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“Come on,” Atlas said, pulling me out of my brother’s arms and wrapping me in his own. I breathed in his citrus and spice, letting it chase away the frustration building in my chest. “We’ll find a snack, the pizza will be here in a few.”
The doorbell announced it was sooner than we thought. We all filed to the living room where Collin was paying the driver and taking the food.
Even as they all joked around me, they checked in with my mood throughout dinner. We all knew that was a huge deal for me. The more time that went by, the better I felt. I finally closed the door on that relationship and I felt good.
Now if I could fix this situation with Bear and get rid of Morgan, I’d be golden.
Ellie
“You need to restock,” Walter said in lieu of greeting as I walked into the Raven’s Nest. He gave me a quick once over before stepping behind the counter.
“Good morning to you, too, Walter,” I answered back as I walked to the tea counter and tucked my stuff away. “Did my shipment from Poppy come in?”
“It’s in the back,” he huffed, turning around to go retrieve it despite me not asking him, too.
“He’s grumpy because someone was gossiping about a new coffee shop in town,” Serenity explained.
Katya laughed. “They’d be stupid to. Raven’s Nest is a Lockwood staple. Regulars enjoy Walter’s grumpiness. He’s like a town mascot at this point.”
“Where would they even go?” I mused. “This is literally on the main drag.”
“It is,” Serenity agreed. “It would be a waste of a business loan.”
“They’d be stupid to try,” Walter growled as he came in, shoving the box at me. He was practically spitting fire.
“Maybe someone was just fucking with you, Walter,” I reassured him. “If not, someone really needs to have a chat with the buyer.”
“The only store available is the old hardware store and he’s selling it himself in hopes of someone keeping it a hardware store, and the storefront you guys flipped,” Kat pointed out.
“If it was the storefront then wouldn’t Collin be telling us this, not random gossip?” Serenity mused.
Walter had already stomped through the back but I had a feeling he’d be back if we kept talking about it.
“I’m guessing it’s just a shitty rumor,” I said as I took the box behind the counter and started to restock my jars of herbs and edible flowers. Poppy always slipped in a few extras so I sat aside the new additions so I could add them to my stock and come up with a few new blends.
I tried to add in a new one each week and now had a long list of regulars who came in on Friday’s to check them out.
It was wild to think that I was stuck in a cubicle not long ago and now I was mated to a pack and my tea business was thriving.
Micah and Collin had convinced me to help them flip a building, the storefront that was now for sale, but I’d opted out of any more projects. Collin had our future packhouse to work on and he and Micah were searching for a new property.
Me? I had enough on my plate.
The afternoon rush started and I abandoned my own work to help out behind the coffee counter. Serenity barked out orders and Kat and I rushed to fill them. We worked in perfect synchrony, which helped, but I could already tell today was going to be a busy one.
“Two espressos, one caramel latte, and a mocha iced coffee,” Serenity said. “And margaritas after work because I’m already over it.”
“Sold,” Kat agreed. “You get the espressos, I’ll do the rest.”
“Done,” I said as I dove right in.
Thankfully, Walter stuck to his office during the rush. The last thing we needed was his attitude.
“There’s my girl!” I peaked around Serenity and waved at the twins’ dad. Grant was looking better every day now that the doctors and some help from herbs had kicked the respiratory battle he was fighting.
“Look at you up and moving,” Kat said with a grin.
“I’m a new man,” he said. “I swear seeing my boys back together helped me kick it.”
