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“Hey,” Sakura said.
“Hey,” the woman replied. Then she moved over to hug Mary.
“I’ll definitely come over tonight to try on that dress. Peter and Richard are arriving this afternoon, right?”
Mary nodded. Then she turned to the brothers. “Boys,” she said, “this is Katherine Hodge. She’s my maid of honor, and Michael’s stepmom, by the way.”
“She’s a great mom,” Michael said. “And I love her very much.”
Sakura tousled his hair again. “Yes, she is a great mom.”
“I’m so sorry, guys, but we’ve been flat out today, and we’re also short staffed.”
“No worries,” Mary said, putting her hand up. “I’ll help.” With that, she got up and headed toward the kitchen as if she knew what she was doing.
“Thanks, Mary. You don’t have to,” Katherine said, running after her friend.
Sakura saw no other option once they were left alone. No one was going to take their orders, so she stood up and asked the brothers what they wanted.
“Are you going to be our waitress?” Darcy asked. There was a surprised look in his eyes that Sakura couldn’t quite miss.
“Yes, I am,” she replied nicely. “Why?”
“Nothing,” he said, looking away.
“Are you going to wear one of those cute uniforms like the rest of them?” Tristan asked cheekily.
Sakura chuckled. “I usually do,” she said. “But not today. I don’t have it with me.”
This totally shocked the brothers, and they, especially Tristan and Logan, grinned cheekily. Sebastian knew his brothers’ minds were wandering off into their fantasy worlds involving Sakura and a sexy uniform and expressed an “Oi!” loudly to get their attention. This managed to retrieve his brothers back from la-la land.
Logan had the courtesy to cough to hide his sneaky smile. Tristan sighed with a happy expression on his face. Hayden chuckled. Conrad blushed. Darcy shook his head as though they were beyond help. And Nicolas managed to laugh uncomfortably. He couldn’t believe that he too had managed to lose himself to such an imagination with a simple suggestion.
“Cappuccino for me,” Sebastian said. “And an open steak sandwich.”
“Yes,” Nicolas said, clearing his throat. “A cappuccino for me and an open steak sandwich as well, thank you.”
Conrad was about to tell her his order when Michael interrupted him loudly. “I want hot chocolate and some hot chips please. Oh, and I want a cute teddy bear on my hot chocolate please.”
&n
bsp; Sakura chuckled. “Indeed, you may have that cute teddy bear.” Then she turned to Conrad, who was riling and frowning at eight-year-old Michael. “A mochaccino and pasta, thanks,” he said.
Sakura nodded, and one by one the brothers told her what they wanted. They were very surprised to see that she didn’t write their orders down and went straight to the point-of-sale machine behind the counter to order everything herself, as if she owned the place. They were even more surprised when she went to the coffee machine and expertly began making their hot drinks. When fifteen minutes later she returned, it was with two silver trays carrying their orders.
“Cappuccino for Nicolas and Sebastian,” she said, expertly placing their drinks before them. “Mochaccino for Conrad.”
“Thanks,” Conrad said, giving her a bright smile. He took a good sip of his and smiled contently afterward.
One by one, Sakura gave the others their drinks they’d ordered. “And last but not least,” she said, coming to sit beside Michael, “hot chocolate for my dearest Michael.” She placed a cute cup in front of him.
“Oh look! It’s a bear!” Michael shouted and bragged to the brothers by shoving his cup to them, pointing at the picture of a bear on his hot chocolate.
“How come mine doesn’t have art on it?” Conrad asked.
“Neither does mine,” Logan added sourly.
“That’s because you didn’t ask for it,” Sakura said.
“What’s in yours?” Michael asked, taking a peek at Sakura’s cup.
“A swan,” Sakura said.
“I think you look like a swan. You’re pretty.” Michael praised. “I like pretty girls.”
Sakura chuckled. “Don’t all boys?” she asked, looking at the brothers, remembering when they’d been children and how they always preferred pretty Tara over her—the quiet, shy, ugly Sakura who no one wanted to be friends with.
“So you made us coffee?” Nicolas asked.
She nodded. “I did.”
“Is it any good?” Darcy asked, wondering if she’d deliberately sabotaged their drinks. After all, how could she know how to make proper coffee?
“James only drinks Sakura’s coffee when he comes here,” Michael said abruptly. “’Cause she’s really good at making it.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Sakura said. “He drinks Beth’s coffee back at home too.”
Michael blinked and frowned at her. “You didn’t make coffee for him at home? That’s mean.”
Sakura chuckled. “Only sometimes.” She turned to the brothers and noted they looked as if they were afraid to drink their coffees, except for Conrad, who was enjoying his tremendously. She wondered if she should have put salt in their drink just for the fun of it. But then again, she wasn’t that mean.
“Well?” she said. “Drink up before it gets cold.”
The brothers, excluding Conrad, looked down at their cup of coffee as if there were poison in it. Nicolas picked his up and slowly, while all his brothers had their eyes on him, took a sip. The brothers waited, watching him. Nicolas closed his eyes. He tasted the smooth blend of the coffee bean. It was beautiful, amazingly delightful in his mouth. He flashed his eyes open and took another sip.
“Good?” Logan asked.
Nicolas nodded. Logan, knowing if it had passed Nicolas’s stamp of approval it had to be very good, quickly drank his. “Whoa! This is the best coffee I’ve ever tasted.” Then he proceeded to drink some more.
One by one the brothers drank theirs and sighed with pleasure. They all agreed it was one of the best coffees they’d ever had.
“Now I know why Dad doesn’t like Beth’s standard coffee,” Hayden said, shaking his head. “After this I don’t think I’ll ever go back to standard coffee again.”
“Me, too,” Logan said, and the brothers laughed.
