Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Terrence set down his cup of coffee and looked out the window. Outside, the snow was beginning to melt into patches as February warmed its way toward spring. A cardinal fluttered into the bird feeder that was hanging in Terrence’s front lawn, just in front of his picture window.
Ordinarily, when he had a Monday off, he loved nothing more than sitting and drinking good coffee or tea and reading a book. If any birds landed on his bird feeder, he would take a break to watch them, admiring their sharp, quick movements and their delicately small features.
Today, however, he found himself unable to focus on anything. His thoughts kept returning to the conversation he’d had with Vivian, in which he’d warned her not to trust Alan. He couldn’t stop thinking about the angry look on her face she’d had just before turning around and leaving him in the bakery alone.
Maybe I made a mistake, he thought with a sigh. But I felt sure that Alan couldn’t be trusted. I still feel that way. I hope I’m wrong, though. I hope Vivian has nothing to worry about.
He sighed, knowing that Vivian probably had a crush on the handsome car salesman. Terrence inwardly kicked himself again for not thinking to buy Vivian a beautiful bouquet like the one Alan had bought her.
He sighed again and looked down at the book that was resting in his lap. It was a nonfiction book about the Industrial Revolution, and while ordinarily a well-written book like that would be able to capture his attention unceasingly, he’d barely managed to read a few sentences.
He looked back out the window. The cardinal was gone, and he felt strangely disappointed by its absence. He wondered if he should talk to Vivian. Maybe if they had a conversation about everything, he would be able to make things right. After all, he hadn’t meant to upset her, and maybe now that she’d had some time to cool down, she’d realized that he really had been looking out for her.
He shook his head. I should apologize to her. I stand by what I think about Alan, and I still think my concerns are justified, but I feel I owe her an apology. I was out of line, bringing it up the way that I did.
Sighing, he stood up. He walked into his kitchen to get himself another cup of coffee, and halfway there, his stomach started to growl. He realized that he hadn’t eaten lunch, and he glanced at the clock. It was almost two in the afternoon.
He looked down at the nearly empty mug of coffee, knowing that he should stop drinking it on an empty stomach. What he needed was a good meal—maybe then he would be able to focus better on his book.
He glanced at The Lighthouse Grill’s takeout menu, which he’d attached to his refrigerator with a magnet that was shaped like a ballpoint pen.
I could go to the pub, he thought. I could order takeout and go there to pick it up, or I could go there for a sit-down meal. Why not? Then I would have an opportunity to speak with Vivian.
He stood in front of the to-go menu, looking right at it and not thinking about food in the slightest. Finally, he sighed and opened his refrigerator.
He had decided to just make himself a sandwich.
He carefully toasted a couple of slices of bread, and then chopped up part of an onion and mixed it together with tuna and mayonnaise. He sprinkled just a hint of pepper into the mixture and added half a squirt of lemon juice. He’d been making tuna fish sandwiches for himself ever since high school, and he knew exactly how he liked them.
He added a thin layer of spinach leaves to one of the pieces of toast and dolloped the tuna fish mixture onto them. He carefully added the top piece of toast, and then carried his plate over to the little kitchen table that was placed next to the refrigerator.
He poured himself a glass of cranberry juice and sat down, ready to enjoy his meal. Unfortunately, however, he did not enjoy it—at least not as much as he usually did. He couldn’t rid himself of a desire to fix things with Vivian as soon as possible.
When he’d finished eating, he stood up with a grunt. There was no use in putting it off any longer. He needed to go to the pub to try to speak with her.
He put on his wool coat and earmuffs and walked out to his car. As soon as he stepped outside, he remembered that it was much warmer than it had been and took off his earmuffs. He stowed them carefully in the glove compartment of his car before driving off.
On his drive, he stopped at Harvest Market to pick out a bag of Maple Leaf coffee for Vivian. He remembered that was the brand she’d liked the best, but as far as he knew she hadn’t sampled their vanilla buttercream coffee beans. He wanted to bring her a bag as a peace offering.
He reached the pub a few minutes later. He knew it was the slow part of the day for the busy restaurant, so his chances of getting to talk to Vivian were moderately good.
He cleared his throat nervously the moment he stepped inside the pub, even though there was no one in the immediate vicinity to greet him.
The pub seemed to be fairly empty of customers, even more than usual for a weekday afternoon. He frowned a little, wondering why the pub was particularly slow that day. It couldn’t be the weather making people unwilling to travel, since it was one of the nicest days they’d had since October.
