3. Casey
Chapter Three
CASEY
When I walked out of my small apartment building, the icy winter air struck my cheeks, instantly invigorating me. I glanced around. Main Street in downtown Willow Brook, Alaska was quiet at 5 a.m. I looked up at the sky as I began walking the short distance. The stars were still bright with just the barest hint of the sun glimmering over the mountains in the distance. The crescent-shaped moon sat low in the sky.
I slipped into the back of the café, locking the door behind me and flicking on the lights in the quiet kitchen. It smelled good, which meant Luna had already been here. Several days a week, she used the kitchen to make batches of donuts. If I could’ve bottled that smell and sold it, it would be worth millions. It smelled so good, lightly sweet and fresh.
I began my morning routine, going out front to fill the display cases, taking the chairs off the tables, and starting a batch of the house coffee for the early-bird customers. After I had everything ready, I made a cup of coffee and sipped on it for a few minutes.
I heard the door in the back open and knew that Luna had arrived to check on her donuts. “Hey, Luna!” I called out over the half-door that led into the kitchen.
She peered over the door, her curly dark hair twisted into a bun high on her head. Her bright blue eyes twinkled with her smile. “Hey! I’m just taking this batch out. Would you like one?” She waggled her brows.
“You know I do.”
She grinned and waved me into the back. I followed her with coffee in hand. She knew my favorite, a plain donut with a sprinkling of sugar on it. I slipped my hips onto a stool beside the stainless-steel table in the center of the kitchen.
A moment later, I bit into the warm donut and moaned as the sweet, subtle flavor broke across my tongue. After I finished chewing, I looked over at her. “These are a religious experience.”
“I do my best,” she teased.
My cell phone vibrated where it sat on the counter nearby. Out of habit, I glanced down. As soon as I saw the text, dread rose inside, tightening my chest.
“Are you okay?” Luna asked.
I swallowed and met her gaze. I wanted to lie and tell her I was, but whenever I got texts from the man responsible for what happened to my sister, I wasn’t okay, not at all. I took a quick breath. “My sister died, and I miss her. Sometimes, things remind me of her.” That was a serious understatement when it came to Nathaniel.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Luna slid the tray of donuts she had just pulled out of the oven onto the table.
She stepped behind me and lightly squeezed my shoulders. Luna was generous with her hugs and had a warm, down-to-earth vibe. The first time we met, aside from giving me one of her amazing donuts, she pulled a tarot card for me and told me I’d found my place. I wasn’t sure what that meant and was almost afraid to ask her.
She rounded the table to sit across from me. “I want to say something like she lives on in your heart and all that, but that won’t take away the grief. Even if she does live on in your heart, which I truly believe, you still miss her,” she said, her eyes soft.
I blinked away my tears and took a swallow of my coffee to wash away the scratchy feeling in my throat. “That’s exactly it. I know she’s in my heart. When you love someone like that, a piece of them is always there. It’s not the same as being able to call her up, to hug her, or text her some silly meme that makes us laugh.”
Luna was quiet, her eyes understanding. “If there’s anything I can do…”
Her words trailed off when I shrugged. “Thank you for listening. It helps a lot to know that somebody understands. Grief can feel lonely sometimes.”
I sensed maybe she thought she needed to wait in case I needed to keep talking. “Thank you for listening. I know you have work to do. We’re in the awkward conversation moment,” I teased lightly.
She rolled her eyes, and I glanced at the clock. “Oh! I need to open!” I exclaimed.
Galvanized, I raced out to the front, calling over my shoulder, “Thank you for the donut!”
As soon as I turned on the lights in front and tapped the button so the open sign was illuminated, a customer came walking in maybe a minute later. I was relieved to be busy. It wasn’t as if I would ever reply to that text, but every time I got one, it brought my sister into sharp focus inside. Someday, maybe, I would find a way to tell my parents the whole truth but right now I was busy being fake-engaged after I had fled my small town in coastal North Carolina to come here.
When people asked me why I moved to Alaska, my answer was honest. Alaska was a bucket list place for me.
“Casey!” Janet came into the front and stopped beside me at the counter, curling her arm around my shoulders and giving me a squeeze.
I absolutely loved all the friends I was making here. I couldn’t have known it, but the day I drove into town and happened to stop here for coffee was fortuitous. It had been late enough in the evening that Janet had been about to lock up. When I told her I just got into town, she offered me a job on the spot. When I asked for recommendations for a place to stay, planning to crash at a hotel and bleed through my savings, she set me up in her rental apartment next door to the café. She’d leaned across the counter and whispered to me, “I don’t advertise it and you look like you need a place to stay.”
Inside of the first hour I’d been in town, I had a good job and a cute apartment that was fully furnished. I loved this little town.
