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“Give me five minutes.”
“No rush,” Lucas said, reaching out to tap her nose. She felt that casual touch all the way down to her toes. Even when he backed away, her skin still burned. “I’ll wait as long as you need me to.”
Jack never wanted to wait for her. If she wasn’t ready when he was, he would threaten to leave her behind—and, sometimes, it wasn’t just a threat. She lost count of the times that they went somewhere in separate cars because he couldn’t stand waiting around for her to finish getting dressed. Lucas’s patience was so foreign to her that she stood, stunned, as he walked away, whistling.
Giving her head a quick shake, she shut the door behind him and, stripping as she went, ran right to the bathroom. One year being married to a stickler with time had long since turned her into a quick-change artist when the situation called for it.
So even though Lucas told her that he was content to wait, the two of them were pulling up to another Victorian-style house barely twenty minutes later.
When Lucas said he was taking her to a coffeehouse, she was expecting a Starbucks or maybe a local cafe. The narrow, spindly house—a house house—was unlike anything she imagined. It had the turrets and the railings like Ophelia, but it was a third of the size with at least one extra floor. And, she felt the need to point out again, it was a house.
“Is this it?”
Lucas killed the engine. Opening his door, he climbed out of the car. “Sort of.”
Sort of? What did that mean? Tessa unbuckled her seatbelt.
She saw what he meant a minute later. He guided her around the side of the house, surprising Tess with another building similar in style to the first, only much smaller. It reminded her of a greenhouse, with the same weathered facade as the Victorian in front of it.
Another wooden sign, eerily reminiscent of the sign welcoming visitors to Hamlet, hung over a pale blue door.
In a looping, swirling script, it read: the coffeehouse.
“This is one of Hamlet’s many treasures,” Lucas told her. “Not only does Addy do the best baking in town, but the coffee is to die for. And if Gus is cooking, there’s no better meal. Except for when Maria is in charge of the kitchen,” he added loyally. “They do all the baking and cooking in the main house. The coffeehouse is where you can go to sit with your coffee and just relax.”
Tessa didn’t think she remembered how to relax. With Lucas as her breakfast companion, she figured it was worth a try.
Lucas looped his arm around her shoulder before opening the door for them. “Come with me. There’s a table in the back where we can talk without too many people staring.”
As Tessa walked beside the doctor, she couldn’t help but notice that he wasn’t kidding. There were at least nine other people being served inside and each one was watching in avid interest as Lucas led her to an empty table against the far wall. She tucked herself close to his side, more than willing to use his bigger body as a shield.
He pulled out her seat, waited for her to take it before he moved to sit opposite of her. The instant his butt hit the chair, the waitress appeared.
She was a perky little thing, all of maybe fourteen years old. On the tall and gangly side, she wore a burgundy apron that slipped off her slim shoulders. Her hair was cut short, her face too feminine for the cut to seem boyish. When she smiled in a warm greeting, Tess saw the most endearing gap between her two front teeth.
“Doctor De Angelis, hi! Mom was just talking about you and here you are. I swear, it’s like she’s psychic or something.”
“Good morning, Sally.” Cordial yet frosty, Tess decided. He was a local, sure, but one who kept himself on the fringe. She wondered if it had something to do with his being the only doctor in Hamlet. “What can I do for your lovely mother?”
The teen’s cheeks turned a rosy sort of pink. Tess didn’t blame her. Whenever Lucas turned his stunning good looks in her direction, she felt herself getting warm, too.
“She was just wondering out loud if you’re gonna be opening up your office soon for seeing patients. She’s got that patch thing going on with her foot again. I know she wants you to check it out but Aunt Cait says you've been busy with sheriff stuff.”
Sally’s mother, Adrianna, was a close friend of Caitlin’s, close enough that Sally referred to the sheriff as her aunt. Addy was also, with her husband Gus, the owner of the coffeehouse.
Originally called The Danish Coffee & Cake Shop—because most shop owners in town took pride in Hamlet and it showed—nearly all the locals simply referred to their shop as the coffeehouse. The only nod to the original name was the small DC&C stamps printed on the coffee mugs. Even Addy eventually gave up the fight and had Maria paint her a new sign to overhang the front door.
“You tell her that anytime she needs me, give me a buzz. I’ll be starting regular hours in the next couple of days, but I’m never too busy for her.”
“I’ll tell her, doc. So, what can I get you two? Mom’s got a fresh crumb cake coming out in the next ten minutes.”
“How’s coffee to start?” Tessa nodded, so he told Sally, “Two coffees, please. And is Gus on the grill?”
While Sally was the server and Adrianna did all of the baking, Gus stayed in the main kitchen in their house, preparing any of the hot meals ordered and sending Sally across the grass to deliver them.
Like its original name, the plan that the coffeehouse was on
ly a coffeehouse changed shortly after Addy and Gus opened the place. Hamlet had been in need of a homestyle diner-type joint, with breakfast and lunch served for any of the locals who were tired of the only other two restaurants in town. The coffeehouse filled the void. And despite being a haven for Hamlet locals, it was always crowded.
