Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
It took only one sip of his spiced latte for Shane to admit that he had been totally off base when he’d worried that Magnolia Shore didn’t have good coffee shops.
It wasn’t a pumpkin spiced latte, the woman behind the counter had warned him.
There was no pumpkin in the latte at all.
She was saving that for the pumpkin pie latte closer to Thanksgiving.
This was more apple-inspired spices… though, she cautioned again, as if she worried that he was planning an interrogation, there was no actual apple in it either.
Just cinnamon, caramel, and a hint of allspice.
Shane was not going to ask any questions at all. In fact, he was going to come in here every day and order whatever special they had on order, because this was delicious.
Ten minutes at Juniper Café and he was practically ready to move in. Who needed a job or a house? He could be perfectly happy living right here, on this cozy, overstuffed armchair, so long as he kept getting some of these sublime coffees.
He took another sip, savoring it, and then opened his copy of Six Ways to Determine Your Career’s Next Steps.
He had brought it here this morning, hoping to make himself keep reading.
Over the last few days, he had learned that it was far too easy to get distracted from this text when there was the siren’s song of all the other titles Eleanor offered calling to him from downstairs in the bookshop.
He’d read two science fiction titles in the past few days, a reading speed he hadn’t achieved since childhood, but he’d only made it about thirty pages into this self-help book.
He'd hoped that the café, with its comparatively limited reading options, would force him to buckle down and really think about what he wanted next.
A few days in Magnolia Shore had proven clarifying in some ways.
He’d found, for example, that he didn’t miss coding, at least not yet.
His finger didn’t itch to get back to a keyboard, the way that they always had when he’d been a teenager.
Back then, any time spent doing anything other than working on computers had felt like a waste.
Now, time spent not at his computer felt like a gift.
But he also wasn’t ready to abandon the career he’d built over the last two decades, at least not entirely. He had to figure out balance between starting over and finding a shift that left him feeling a little less in a rut.
Okay. He could do this. He opened the book.
A good way to think about your next career step is to reflect on what really inspires you, the book recommended.
Shane closed it with a frown.
“Thanks for that advice,” he muttered sarcastically to the cover, which seemed to be mocking him with its bold, confident font. Reflect on what inspired him? He didn’t know; that was the whole problem.
He took another sip of his drink, which did admittedly help his mood. This coffee inspired him, but he did not feel that he wanted to shift his career to being a barista. And goodness knew he would not make a good coffee shop owner, not now that he knew the perfect coffee shop already existed.
He slumped back in his chair. Gosh, it was a perfect chair too. Perfect chair, perfect coffee.
Maybe, if he was going to get his reading done, he was going to have to go force himself somewhere with no distraction and no comforts. Like one of those ancient monks who sat for days in the rain to meditate.
He gave up that thought almost as soon as he’d had it. He’d lived in California for too long. He was not equipped to handle any more rain than a sprinkle.
Though Shane was far from needing any more distractions in his day, he sat up cheerfully when the door to the café opened and Eleanor’s friend Diana came in, followed by a man and a child who looked to be about nine or so years old, not that he considered himself a terribly good judge.
She spotted him at once, then smiled and waved.
“Shane, hey,” she said, crossing to him. “How are you? Have you met my boyfriend, Anthony, and his daughter, Eloise?”
“Boyfriend and girlfriend,” Eloise teased in a sing-song voice, causing her father to tug at one of her pigtails playfully before extending a hand for Shane to shake.
“I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure,” he said. “I’m Anthony Whitaker.”
“Shane Ridley,” Shane replied. “You probably know my sister, Eleanor.”
Eloise’s eyes went wide. “Ms. Eleanor is your sister?” she said, sounding extremely impressed. “Did you know that she owns her own bookstore? And she lives there too! It’s the coolest.”
Shane grinned at her exuberance. “I did know that. And you want to know something even cooler?”
Eloise nodded emphatically, so Shane waved her forward like he was about to impart a secret.
“I’m staying there too, while I visit,” he said in a mock-whisper.
Eloise gave him a skeptical look. “That is pretty cool,” she admitted. “But it’s definitely not cooler than living there forever. Sorry.”
“Eloise!” her father said in a protesting chuckle.