When I glanced toward Janet, emotion crashed through me. Maybe it was the text that set off my memories of my sister, fresher than I wished they were, maybe it was the conversation with Luna, or maybe it was just Janet, who was about the kindest person I’d ever met. Janet’s motto was she liked her café to feel like a family, but a healthy family. We even had paid leave and health insurance, which kind of shocked me. Janet had explained that she had organized a cooperative nonprofit for insurance where small businesses like hers could sign up and the collective reduced the rate for everyone. Janet was smart and awesome like that.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
My meandering thoughts snapped back to the moment. Now that answer was complicated, but I didn’t have time to go into it because a group of firefighters came in, and Leo was with them.
“I was just thinking how lucky I am that I stopped here for coffee the night I drove into town and that you let me in even though you were about to close,” I replied.
Janet’s eyes twinkled as she flicked her silver and black braid off her shoulder. “Well, I am so glad you walked in that night. It worked out for both of us.” She nudged me with her elbow and smiled at the group approaching the counter. “All right guys, let’s make it efficient. We have some tourists coming in hot behind you.”
“Just give me all the donuts,” Hudson teased as he stopped at the counter.
“I can’t give you all the donuts,” Janet said.
“I have four dozen ready,” Luna called, peeking over the door with a mischievous smile.
“Luna says you have four dozen,” Hudson teased with a brow waggle.
“I know that, but other people like them too, and I like to keep my customers happy,” Janet said firmly.
“We understand,” Beck chimed in. “Can I carry the box if I pay?”
Janet rolled her eyes with a good-natured grin, and I began getting various coffees ready. The firefighters were all local and usually came in almost every other day. I knew most everyone’s preferences.
Leo caught my eye while I was prepping drinks. Janet was getting them various baked goods and Luna was chatting with Beck, who was trying to persuade her to be a personal baker for him and Maisie.
When I had Leo’s coffee ready, I passed it across the counter. His fingertips brushed mine when he took it from me. That subtle touch felt like a flame leaping from him to me, scattering sparks over my skin. His blue eyes held mine long enough that heat blazed through me.
“So, I’ll see you next week?” His tone was low, just for me to hear.
“Yep!” I chirped. When his lips kicked up at one corner in a half smile, butterflies massed in my belly, spinning in a swirl while my lungs ceased working altogether.
“Casey?” Janet’s voice punctured the haze in my thoughts and I jumped. “Um, yeah?”
“Hand me Griffin’s coffee,” she said, laughter lacing her tone. It was obvious she was repeating herself.
“Oh, right.” I hurried to grab it and almost spilled it.
After that cluster of customers left and we handled another group of tourists, there was a brief lull. I got busy reorganizing the display case and brought fresh baked goods to the front.
Janet was wiping down the counter. She didn’t even look my way when she said, “That Leo Massie is a cute one.”
My cheeks burned. Conveniently, my hands were full and I could play it off like I was only half paying attention. Janet knew me well enough by now that, if I looked her way, she would know I was crushing on Leo something fierce.
“I think that’s part of the job requirements for a hotshot firefighter,” I quipped as I finished organizing a row of cranberry orange muffins.
Janet chuckled. “Maybe so, but you only get flustered with Leo.”
I glanced over at her, narrowing my eyes as I straightened. “Janet.” With an empty baking tray held in one hand, I wagged a finger at her with the other. “Don’t you even with me.”
Her chuckle was sly. “You can have a crush on Leo,” she pointed out.
“Janet, I can’t have a crush on anyone.”
Just when I thought I had the conversation under my control, I went and did the stupid thing. “What do you know about him?”
She practically cackled. Although it was funny, the simple act of being interested in someone like Leo brought anxiety twisting inside of me. Sometimes you learned from your own mistakes and sometimes you learned from the mistakes others made. What happened to my sister taught me a brutal lesson. You really didn’t know who you could trust, even when you thought you absolutely did.
Janet sobered and studied me. “Are you okay?”
I cleared my throat, striving for a light, teasing tone. “Yeah. Just feeling a little silly that maybe I admitted I had a crush on Leo to you.”
She shrugged. “That makes sense. Although Leo just moved back to town, he grew up here. His parents moved away—I think when he was in middle school.” She drummed her fingertips on the counter. “They went to Juneau to help take care of his mom’s parents. Since his grandparents both passed away, they’ve been here a lot more. Leo lives in a smaller house on their property that they used to rent out. There is one thing you should know though—” she began.
Before I could ask what she meant, a wall of customers came in. We didn’t have another lull in the pace until closing time. By that point, Janet and Luna had left for the day. I was still wondering what Janet thought I should know about Leo.
I was curious enough that I almost texted her but chickened out. I didn’t have the nerve to admit just how much I wanted to know.