He caught sight of Vivian a moment later as she walked across the dining room carrying a tray of dirty dishes. She was frowning and looking down at the floor as she walked, so he called to her to get her attention.
“Vivian!” She turned, almost startled, and her eyes widened a little when she saw him. For a moment, they stood there staring at each other. Terrence cleared his throat again, wondering if she was very angry with him. He couldn’t read her expression.
“Hi, Terrence. Are you here for lunch?”
He shook his head. “I already ate. Tuna fish.”
Stop telling her unnecessary details, Terrence, she’s a busy woman , he scolded himself.
“Oh. Um.” She brushed back strands of sweaty hair from her forehead. Vivian was usually well put together, but today she looked a little untidy. Terrence didn’t find her any less attractive however, and he found himself worrying that there was something else wrong in addition to the fact that she was upset with him. She seemed unusually stressed. “Then what are you doing here?” She winced a little after she spoke, as if she hadn’t meant for her words to be so terse.
“Just, um, visiting,” he said, shifting the bag filled with coffee that he had tucked under his arm. She still hadn’t ordered him out of the pub or anything like that, and he considered that to be a good sign.
“Oh.” A corner of her mouth curved upward.
She was smiling. That was definitely a good sign.
“Is that coffee?” she asked, pointing to the bag under his arm.
He drew it out a bit sheepishly. “It is. I brought another Maple Leaf roast for you to try. Vanilla buttercream. It’s one of my favorites. I thought you might like to try it.”
Her smile became even wider. “Vanilla buttercream? That does sound delicious. I would love to try it, thank you, Terrence.”
All at once he felt as light as a feather, and a big smile sprang onto his face. “Since there’s a lull in business right now, why don’t you go take a break? I’ll make a pot of this coffee and bring you a cup.”
“I—all right.” She smiled, but this time her smile looked forced. “I guess I am pretty tired. Thank you, Terrence. I’ll be in the office. I know you know your way there.” There was a slight twinkle in her eyes then, and he suspected she was thinking about his first visit to the pub as a health inspector, when the two of them had clashed on the subject of getting the air vents fixed.
“Certainly.” He nodded and smiled at her. “One cup of vanilla buttercream coffee, coming right up.”
She gave him a gesture of thanks and disappeared into the kitchen. Terrence turned around and made a beeline for the coffee maker, feeling strangely cheerful. He was glad that Vivian was allowing him to make her coffee. Even though she wasn’t acting particularly friendly, he felt as though the door had been reopened to him, metaphorically speaking.
As soon as the coffee was finished brewing, he poured a cup for Vivian. He knew she preferred a splash of cream, so he added it carefully to the cup.
“There,” he murmured. “That looks good.”
He carried the cup through the kitchen to Vivian’s office. She was sitting at her desk, staring out the window with a distracted expression on her face.
“I brought you the coffee,” he said as he stepped through the doorway. “I hope you enjoy it.”
She blinked at him, as if she was slowly coming back to reality after being deeply lost in thought. “Thank you. It’s very sweet of you.”
“Anytime,” he assured her warmly.
Vivian moved slowly as she picked up the coffee cup. He wondered if she might be getting sick—her movements implied a kind of heaviness or fatigue. She took a sip of the coffee and immediately burst into tears.
“Oh!” he stammered, immediately reaching for his pocket handkerchief. “I’m so sorry—is it really that bad? I know I’m not a pro at using these commercial coffee makers, but I think I operated it correctly?—”
“It’s not that.” Vivian hiccupped as she cried. She shook her head. He handed her the pocket handkerchief and she dabbed her eyes with it. “You were right. I should have listened to you about Alan. The McCormicks have completely copied our menu at their new restaurant in the brewery, and apparently they have a sauce that’s exactly like our secret sauce. It’s my fault—I told Alan that the secret ingredient is cinnamon.”
As soon as she said the words her eyes widened and she blinked at Terrence in dismay, as if she’d just accidentally let slip a government secret.
He chuckled. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. I won’t tell a soul.”
She sighed but gave him a watery smile. “I should have guarded our secret recipes more closely. I never dreamed that Al—that anyone would stoop that low. Or have such a mean intention to begin with.”
He nodded, his heart twisting with sympathy for her. Even though he didn’t like Alan and he was glad of the news that Vivian was no longer interested in him romantically, he hated that she’d gotten hurt. He wished that things had worked out differently, for her sake.
