“It’s not the first time my life has changed unexpectedly.” Lucas poured sugar into the bowl, continuing to work as he talked.
Katie watched him as he calmly measured flour and dumped it into a sifter. “I guess not.”
“Besides, it’s not like I’m going to close the place. I’m just going to relocate it and, in fact, this time I want to try and find a building I can afford to buy so this doesn’t happen again.” He carefully sifted the flour into the bowl and then thoroughly mixed it with the sugar.
Katie was amazed at his resiliency. “You’ve been thinking about this?”
“For a while now.” Stopping for a moment, he wiped his hands on a towel and came back over to sit beside her. “When I first opened, I could barely afford to rent the place.” He laughed. “Buying a building was nothing but a dream. But now I’ve got some money saved and a good business record. I’m thinking about something not too big but with other spaces or apartments I could rent out.”
He reached out and tapped her on the nose. “Maybe I’ll find a place with a couple of apartments and I’ll live in one and rent you the other. Or maybe you’ll become a famous painter and this will get you moving on in your career.” Bending down, he brushed a kiss on her forehead. “This could be a good thing for both of us.”
Katie couldn’t stop the tear from rolling down her cheek any more than she could stop her next breath. “But I don’t want things to change.”
“Things always change. It’s how you handle it that counts.” He glanced up at the clock. “Enough of this for now.” Using the corner of his apron, he wiped the tear from her face. “We open in fifteen minutes and we’ve both got work to do.”
Katie slipped off the stool and left Lucas to his baking. Like a sleepwalker, she walked behind the counter and efficiently moved the full pots of coffee to the warmers and set more coffee to brewing. She hurried back and forth to the kitchen, carrying trays filled with fresh baked treats back out front and setting them in the glass case. Quickly, she counted out the store money and readied the cash register for the day. It was a routine that she’d had for many years and she didn’t think about it, she just did it.
At exactly seven, she unlocked the door, removed the closed sign, and greeted her first customers of the day. The smile on her face might have been forced, but her customers never noticed. Fate was kind in giving her little time to brood as the day got busy quickly and didn’t let up until closing.
That evening, when the apartment door closed behind her, Katie was more than ready to lock the world out. She leaned against the door and tilted her head back. Closing her eyes, she tried to ignore the headache forming ominously behind her eyes. It had been an impossibly long day.
Lucas had taken her out for pizza after they’d closed the shop for the night. She’d managed to consume one slice of pizza and munch the pepperoni and peppers off another slice. But she’d been too upset to really eat. Usually, she easily held her own with Lucas when they pigged out on pizza. Lucas, on the other hand, seemed to experience no such problem. He’d quickly polished off the rest of the fully loaded supreme pizza all by himself.
Ironically, he had spent all his time reassuring her that everything would work out for the best when it should have been the other way around. She hadn’t realized how much she depended on the stability of the coffee shop until it was threatened. What if the new location was far away from her apartment? Or worse, what if Lucas couldn’t find another location before the lease was up? Would she be unemployed? She shuddered at the thought. She’d never been unemployed a day in her life.
Pushing away from the door, she dropped her bag on the floor and removed her coat and boots. “I need a hot bath and chocolate,” she muttered to herself. A tub filled with bubbles and hot water while she sipped real cocoa from her favorite mug. That was the best medicine for her burgeoning headache.
In the kitchen, she filled the kettle with water and set it on the stove to boil. While she waited, she pulled down a big pottery mug done in a cheerful yellow and placed it on the counter next to the milk, sugar, and cocoa powder. Rummaging around in the cupboard, she found a round tin with a few chocolate-dipped shortbread cookies in it. She pulled one out and munched while she waited for the water to boil.
Two cookies later, her mug was filled with hot chocolate and she was ambling down the hall towards the bathroom with the tin of cookies stuffed under her arm. The shrill ring of the phone broke the silence. She really didn’t want to talk to anyone. When the phone rang for the fourth time, she gave up and went back to the living room to answer it. If it was Lucas and she didn’t answer, he’d be pounding on her front door within fifteen minutes.
Juggling her mug and the tin of cookies, she grabbed the phone on the fifth ring. “Hello.” There was a moment of silence on the other end. “Hello,” she said again, her voice sharp.
“I missed walking you home tonight.”
Katie sucked in a breath, her heart pounding at the low seductive voice on the other end of the line. Then her common sense reasserted itself. “I wasn’t expecting you. We didn’t have plans.” Her reply was cutting as she’d spent all weekend waiting for him to call her.
“No, we didn’t have plans, but I still missed you.” He paused and when he spoke again his voice was rough. “I didn’t like seeing you leave with Squires.”
“You were watching me and Lucas?” Outrage filled her. “Lucas is more than just my boss and my friend. He’s all the family I have, and I’ll spend as much time with him as I want. I have a life and what I do is my business.” There, that ought to put him in his place. She got nervous as the silence on the other end grew. While she wanted to assert her independence, she didn’t want him to walk away from their budding relationship. With all the changes in her life, she didn’t know if she was coming or going, but she knew she wanted to spend more time with Cain.
A deep sigh filled the line. “I know, but I still didn’t like it. I want your life to be my business. I want to be part of your life.”
It was said so reluctantly that Katie took pity on him. “We just went out to supper to discuss some business matters.” She perched on the back of the sofa and took a quick sip of hot chocolate. The pounding in her head was getting worse.
“So, it was business, nothing personal.” He sounded relieved by her admission.
“It sure feels personal,” she muttered.
“Business is never personal.” Having made that pronouncement, he deftly changed the subject. “I’m sorry I didn’t call yesterday but I got tied up with some business. I’d like to make it up to you if you’re willing.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Have dinner with me tomorrow night. I have to go out of town for a few days after that, but I want to see you before I go.”
Katie was itching to ask where he was going and what he did for a living, but she hadn’t quite worked up the nerve to do so. Something about him was so closed and reserved. Chewing on her bottom lip, she considered his invitation. It might give them a chance to really talk to one another. This could be her chance to learn more about him.
“It’s just dinner, honey,” his voice, laced with humor, filled her ears. She hadn’t realized she’d been quiet for so long.
Drawing on all the courage she possessed, she made her decision. Deep down, she knew her acceptance would suggest agreement to more than a simple dinner. She was making a commitment to at least explore this connection between them. “All right, I’ll have dinner tomorrow night.”
“I’ll send a car for you after work.”
“No, I want to come home and change first.” There was no way she was going out to dinner in jeans and a shirt she’d worked in all day. “How about half past seven?”