Chapter 12 Lady Hawk
The Black Cat was bursting every morning and throughout the day, even when they didn't typically have a rush.
Now that the patio was in full swing, tables filled inside and out, Eloise told Shellee they might need to think of getting creative to add space.
Shellee's delight was palpable, and Eloise's knack for business and growth mixed with creativity gave her bubbles of excitement.
The alley behind the shop was wider than most in town and the wall that it ran parallel to was an old garden wall covered in ivy and the tops of trees poured over the wall's top on the other side, which sat about twelve feet high.
She could fit ten more tables out here, add string lights above, and some more potted plants.
She spent time sitting on a lone chair she pulled out there for breaks, drinking a con panna and sketching it out.
"Hey El," Bess's dark head poked out the back door.
"Hey babe, what's up?"
"There's inventory that needs your signature."
"Be right in," she said as she closed her notebook and took another look around. They would have to do something with the large trash bin and the smell. But this could work. She'd need to put it through town zoning, but she had been there before and knew the red tape involved.
When she found Ursula sitting in one of the pink velvet, high-backed chairs at the end of the bar her mouth split into a large smile. Next to her was Jen, her braided hair twisted onto the top of her head, making her slender neck look positively regal.
"Damn, it's good to see you," she said, leaning over the bar. "Being a grown-up and seeing your favorite people at a place you love working at has got to be in the top ten best things."
Jen lifted her pink glass, shaking it. "And a pink glass filled with an iced cinnamon latte. If you wanted to get me another, I would not be upset with you."
"On it," Bess called from behind her.
"Thank you, baby," Jen said.
"So what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Jen and I are working out a business deal for brown bags of my produce for her clients," Ursula said. She had a notebook, that Eloise knew had beautiful and colorful plants on the cover.
"Nice and smart. Your client list is really growing," she said to her friend. Ursula's face took on a beam of pride and it made something warm fill Eloise's ribcage.
"We should go out and celebrate, new business deals, growing cafe," Jen said then leaned over lowering her voice conspiratorially, "I got another date with the hot redhead."
Eloise and Ursula made oohing sounds as Bess set down a fresh pink glass in front of Jen.
"Hot redhead, huh?" Bess asked. "So, what's your type?"
Jen made a knowing face. "Emotionally available."
They laughed with full understanding.
"I thought dating women would make that easier," Bess's perplexed look made Jen smile.
She was wearing a black cropped sweater and loose jeans that Eloise noticed looked more loose than usual.
Ursula confided in Eloise the other night that she was worried about her, about rumors and kids in school talking about her.
Bess had started becoming less open, less vocal.
Her usual ease around them diminished and she was keeping to her room more, or the greenhouse with a cat and a book.
"Believe it or not, lesbian does not automatically mean they're better at the emotional baggage than men." She smiled with a humorless laugh and added, "In fact, sometimes it means a whole lot more emotional baggage with a lot less stability."
"Dang," Bess said, then turned her head when an irritated Tess called for her motioning to the line forming at the front. "Alright, well, duty calls. You really need to hire someone and fast, El. Too many people like us."
She laughed and saluted the teen as she joined Tess. Eloise watched her thoughtfully. No eye roll. No snarky remark. She wondered when, or if, she should sit her down and see what she could draw out from her. Or leave it to Ursula, which seemed like the wiser choice.
"Alright, so celebration at The Dancing Snail?" Ursula asked pulling her back to her friends. "And you can tell us all about your hot redhead."
"You are on. I'll text the others."
"Did you all get a call from an SPD officer to talk about those boys again?" Jen asked.
Ursula and Eloise checked with each other before both shaking their heads.
"They want me to come down and talk to them."
"Seriously? They still think we have anything to do with that twerp, who honestly deserved it?"
"Maybe you should stop referring to him as a twerp who deserved it and they'll move on," Ursula urged.
Eloise's catlike smile made Ursula roll her eyes.
"Again, I only have said it in the privacy of our house, or," she looked around at the full cafe then back at Ursula and Jen who were giving her a look. "Okay, I'll stop saying it. But my question stands."
"I don't know. should I cooperate or ignore them?"
