Chapter 39
Madison
The bell over the door at The Beanery chimed as I pushed inside, the familiar aroma of coffee and vanilla already wrapping around me.
The morning rush had just tapered off, and sunlight streamed through the tall front windows, painting the wooden floors in warm gold.
I had always loved this place, even back in high school, before Evie bought it and turned it into what it was now, cozy, bright, and always buzzing with life.
Evie stood behind the counter with her hair twisted into a loose bun, wiping down the espresso machine with a rag. She looked up when she saw me, her smile widening. “Well, if it isn’t the girl I’ve been dying to see. You’re glowing, Mads. Spill.”
I laughed, pulling my apron from the hook and tying it around my waist. “Good morning to you too.”
“Don’t good morning me. You think I haven’t heard?” She leaned on the counter, eyes sparkling. “Blair texted me last night. Said her brother finally did something right for once.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “Blair needs to mind her own business.”
Evie smirked. “Best friends do not mind their business ever. So, it’s true?”
I busied myself at the register, straightening the tip jar. “We kissed. That’s all.”
“That’s all?” she repeated, her voice rising with mock outrage. “Madison Cole, I’ve been waiting years for someone to get past Seth Cunningham’s stone walls, and it’s you! You don’t get to shrug that off like it’s nothing.”
My lips tugged into a reluctant smile. “It wasn’t nothing. It was… more than I expected.”
Evie’s grin softened into something gentler. “Good. You deserve more than you expected.”
Before I could answer, the door opened and a pair of regulars came in, keeping us busy for the next half hour.
I lost myself in the rhythm of steaming milk and scribbling orders, but every time the bell over the door chimed, my mind wandered back to last night on the porch.
The quiet, the flutter in my stomach, the weight of Seth’s hand against my cheek.
By the time my shift wound down, Olive had colored her way through half a stack of scrap paper at the back table.
She bounded up to the counter as I untied my apron.
“Mommy, look! I made a garden.” She held up a page filled with purple and yellow flowers, all of them taller than stick-figure versions of us.
Evie leaned over the counter to admire it. “That is beautiful, Olive. You’re quite the artist.”
Olive beamed, then looked up at me with wide eyes. “Do I get to stay here with Miss Evie tonight?”
I brushed her curls back from her face. “If you want to. Uncle Seth asked if he could take me out to dinner after work.”
Her grin widened. “A date?”
I blinked. “Where did you learn that word?”
“Aunt Blair,” she answered matter-of-factly, making Evie snort with laughter.
Evie came around the counter, crouching down to Olive’s level. “We’re going to have so much fun tonight. You can help me make cookies in the kitchen, and then you can sleep in the little loft upstairs. It will be like a sleepover.”
Olive clapped her hands. “Cookies!”
My chest eased as I watched her, the way she trusted Evie so easily, the way her excitement outweighed any nerves I might have had about leaving her. “Thank you,” I murmured to Evie.
She straightened, her expression softening. “Of course. You need this, Mads. And Seth…” Her eyes sparkled again. “Well, he needs this, too. He’s different when you’re around, you know. Lighter. I think you both deserve to see where this goes.”
I nodded, my throat tightening with both nerves and anticipation. “I hope you’re right.”
As I gathered my things, Olive skipped off with Evie toward the back, chattering about cookie flavors and sprinkles. I paused by the door, looking back at the coffee shop that had always been a constant in my life, and felt something I hadn’t in a long time.
Hope.
And maybe, just maybe, tonight would be the start of something real.