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They arrived at the restaurant with its sign that simply said “Coffee Shop” in big curly letters over a large, inviting front bay window. A bell tinkled as they stepped inside, and a waitress seated them at a booth for two, offering them fresh coffee from the pot she was carrying.

“Yes, please.” Constance turned over the plain white cup with a brown strip on the rim that sat on a saucer in front of her. Lord, she needed her morning cup!

“Same,” said Millie, and the waitress poured for them both.

“Here are your menus. I’ll give you a few minutes to decide what you want.” Leaving two typed sheets of paper on the table, the waitress sauntered away with her coffee pot.

Constance had been here too many times to need to look at the menu, so she stirred a touch of cream into her coffee and took a deep drink while Millie perused the options. Thank God for coffee!

“Excellent. They have pancakes.” Millie grinned, putting down her menu. “Feeling better after a little pick-me-up?”

“Much. Thank you.” She took another sip, savoring the warmth and richness of it as it slipped down her throat. “So.”

“So.” Millie took a sip of her coffee and gave her an encouraging smile.

“It all began when I started my job with the airmail.” But did it? In some ways, this story went all the way back to her childhood. “Well, maybe it began before then, but I’ll get to that. It’s easier to start from my first day at work. That’s when Jack and I hatched our scheme.”

As Millie sipped her coffee, Constance told the whole sordid tale from her proposal to enlist Jack to help her get Doug to propose all the way through to last night’s kiss. It was so easy to talk to Millie. She’d never been able to confide in her own sisters like this. There was too much of an age difference. But somehow, Millie understood just what she needed and let her unburden herself without interruption until the waitress came back to take their orders.

“Silver dollar pancakes and a side of bacon for me. And give me extra syrup on the side.” Millie turned to Constance. “I worked up an appetite on my flight back from Bellefonte.”

Constance grinned. “I’ll just have scrambled eggs and a side of buttered toast.” Her stomach still hadn’t entirely settled after the conversations with her family, and she didn’t want anything too heavy.

“So, you and Jack,” Millie said once the waitress was gone. “How long has that been brewing?”

Cheeks heating, Constance force herself to look Millie in the eyes. “When I was younger, I had a terrible crush on him. It was bad. I pined after him for years. I really thought I was over it when I started seeing Doug. I had a whole future mapped out where I made sensible choices that were good for me and for the family. But I’m not over it. Obviously.”

“Does he know how you feel?” Millie took another sip of her coffee and waited for her answer.

Why was this so hard? Constance stared at the decorative tin panels covering the ceiling, as if they would hold any inspiration. “We didn’t exactly talk about feelings last night. Mostly, it was just…”

“Kissing?”

Unable to bring herself to answer, Constance closed her eyes, nodded, then opened them again slowly.

“Oh, my goodness. Look at you blushing! You are too adorable for words.” Millie’s grin only made it worse. Constance’s cheeks and ears were on fire. Looking far too pleased, Millie asked, “Did he give you any indication of his feelings about you? Aside from the kissing, that is.”

Constance buried her face in her hands. “No.” Talking about this was unbearable, even if it was only to Millie. She peeked between her fingers to find her sister-in-law chuckling.

“It sounds to me like you two need to have a conversation.”

The waitress arrived with two steaming plates heaped with food. “Here you are, ladies. Can I get you anything else?”

“We’re fine, thanks,” said Millie, and the waitress bustled off to another table. “Oh, this looks so good. I’m famished.” She picked up the syrup and poured the whole cup over her pile of pancakes, leaving a pool in the dish below. “But before we dive in, I have to know how you’re going to find a way to get Jack alone for a conversation.”

If only she had an answer to that! “I have no idea. Ernie seems to be doing everything in his power to keep the two of us apart.”

“Leave it to me. I’ll buy you the alone time you need.” Millie winked and carved out a huge hunk of pancakes.

“But won’t Ernie get upset about you interfering?” The last thing Constance wanted was to create friction between the two of them.

“Let me worry about Ernie. And if anything, he should be worried about me being upset with him for interfering with you like this. I love the man, but sometimes he can be so overprotective. I have to remind him not to fall into old bad habits.” Millie took another giant bite of pancakes.

“Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.” Taking a little nibble of her toast, Constance tried to summon an appetite. All in all, having Millie on her side made her feel much better about things. Hopefully, Millie’s plan would work, and she could get some clarity on exactly where she stood with Jack. And until then, she would have to wait and fret and hope her family didn’t hatch any more creative schemes to fix her up with Doug again.

16

Jack opened the throttle, nudging his beat-up, Army surplus Jenny as fast as she could go. It had been three endless days since Jack kissed Constance, and he couldn’t stand to wait any longer to get her alone and talk things through.