“And I’m afraid,” she said, twisting the handkerchief in her fingers. “I’m worried that their new place will turn out to be more popular than ours and they’ll end up taking all our business away—or at least most of it. Without enough customers, we’ll lose our business.”
Terrence stepped closer to her and put an arm around her. He could hardly believe he was being so forward, but she clearly needed a shoulder to cry on. “I wouldn’t worry. I think everything will work out just fine. You have loyal customers who aren’t going to stop coming to you just because the McCormick brewery is offering the same kind of food. And besides, I believe in you. You’ve faced trials before and pulled through just fine. You and your kids are going to figure this out, I have no doubt. And I’d like to do whatever I can to help.”
Vivian’s eyes filled with tears again, but now she was smiling. “Thank you, Terrence. You helped us at Christmas, and now you’re helping me again by looking out for me like this. And the coffee!” She held up the cup with a breathless laugh. “You’ve been so kind. I feel as though I haven’t been appreciating your friendship as much as I should have been. I was… distracted.”
“Got blinded by that car salesman’s flashy grin, huh?”
She groaned. “Ugh, his smile and the way he made me feel like I was the only person he was thinking about. He’s so… charming. I guess that’s salesmanship, though. He knows how to make people feel special so that they’ll do what he wants.” She shook her head. “I was a bit blinded by the attention he was paying to me, and I missed the red flags. I acted just like some silly schoolgirl who didn’t know any better.”
“Maybe you didn’t know any better,” Terrence said gently. “You think well of people. You expect the people around you to have good hearts, and to be worthy of your time and trust. It’s not a bad outlook to have. I hope you never lose it. You just need to rely on the people around you, who have your back and might notice things you don’t.”
She patted his hand. “I should have listened to you about Alan. You’re right—you had my back, and you were only trying to look out for me. Thank you for being such a good friend. I don’t deserve your friendship, not after I was so dismissive of your reasonable concerns. I was a little rude to you, and I’m sorry for that.”
He shook his head. “No, I understand how you felt. It wasn’t really my business—and I didn’t have any kind of proof, so I might have been wrong. I just wish I’d noticed how suspicious he was and thought to say something to you sooner. Then I might have been able to prevent all this.”
“I should have been able to prevent all of it too. I let myself get stardust in my eyes.”
“Don’t blame yourself for what that man did.” Terrence’s frustration with Alan came out in his tone, and he looked out the window with a frown on his face. “He should never have led you on like that. He wanted you to misinterpret his interest, he did that on purpose. Especially with that bouquet of flowers. I just wish that you’d known right from the start what I did—that he was never good enough for you.”
A soft smile spread across Vivian’s face, and she looked down at the handkerchief in her hands, blushing slightly. “That’s very sweet of you to say, thank you, Terrence. Maybe—maybe the two of us could reset and start our friendship over. I would like to keep spending time with you, the way we have been.” She looked up at him and her smile widened.
“Yes, Vivian, I’d like that very much,” he said, grinning at her almost boyishly. He cleared his throat. “I’ve very much enjoyed having someone to share my love of coffee with.”
She laughed. “Your love of coffee has helped the pub improve. Now our coffee is significantly better than it was—and customers have been commenting on it.”
“Really now?” He felt pleased by that information. “I feel honored to have been able to help. The Lighthouse Grill is my favorite place in town.”
Vivian’s eyes filled with tears, which she quickly blinked back. “This whole experience, as awful as it has been, has taught me something. I should make sure to keep the good people in my life and kick out the ones who aren’t kind—even if they might seem charming. And it’s very clear to me that you’re one of the good people.”
He was touched by her words, and he felt a kind of rushing feeling in his heart. “Of course. That is, I mean that—well, I want to be one of the people that supports you, Vivian. I’m happy to be your friend.”
She beamed up at him, and he smiled down at her, feeling as light as a feather. He found himself greatly looking forward to getting to spend time with her without the cloud of Alan Gifford’s presence looming over him.
“Thank you again,” she said softly, brushing her hair back behind her ear in a gesture that was almost shy.
He just nodded at her. He didn’t want to open his mouth, in case he blurted out how much he was interested in her romantically, and he didn’t think it was the right time for that. After all, he was still simply rejoicing that she was no longer angry with him after their tense conversation.
“Don’t forget about your coffee,” he said finally. “You wouldn’t want it to get cold.”
“Is lukewarm coffee against health code regulations?”
“Oh, of course.”
They shared a laugh, and Terrence thought to himself that he wanted to make her laugh all the time.