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The bell above the door chimed as she pushed it open. The café was lovely. One side of the triangular room was full of tall windows letting in the morning light. Another side was the café counter with a brightly patterned curtain hanging behind it, leading to the kitchen. The end farthest from the door sported floor-to-ceiling bookshelves with one lower free-standing shelf filled with colourful children’s books.
In the center of the room stood six wooden café tables, each surrounded by four chairs. Only one table was currently occupied. Two women sat chatting, each with a steaming mug and a white plate bearing nothing but crumbs.
The store smelled amazing, like fresh coffee and newly baked muffins.
Behind the counter, fighting with the espresso grinder, was Sandy Harrington. Sandy was not only the mom of Kylie’s high school friend, Steph, but she’d also been Kylie’s Girl Guides leader for many years.
Sandy glanced up from the grinder, and a wide grin spread across her face. Her blue eyes sparkled as she came around the counter, wiping her hands on her black apron. “Kylie Martin! As I live and breathe!”
“Hey, Sandy,” she said. “How are you?”
“Oh I’m good, sweetie,” she said. “Even better this morning after you called about the job.”
“You were saying you need some help here?”
“Oh yes.” Sandy went back behind the counter and gestured for Kylie to follow. “I come in early in the mornings and do the baking and opening stuff, but it would be lovely to have someone take over some shifts. It’s not overly busy around here outside of cottage season, but we’ve got some regulars, and a couple of book clubs meet here. Have you ever worked in a bookstore?”
“No,” she said. “But I worked a retail job all the way through college and for a year afterward. I do love books though. And I’ve frequented enough coffee shops that I think I could pick up the coffee serving part as well.”
“Excellent.” Sandy clapped her hands. “Most folks don’t get too fancy with their drink orders around here until the cottagers arrive in the summer. Would you also be able to handle deliveries for me?”
“Coffee deliveries?”
“No, honey.” Sandy gestured to a stack of books on the shelf below the cash register. “Book deliveries. We offer deliveries to the retirement home down the street and to any shut-ins in the village. The deliveries would only be once a week. Unless of course Gloria Stevens throws her back out again, then you’ll be at her place once a day.” She laughed.
“I think I could handle that.” This sounded like the perfect job. Money, not too much pressure, but a definite chance to show off her ability to be a responsible adult.
“Great!” Sandy brushed some flour out of her silver pixie-cut hair. “You start Monday at 2 PM. But you might want to think about wearing some more comfortable shoes.”
“Oh.” Kylie winced. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“And maybe clothes you don’t mind getting stains on.”
~ * ~
Derek took a long sip of his coffee. The one improvement he made to the station when he took over was to buy a high-end coffee maker with a grinder and a collection of fresh beans. He used his own money of course, but it came in handy when talking things out with members of the town. Conversations always went better when they started with “Mmmm, this is good coffee”.
He had finally opened his ticket pad to put Kylie’s speeding fine into the computer system and he sat, staring at it. The address listed on her license was in downtown Toronto, and as curiosity got the better of him, he brought up the street view online.
It was a high rise, lacking in character, all steel and concrete on the outside. He pictured her coming out the front doors on her way to work in the morning. What could her job in the city be? In his mind, she wore a fashionable trench coat and high heels. Her long hair was in a tight ponytail, and she had the slight scowl on her face he figured all people in the city had. It didn’t feel right. She didn’t fit in there. Where was her easy smile from when they were young?
He imagined her stopping at a cart for coffee and a croissant, but then a handsome man in a suit approached her and kissed her on the cheek. Of course, she had a boyfriend in Toronto. How could she not, as gorgeous as she was? What kind of man would this new Kylie be with? Likely, some corporate guy with enough money to whisk her off for weekends of skiing and buy her the expensive clothes she was apparently into now.
Derek stopped that train of thought. Why was he even thinking about her life? He hadn’t seen her since high school. Yeah, maybe he’d wondered a few times what she was up to, but he didn’t really care. Really. Maybe he’d liked her in high school, but he’d been wrong about her then too.
The bell above the door rang and snapped him out of his pitiful spiral. He sat up straighter and checked his expression so his thoughts wouldn’t betray him to whoever had come in. It was a good thing he did because the person who came in was Kylie.
She was still dressed for the city in shiny high heels and a sweater which probably cost the same as his fancy coffee machine. She chewed on her bottom lip the way he remembered her doing back in high school before tests or class presentations.
“Hello, Kylie.” He slid his ticket pad behind his computer monitor.
“Hi Derek. Or, I guess, Officer Carson.” She stepped into the room. “I came to pay my ticket. Is this an okay time?”
He had somewhat forgotten that by giving her a ticket he was guaranteeing he’d have to talk to her when she finally paid it.
“Yeah, sure,” he said. “And Derek’s fine. How did you want to pay?”
“Cash please.” She took her wallet out of her bag. Huh, he’d been expecting her to say something like “Put that on my Visa Platinum.”
