Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Was it possible she missed him?
Monday morning, Abby told herself she was being ridiculous. It was just that she hadn’t been on a date in a while. She really needed to get a social life, but it seemed like there was always something at the coffeeshop that needed her attention.
Just that morning, at the end of the morning rush, the espresso machine fizzled out again. She had no idea what Brad had done to fix it. She thought about phoning him to ask, but she couldn’t bring herself to make the call—of giving him the impression that she needed his help.
Now she was alone in the small office at the back of the coffeeshop, trying to find some money to replace the vital piece of equipment. The only thing she could do was to put it on her credit card, but she was hesitant to do so.
She prided herself on keeping a zero balance on her one and only credit card. After all, the interest rate was through the roof. But she couldn’t do business without an espresso machine.
Knock-knock.
Abby glanced up. “Come in.”
Mia poked her head in. “You’re needed out front.”
“Don’t tell me something else broke?”
Mia grinned. “No. They need your signature for a delivery.”
Abby arched a brow. “Why can’t you sign?”
“Would you just come out here?” Mia left the door ajar as she walked away.
Abby had no idea why Mia was making such a big deal out of a coffee order. When Abby stepped into the front of the coffeeshop, she found it wasn’t their normal delivery person. In fact, it wasn’t even the same shipping company.
From the uniform the guy was wearing, she realized this shipper rarely ventured into Bayberry. So, what were they doing here this morning? And why were they asking for her?
She stepped up to the young man. “I’m Abby Clark. Can I help you?”
He held out the black electronic pad. “I need you to sign this.”
She shook her head. “I’m not signing anything until you tell me what this is about.”
“I have a delivery for you.”
“But I didn’t order anything.” At least not anything special that would require him to deliver it.
“I don’t know what to tell you.” The guy looked a bit flustered. “Your name and address are on the shipping invoice.”
There had to be a mix-up. That had to be the answer. “Are you sure it’s my name and this address?”
“It’s all right here.” He once more offered her the black plastic device.
This time she accepted the device. When she looked at the little screen, it did indeed have her name. It even included the name of the Steaming Brew. And the street address was correct.
Her gaze rose to meet the man’s. “Can you tell me what the delivery is?”
The man shook his head and then made a point of checking his watch. “Either sign for the delivery, or I’ll have to take it with me.”
Of course, he had a job to do. Now that she knew the delivery was meant for her, she signed for it. When the man went outside to get it, she glanced around and noticed that she’d gained quite an audience, which included her couple of employees.
Feeling awkward under their stares, she said, “Doesn’t anyone have any work to do?”
“No” came the collective response.
She sighed. She had no doubt this delivery was going to be a part of today’s gossip. Bayberry always had to have something to talk about.
She glanced around and spotted Esther Holmes and Marla Johnson. They were two of Bayberry’s biggest gossips. They were both staring at the door as their mouths moved non-stop.
When the door opened, silence fell over the coffeeshop. It must be a really slow Monday if everyone was this invested in her delivery.
Kate stepped inside and came to an immediate halt when she noticed everyone staring at her. Her gaze moved around the seating area until it came to rest on Abby.
Kate approached her. “What’s going on?”
Abby shrugged. “I have a delivery.”
“I saw the truck out front.” Kate glanced over at the patrons, who were still focused on the front door. “Is that why everyone is staring at the door?”
Abby shrugged. “I guess so.”
Kate sent her a puzzled look. “Well, what is the delivery?”
“That’s just it. I don’t know. I didn’t order anything.”
Kate’s brows drew together. “Oh.” She paused as though giving the situation some thought. “Are you sure you didn’t order something on the spur of the moment and forgot about it?”
“I’m positive.” She accounted for everything she spent.
The door opened, and everyone turned to see the delivery guy maneuvered a dolly with a large cardboard box on it.
Warning bells started going off in her head.
For something to be that large, it had to be expensive.
And she didn’t even want to imagine how much it was going to cost for her to return it.
The guy placed the large package on the floor at the end of the counter. Her staff rushed forward to check out the box while Abby rushed after the delivery guy. “Hey, wait.”
Just as she was about to tell him to take it away, Mia called out, “It’s a new espresso machine.”
Abby stopped in the doorway. The customers started to cheer. It appeared they were none too happy about their coffees that morning.
