Chapter Ten
FRANKIE
I get a weird vibe when I wake up, and it lingers as I do the morning baking and open up the shop. Like there’s a cloud of apprehension following me around, or a ghost planning how to best haunt me.
I shake my head and send Addison a good morning text, though I know she won’t be awake for another couple hours yet. I like to imagine her smiling first thing in the morning, and I hope to see it in person sometime.
I’m determined to make this work. Whether she gets that hybrid job or not, she’s it for me. I don’t know if she’s realized it yet, but I’ll do whatever I have to do to make it work.
Us, together.
I smile, and before I know it, she’s walking through the door and setting up at her table.
I contemplate my options for her latte today, deciding on salted caramel, and tossing a pinch of salt over my shoulder for good luck while I’m at it.
More superstitious nonsense that I’ve never partaken in before, but the sketchy aura of this lingering spirit is so not my vibe.
I deliver Addison’s drink and drop a kiss on top of her head, not wanting to bother her further as she’s clearly in the zone this morning.
She gives me a brief smile of thanks, fingers flying over her keyboard, then tips her lips up for a kiss.
Her eyes never leave her screen, and I shake my head as I saunter away with a smile.
My hard little worker, kicking ass, taking names, and not putting up with any more shit.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of me.
I’m crouched behind the counter cleaning out the mini fridge during a lull when the door chimes and feet stomp up to the counter. I shuffle the various milk cartons back into place and am about to close the door when a booming voice sends my heart careening out of my chest.
“WHERE ARE THEY?” Derek bellows, and the coffee house goes silent.
I bang my head on the counter when I attempt to jump to my feet, and I already know it’s going to leave a nasty bump. Tori is working the register and her terrified eyes flit between me and Derek. I motion her to the side and she scurries around me, shuffling away near the back exit.
“I assume you’re looking for me? How can I help you?” I try to lock down my emotions, the confusing tangle of anger, fear, and exhaustion that this man won’t leave me alone.
His face is red, his thick neck bulging over the collar of his wrinkled button-up shirt. He points a finger at me, his hand shaking with what I can only assume to be rage, though I have no idea what has made him so furious.
“You...” he says, leaning over the counter into my space. “You know exactly what you did!”
“I really don’t,” I say, holding my hands in front of me in a placating gesture and taking a small step back, thankful for the counter between us.
“I found your so-called supplier,” he says, referencing the specialty coffee beans my shop is known for. I was never hiding it from him. All he ever had to do was sit down and research just like I did. Apparently, he finally got around to it.
“They declined to work with me, can you believe that?” His voice is getting louder, his face more red with every heaving breath and hate-filled word. “I know it was you. You put in a bad word about me, don’t deny it!”
I didn’t, but he wouldn’t believe me, so I say nothing.
It does sound like something he would do, though, so I’m not surprised he assumes others use the same shady business practices he does.
I shake my head and focus on taking deep breaths through my nose to keep calm while hoping Tori has already called the sheriff.
Clearly my supplier has good business and people sense; I wouldn’t want to work with Derek either.
“You act all high and mighty, but you’re a disgrace to our town.
You don’t care about other local businesses,” he rages.
“You’re just a spoiled, selfish, disrespectful—” spittle flies across the counter as he speaks, but he’s cut off from my view when a head of honey brown hair obscures it.
A slender, lithe body steps between me and the counter, her extra inches blocking me completely.
“That is enough,” Addison says, emphasizing each word, and I’ve never heard her sound so fierce. Her normally feminine voice is pitched low, so full of defiance and anger it makes my eyes flare and tingles shoot up and down my arms.
“I don’t know you, but I know Frankie, and they are the least selfish person I’ve ever met.” She reaches behind her with one hand and I grasp it in mine, tangling our fingers together. I attempt to step up next to her, but she shoves me back with surprising force.
“You talk about being disrespectful,” she spits the last word, then pauses. I get the impression she just eyed him up and down, and I wish I could see the derision on her face that I hear in her voice.
“Yet you’re the one barging into their business, yelling and throwing out unfounded accusations. Causing a scene, being a bully and frightening their staff.” She scoffs with a gesture toward the back door where Tori disappeared. “You disgust me.”
My heart skips a beat and my breath feels frozen in my chest. This is a side of Addison I could never have guessed at. I try again to step up next to her, but she whips halfway around, her hair smacking me in the face, to shoot a glare at me before turning to face him again.
Okay then, I guess I’ll stay here.
“Well?” she demands, and I’m not sure what she’s waiting for. She’s already put him in his place .
