“It was insufficient to my needs.”
Oakley snorted at his word choice. “You’ve been spending too much time with Laurie.”
“Impossible,” he declared.
“I’ll see what I can scrounge up.”
Akemi went back to work, making a short list of mug optionsto go over with Oakley. Her sister was back a short time later. She tossed a pastry bag at Kekoa’s head and fired up the espresso machine.
After a few false starts, she was off to the races. She lined up five lattes and called the boys inside.
“Come taste test these for me.”
“Here I thought this was a reward for our hard work.” Noah turned to Kekoa with an overwrought, mournful look. “She just wants to use us as lab rats.”
“I’ll take the caffeine.” Kekoa grabbed the nearest coffee and took a swig.
“Yeah.” Noah dropped the schtick and grabbed a mug. “I could use the boost too.”
“You tired?” Oakley asked.
“Stayed up too late last night. The twins wanted to do a Lord of the Rings marathon.”
Oakley held out a fist. “Respect.”
He bumped it and took another drink of his latte. “This is great.”
“Success!”
Akemi closed her laptop and grabbed one for herself. She took a sip and was immediately delighted by the quality.
They had shelled out a lot of money for local, organic espresso beans. The prices that they would have to charge per coffee to make any profit at all made her anxious. But with a final product this good, they might actually stand a chance.
“Oakley, this is fantastic.”
“Thank you!” She was glowing. “It takes me back to my barista days.”
“When were you a barista?” Noah asked.
“In college!”
“Ah, yes. When you abandoned us for the mainland.”
Oakley rolled her eyes and lifted her mug. “A toast! To our hardworking construction crew. We would be lost without you.”
“Cheers to that!” Akemi lifted her mug too. “You two are the best big brothers a girl could ask for.”
“We’re the same age,” Kekoa said with a laugh.
“We are not!”
“We were in the same grade at school.”
“You’re older than me.”
“By a couple of months, maybe.”
“Okay, but you’re twice my size.”