Abby said to no one in particular, “But I didn’t order this.”
The delivery guy shrugged as he crossed the sidewalk. “All I do is deliver what I’m told. Maybe it’s a late Christmas present.”
As nice as that sounded, she was certain that wasn’t the case. In a jiff, the delivery guy shut the back door on his yellow truck, and he drove off.
She turned back to the box. There was a picture on the side.
The espresso machine looked like it had all of the bells and whistles that anyone could want.
That could only mean one thing—it was expensive.
The more she looked at the box, the more she was convinced that it was outside her modest budget.
“Who would send this?” She uttered it more to herself than anyone else.
“Maybe this will help.” Mia handed her a white envelope.
Abby took it and noticed her name on it. “Where did this come from?”
Mia pointed at the box. “It was taped on the side.”
Curiosity had Abby ripping open the envelope. She pulled out a piece of paper.
I didn’t think my bandage would hold up for long, so I thought this might come in handy. After all, I’m going to want a good cup of coffee when I visit again.
B
“Who is B?” Kate had been reading over her shoulder. A moment passed, and then she uttered, “It’s Brad.”
“Shh...” Abby glanced over, but it was too late.
Esther and Marla already had their phones out. One was busy typing, and did Marla just take a photo of her standing next to the box. Really?
“What should we do with it?” Mia asked.
Abby’s first instinct was to return it. After all, she couldn’t accept such an extravagant gift from Brad. What was he thinking?
“I’m returning it.” It was the only reasonable thing to do.
“What? No,” Esther said.
“You can’t,” Marla said.
“We need it,” Mia said.
Her other regular customers threw out their protests as did her other employee.
Kate leaned over. “From what I hear, you do need a new machine. Would it be so bad to keep it?”
She thought about Brad and the kiss they’d shared. It wasn’t like they were just friends. Still, it was just a kiss. Maybe she was making too much of it.
And everyone was right. She needed a new machine as soon as possible. Her thoughts see-sawed back and forth.
A thought came to her. “I’ll be back.”
“But what about the espresso machine?” Mia asked. “Can we unpack it?”
“No. Push it off to the side—out of the way. I’ll be back.”
Once she was in her office, she read the note again. Why would Brad send her something so extravagant?
She pulled up his number on her phone and dialed.
On the second ring, Brad picked up. “Good morning.”
Skipping over the pleasantries, she said, “Why was there an espresso machine delivered to my coffeeshop?”
There was a deep, rich chuckle on the other end of the phone that caused her heart to flutter. “Is this the way you thank everyone who sends you a gift?”
“No. Just from people who have no business sending me gifts.”
“Well, I saw the condition of your machine, and I didn’t think it was going to last for long, even with my intervention. I thought the new machine might come in handy. By the way, is the old machine still working?”
A frown pulled at her face. It was like he already knew the answer.
“Abby? Is it still working?”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “No. It died this morning.”
“Then the new one arrived just in time.”
“But...”
“Abby, just say thank you.”
“But...”
“There are no strings attached. I promise.”
“Would you let me speak?” Her words were rushed as she tried to squeeze them in between his words.
“Okay...”
“I can’t accept it,” she said firmly.
“Sure, you can.”
“Brad, that machine must cost a small fortune. You didn’t even get a cheap one. That one is the top of the line.” She knew because she checked it out at one point and imagined being able to purchase it for her coffeeshop.
“I wanted a machine with good reviews,” he said matter-of-factly. “They say it is very reliable and should last you for a long while.”
Abby worried her bottom lip. She would be foolish to return something that her business desperately needed. Then she had another thought. “Fine. I’ll accept it...”
“That’s good. I’m looking forward to having an eggnog latte.”
“I only have that at Christmastime.”
“Then it’s a date.”
His choice of words caught her off-guard. It took her a second to recall what she’d been about to say. “I’ll accept it on one condition.”
“And what would that be?”
“That I pay you back.”
This time it was Brad who paused. “You don’t have to do that. The point of a gift is that you don’t owe anything in exchange.”
“But this isn’t a gift. It’s a loan that I will pay you back over time.”
“And if I don’t accept your terms?”
“Then I will be shipping it back to you.”
“What am I supposed to do with a commercial espresso machine? I’m sure it won’t fit in my kitchen.”
“I don’t know. That’s your problem. So, which shall it be? Do you want the machine or my repayment?”
