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Chapter Twenty-Three
At the café that afternoon, Kylie was already getting antsy about the wait to hear from Dean. The more she thought about it, the more the job in Hampton would be a better fit for her than Brad’s tech company. The other offer would give her options at least. She admitted, if only to herself, that the idea of going back to Toronto was kind of daunting.
There was so much to love about living in a big city, but now that she was back in Camden, muscles unwound, and she was rarely anxious anymore. There was no racing to the streetcar to get to work on time or lines to wait in. She could take evening strolls and breathe deeply again. But she still couldn’t tell if staying in Camden was the right decision or just the easy one. Or if staying there would be settling and giving up on her goals.
These thoughts swirled through her mind as she served tea and cookies and helped customers find a book. There was a group of young adults who’d driven in from Hampton for coffee. They took two tables and squished them together and were talking loud enough that a table of locals joined their conversation. One of the other tables was occupied by Edna and her posse for afternoon tea. The bell above the door rang as Cate and Charlie entered. Kylie waved at them as Charlie ran to the children’s bookshelf and Cate made her way to the counter.
“Hey Cate,” Kylie said. “Can I get you anything?”
“Yeah, a coffee in a to-go cup would be great, thanks.” Cate stifled a yawn.
“Sure thing. Late night?”
“Early morning more like it,” Cate said, the yawn escaping this time. “Barney needed me at the store early to meet a delivery for him then I had to work until Charlie was done preschool. I’m exhausted.”
“Oh man.” Kylie winced. “I’ll make it extra strong then.”
As she handed her the coffee, Cate’s phone rang. She dug it out of her bag with her free hand.
“Hello?” she said. “What? Oh no! Is she all right?” Then a pause before, “You’re sure no one else can come? I’ll see what I can do.” She hung up the phone.
“Is everything okay?” Kylie asked.
Cate looked from her to Charlie and back again. “That was Barney. Joyce threw her back out stocking shelves at the store. She’s okay but can’t work the rest of her shift, and apparently, I’m the only one available.”
“But you’ve already worked today.”
“Yeah, I’ll have to bring Charlie with me until Derek gets off work.” Cate sighed. “Charlie!” she called.
“Wait,” Kylie said. “Charlie’s welcome to stay here with me, if that helps.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely! He can read all the books, and I’ll spoil him with cookies.”
“Seriously? That would be amazing. Are you sure you wouldn’t get in trouble?” Her eyes glistened.
“Are you kidding? Sandy would be mad at me if I didn’t offer to take him. Plus, you’re exhausted. Let me at least help you with Charlie.”
Cate sniffed. “Thank you. Oh my god, thank you so much. Here, I’ll give you my keys in case. Derek gets off work around four o’clock. I’ll text him to let him know what’s going on. Thank you so much!”
“I’m just glad you’ve got some coffee now,” Kylie said.
Cate ran to Charlie to give him a hug and let him know he’d be staying, then hustled out the café door.
Charlie wandered over to Kylie and tugged on her apron. “Can I keep reading?” he asked.
“Of course.” She knelt. “In fact, why don’t you pick out a few books and take them to the window bench, and I’ll bring over a snack in a minute.”
“Really?” His eyes widened. He didn’t even wait for a response before running back to the bookshelf, loading up his arms with picture books, and settling onto the padded bench in front of one of the windows.
At four o’clock Derek entered the café wearing his black O.P.P. uniform, the short sleeves version as the spring weather was nice that day. Kylie couldn’t help but notice the definition in the muscles of his arms. He caught her eye and smiled, heading over to the counter where she and Charlie stood. Charlie was on a chair so he could reach and wearing an apron that was much too large for him.
“Hello there.” Derek ruffled Charlie’s hair. “Did Kylie give you a job?”
“I ask people what they want,” he declared with a proud grin on his face.
“And he’s doing a fantastic job too,” she said.