“They’re not a team player!” He sounds like a teenager throwing a temper tantrum now, and I have to hold in a snicker.
She lets out a derisive laugh. “Team player? For what team?!” she says, incredulous.
That’s a good question, actually.
Derek splutters, and I imagine his face turning a delightful shade of burgundy with every second he can’t come up with a rebuttal. Then the door opens and our local sheriff strides in.
“What’s going on here folks?” he says.
Addison holds up her phone, the phone that is currently recording a video, presses the red stop button, then hands it to the sheriff.
“You can see and listen to it all right there. I think we’d all appreciate you removing this man before he causes any more harm to your local patrons,” she says.
Addison finally lets me step out from behind her and I blink at her in surprise, seeing the sheriff doing the same before he puts a hand on Derek’s arm to lead him away.
“You’re a badass,” I say, not even trying to hide the awe in my voice.
She smirks. “I learned from the best.”
Her shoulders are rigid though, and I can see the clench in her jaw as she takes in the other patrons who are all still watching.
Addison isn’t confrontational. She couldn’t even block her abusive ex without support, so the fact that she stood up for me like that in front of a room of people, to an aggressive man twice her size, has me wanting to kneel at her feet and worship her.
I would have handled it fine on my own. Certainly not as well as she did, but I would have figured it out.
I didn’t need her help, but she stepped in anyway.
My sweet, bubbly, sometimes sassy Addison put herself in the most uncomfortable position she could have, for me .
I’m desperate to sweep her into my arms. To kiss her until the tension drains from her body. To show her…
My thoughts sputter out.
I think I might love this woman.
~~ ~
The sheriff takes a report from each of us, and a few other patrons step up to offer witness statements as well. I’m so grateful for this supportive community. It’s too bad Derek is a part of it, but I guess there are bound to be a few bad seeds.
I watch Addison as she finishes up with the sheriff. Her hands gesture as she speaks, her face animated. Scorn drips from her gaze every time she glances at the squad car where Derek waits.
I want to kiss her so badly. I wanted to kiss her that whole time. My lips tingle and I bite at them, knowing we’re still drawing attention and not wanting to make Addison any more uncomfortable.
She finally walks toward me with a heavy sigh, her shoulders relaxing as she drops the weight she’s been carrying. I glance at Tori behind the counter, raising my eyebrows to check if she’s okay, and she nods. I pull Addison into the back room with me and sweep her into a hug.
Her arms tighten around me and her face nuzzles into my neck.
“Thank you for standing up for me,” I say, rubbing soft circles on her back. “I know that wasn’t easy for you.”
“It was easy, though. I didn’t even have to think about it,” Addison says, pulling back to look me in the eye. “It was the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”
A slow smile crosses my face as my eyes search her beautiful blues. They’re brimming with sincerity and compassion, perhaps a hint of uncertainty.
“I wanted to kiss you senseless that entire time,” I say, and her eyes flare.
She lets out a bark of laughter, then sees that I’m serious and her smile turns coy.
“Well,” she glances around, “there’s nothing stopping you now.”
I grin. The cheek of this girl. I really, really like it. I cup her face between my palms and tug her lips down to mine, devouring her as I’ve been wanting to for the last hour .
Addison sticks around the coffee shop the rest of the day, and I offer to let her upstairs to use my apartment if she needs to make any phone calls.
I get the sense she doesn’t want to be alone, or perhaps she doesn’t want to leave me, even though I’m fine.
We both appreciate the connection and support right now, and I busy myself with work, though I can’t stop the nagging feeling that there’s something I’m missing.
That annoying sense of having forgotten something important lingers, but every time I try to focus on it, it disappears. Perhaps a specter has moved in and I didn’t notice yet.
As soon as the last customer leaves, I quickly wipe everything down and practically sprint up the stairs. Addison went up with Moose about thirty minutes ago for a phone call and never came back down, and I’m eager to see her.
Ridiculous, considering I’ve been in her presence literally the entire day.
When I open the door, I see her sitting at my small wooden desk across the room with one of Everly’s fuzzy pillows in her lap, and I smile at the ease with which she embodies my space. She’s still on the phone, so I slip into the bathroom to quickly wash up and change.
When I come back out, she’s done with her call and rummaging through my desk. I grin and shake my head. I don’t mind if she’s nosy, in fact I kind of like that she didn’t ask before making herself at home.
But my smile drops when she says, “What’s this?”
Addison holds up a stack of envelopes, and that thing I couldn’t remember… it snaps into place in my brain.