There was a long pause. She knew he was trying to figure out some sort of rebuttal. He sighed. “Fine. If you must pay for it, I accept your terms. I just have one question.”
“What’s that?”
“Do you do this when someone gives you a birthday present?”
“It’s not my birthday…yet.”
“We could pretend that it is.”
“I don’t think so.”
“As much fun as this conversation is, I have to get to a meeting.”
“Brad?” She wasn’t sure if he was still on the line.
“Yes.”
“Thank you. It was very thoughtful of you.”
The line was silent again. And she started to wonder if he’d hung up.
She was about to disconnect the call when he said, “You’re welcome.”
And then the line clicked, and he was gone. It was only then that she smiled.
She couldn’t believe he’d done something so kind. It truly was very thoughtful. He was certainly turning out to be different from her first impression of him.
But she wasn’t going to fall for him. She knew how painful long-distance relationships could be. The espresso machine was just a friendly gesture—a very friendly gesture.
Needing to set up boundaries, she pulled up an app and sent him her first payment on the espresso machine.
A couple of minutes later her phone chimed. She lifted it up and saw a message from Brad.
Was that really necessary?
She sent back a single word answer: yes. Her response was accompanied with a smiley face.
The deal was almost complete.
The beginning of February rolled around quickly. Brad had been busy, between the cyber breach and the fact that they were buying a magazine. Rumor Quill was expanding. They needed a way to get more eyes on their articles.
And a magazine had a longer shelf life than a newspaper. The meeting to close the deal was on Friday. Now he just had to get Reed to the meeting. As they were co-owners, it would take both of their signatures to close this deal.
Both he and Reed had been working on this deal for close to a year. And at last, it was going to be a reality.
He reached for his phone and dialed. On the third ring, Reed picked up. “What’s the word?”
“Great news. The attorneys went over the contract with a fine-tooth comb and didn’t find anything wrong with it. All it needs is our signatures on Friday afternoon. Tell me that’s doable.”
“Uh…”
“Reed, don’t tell me that you’re having second thoughts about the deal.”
“That’s not it. I was supposed to do some wedding planning stuff with Sadie this weekend.”
Brad had an idea. “Why don’t you bring her along?”
There was a pause as though Reed was considering the suggestion. “I don’t know. What’s she going to do while we’re working?”
He had a good point. And if Sadie was waiting around, Reed was going to be distracted the whole time. Brad gave the situation some more thought.
And then a plan came to him. He wasn’t sure it was his best idea, but if it helped the situation, then it would be worth it.
“Why don’t you invite Abby too? Then the ladies can go sightseeing while we do some business.” Another thought hit him. “You could make a weekend of it. The big game is on Sunday.”
“It is tradition that we watch it together.” Reed hesitated. “I’ll definitely be there, but I don’t know about Sadie. Let me talk to her, and I’ll get back to you.”
Brad thought about reminding him to invite Abby, too, but he knew Reed would read too much into it. And that was the last thing he wanted. Because there was absolutely nothing between him and Abby. It was just that she always made things interesting. Life with Abby around was never boring.
They talked a little bit of business and then Reed said, “I’ll see if Sadie will invite Abby. But I’m not promising anything.”
“Promising?” Brad was caught off-guard. He thought he’d covered pretty well. “I don’t care if Abby comes with you guys or not.”
“Uh-huh. Sure you don’t.” Reed chuckled.
Feeling a need to justify his suggestion to invite Abby, Brad said, “I only mentioned her because you were worried about Sadie being alone.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Dude, would you stop that?”
“Stop what?”
“Acting like there’s something going on between me and Abby, because there’s not. There never was.”
“I don’t know. You two put on quite a believable act before the engagement party. I think you even started to believe it.”
Brad rubbed the back of his neck where his muscles were all stiff. Why did Reed have to go and ruin this moment?
“I’m not going to argue with you,” Brad said. “I’ll see you Friday.” As he went to disconnect the call, he could hear Reed’s laughter.
After the call ended, Brad turned his desk chair toward the window and stared out over Chicago. His thoughts drifted back to the engagement party. Maybe things had gotten a little too real between him and Abby. That would explain his desire to kiss her.
But that was then, and this was now. He had enough perspective now to admit the kiss was a mistake. And there wasn’t going to be a repeat.