"Up to you. We're innocent but cops can be tricky asshats that like to withhold important tidbits like your rights when it suits them, " Eloise said.
"Ouch," came a deep voice turning three heads toward someone standing at the end of the bar waiting for his drink. He was far enough away to be considered respectful, but close enough to have heard Eloise.
The detective stood there with a dimpled smile and clear blue eyes and an expecting look on his face.
"You weren't meant to hear that," Eloise said.
Jen smiled and excused herself to use the restroom and Ursula leaned over the bar to kiss her cheek before she left to fill orders. "You leaving soon?"
Eloise nodded to Ursula and promised to help her with gardening.
"I'm waiting," the detective said with his arms crossed.
"They'll get you your drink but remember it will take more than the thirty seconds it takes to pour the burnt coffee-flavored water the diner serves."
"I meant, I'm waiting for an apology about cops being asshats who withhold important tidbits when it suits them."
"Tricky asshats," she corrected.
"Oh, much better."
She took his drink from Tess, who looked frazzled and like she hadn't run a brush through her hair in a couple of days. When she handed it to him she said, "I deeply apologize for my correct synopsis of a lot of cops."
He barked out a laugh as he took the drink, being careful to keep his fingers from brushing hers, or so she thought. "That was a terrible apology."
"And you won't get one unless I have a decidedly different experience with one."
"You're bruising my very fragile heart," he said, placing a hand over his chest.
She laughed. "I doubt that."
"What, that my heart is fragile or that you're bruising it?"
"Pick one. Or both. I stand by it." She hadn't seen the detective act in any particularly unkind way, in fact, he had been empathetic and kinder than most, but he still worked for the police who seemed to think they had something to do with those kids.
And to her knowledge they hadn't done anything about the bullying of Bess who was becoming less and less herself each day.
"I like you," he said simply. It wasn't said in a flirtatious way.
He said it like he had just made a decision.
Like when someone decides that they like jelly-filled donuts after being unsure.
"Will you wait for me to get this magical coffee I have heard about no less than six times, and let me walk you home? "
She frowned pointing to the pink cup with the black cat logo in his hand. "Isn't that your coffee?"
"Nope," he said, the 'p' landing on a pop.
She sighed. "You really need to learn to not just go with the flow when something not meant for you comes your way, detective." She mimicked his deep voice saying, "No, this isn't my coffee. No, I'm not your date even though you're absolutely luminous."
He smiled handing the cup back to her, his eyes bright. "Let me walk you home," he repeated and held up a hand in placating peace. "No cop talk, I promise."
She let out a little puff of breath and pointed to the patio where every wrought-iron table had at least one person sitting. "I will be out there," she said as she rounded the bar and walked toward the front door. "You tell Bess I told her to get you a coffee lickety-split."
The dimple flashed. "Deal." Then his smile faltered after looking at the frowning teenager and said, "Actually, she kind of scares me. I will be patient." His voice was lowered conspiratorially and Eloise nodded with a serious face.
"Smart," she agreed. "But tell her not to skip any steps!
" she called after him as she opened the door and walked into the sunshine.
She shook her head and looked around. She wanted to sit.
She'd been standing and running around the cafe since five this morning and it was after one now.
No empty tables were found when she looked again and she gestured to an empty chair across from a woman with short, brown hair typing on her laptop.
She waved a hand magnanimously before going back to her work.
She sat down and pulled out her phone to find messages from the coven, a name Ursula urged her not to call them but lost the battle.
"Are you Ursula Cambridge's sister?" the short-haired woman asked with a slight frown. She was a very serious-looking woman with very straight eyebrows and a pointed chin that probably made her look more serious and judgemental than she was.
"Oh, not sister, but best friend. Yes. I'm Eloise," she said with an inviting smile. "Though, we've been friends for so long and through so many life events that collectively when you put the pieces together I have probably seen her fully naked."
The woman looked at her like she was crazy.
"That was a weird thing to say to a stranger, I apologize. What was your name?"
But the very serious woman who probably wasn't as judgemental as her facial features would have you believe shook her head without answering and went back to whatever was on her laptop.