked to Toren, my conversation with Kent taught me that sometimes it pays to just shoot the breeze with someone. I wouldn’t have learned the detail about Walter’s money-grubbing ways if Kent and I weren’t just chatting.”
“And you want to have a similar conversation with Toren?”
“Yep.”
That was fine by me. “I’m game. Let’s go. You ready?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Taking my hand, he led me through the building to the back door. “Can we swing past your house, so I can drop my truck off? It’s on the way.”
“Sure.” I took a step to the side. “I’ll see you there.”
He nodded and unlocked his truck.
