Chapter 17
17
C offee Loft has certainly unleashed my taste for premium coffee. Step aside, Starbux. This shop around the corner is the only place worth their weight in beans . ~ Me she knew barista jobs were plentiful around the area.
“I just don’t know how I’ll get to where I want to be while I’m in my current situation.”
Ginger tucked the last packet of hot chocolate into a bag, then closed it .
“Let me think on this some. I’m sure we’ll find a solution to make you happy, at least temporarily.”
Alice thanked her as her eyes shone with teary emotion. “Thank you. Merris said this place was amazing. I really want to soak up as much as I can, you know, so I learn everything there is to know about the coffee business.”
Ginger carried the box loaded with the giveaway samples back to her office, stewing about Alice’s situation. She set the box on her desk and picked up her phone to check for messages. It was an email notification that made her stop in her tracks.
From the Greenhaven Economic Council.
Her breath stuttered to a stop.
The Forty Under Forty Award . She didn’t expect to hear for another week at least.
She eased herself into her chair, taking a deep breath.
D ear Ms. Giatti:
Thank you for providing us with your portfolio for the Forty Under Forty Award. After careful consideration of the ninety-seven applications, we’re pleased to inform you that you have been selected as one of the top five candidates. The honor of being short-listed ?
S he pumped her fist. Yesss!
And even if she didn’t make it to the top spot, the two-thousand-dollar grant for second- through fifth-place finishers would help her expansion plan.
The first person she thought to share the news with was Cal.
She scrolled through her contacts until she came to his name.
And froze.
Three little letters. C-A-L.
So much weight attached to so small a name.
What would they say to each other after she told him the news and he congratulated her? There was so much to say, but she didn’t know how to even begin. Not when what had happened yesterday stood between them like a two-ton elephant with heart emojis for eyes.
No, she’d wait to tell him the news. Her heart might be ready but it still had some reconciling to do with her head. Thanks, Marco .
She pressed a hand against her chest, her heart beating against her palm.
It was safest that way.