Eloise held up her hands in defense. “I said sorry,” she pointed out. “And you said it’s always important to tell the truth!”
“She’s got you there,” Diana teased her boyfriend.
Shane laughed. “And you do have a point,” he said to the little girl. “Staying at a bookstore for a little while is way less cool than staying forever.”
“It’s still cool, though,” she reassured him. “You should tell all your friends when you go back home.”
“Speaking of,” Diana interjected. “How long are you staying? I don’t think Eleanor said.”
“Eleanor doesn’t know,” he admitted. “I don’t really know yet. I’m taking a mini sabbatical from work, and I have enough time off built up that I’m confident that Eleanor will get sick of me long before my job forces me to come back.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Diana said. “She’s talked a lot about getting you to come visit. If I were you, I’d be worried that she’s never going to let you leave.”
“Now that I’ve had this coffee,” Shane replied, hefting his cup in illustration, “that’s less of a threat than you might think.”
“While you’re here,” Anthony chimed in, “we should all grab dinner sometime. Eloise and I haven’t been in Magnolia Shore that long either, so we can give you the ‘new to town’ nickel tour, even if you aren’t staying forever.”
“Yeah, that sounds really nice,” Shane said at once, marveling at how kind everyone in this town was.
He really did love San Francisco, but there was no citywide welcoming committee like there seemed to be here.
It had taken him at least a year of living there before he had started to feel like he really had his feet underneath him.
Before the conversation could continue naturally, the door to the café opened again, and Winnie came in, clutching a scarf around her neck against the windy weather that had been blowing through town all week.
Shane felt a jolt of excitement at seeing her, as well as a flash of relief that he could see her car parked out front, plainly visible through the plate glass windows.
He was glad she’d gotten her transportation issues sorted out.
He’d been faintly worried on her behalf.
“Winnie, hi!” he said.
Winnie startled. She’d apparently been lost in her own thoughts. As soon as she saw them, she smiled… although Shane noticed that there was a slight shyness to that smile.
“Hey!” she responded. “How are you guys doing this morning?” She looked down at Eloise, who was peering up at her curiously. “I’m Winnie,” she said, offering the little girl her hand to shake like she might offer an adult.
Shane bit back a smile, but Eloise looked delighted.
“I’m Eloise Whitaker,” she said somberly. “I’m ten years old. This is my dad, and this is my dad’s girlfriend, Diana. She’s awesome.”
“Thanks,” Diana said, clearly chuffed.
Winnie, by contrast, looked faintly overwhelmed.
“It’s… very nice to meet you,” she said politely. “I actually know Diana, and I’ve met your dad too. You are right that she is awesome.”
The words were kind, and Shane suspected the intention was too, but Winnie’s tone was stiff. A little awkward.
“Grabbing breakfast?” Diana asked. She too, seemed a tiny bit stiffer than she had when she’d been speaking to Shane moments before.
“Yes,” Winnie said and oof this was painful. “I have work today, but I wanted something to eat first.”
“Well, they have great pastries here,” Diana said.
“They sure do.” Winnie paused. She smiled at Shane, and there was a tiny bit more warmth to it. He gave her an encouraging smile back. “Okay. See you later!”
Quickly, Winnie slipped away toward the counter, casting him one last look over her shoulder as she went.
When he turned back to Anthony and Diana, Shane found the couple giving one another uncertain looks.
“Sorry,” Diana said, a touch sheepishly. “You met Winnie the other night at the book club, right?”
Shane nodded.
“She’s the newest member,” Diana explained.
“And she’s really nice. Sometimes I’m just worried that she doesn’t really want to be there?
But I don’t want to ask and make her feel like she’s not welcome…
” She sighed, tucking a long strand of dark hair behind one ear.
“Sorry again. This is all probably super boring for you.”
It wasn’t, but Shane worried that he would be breaking Winnie’s confidence if he repeated anything she’d said about her uncertainties the other night.
It sounded like a classic case of miscommunication to him, but he wasn’t going to stick his nose where it didn’t belong, especially since he didn’t want to make any trouble for Eleanor with her friends.
“She does seem nice,” he said instead, trying to sound noncommittal. “A little shy, maybe.”
There. That was a hint that didn’t reveal anything it shouldn’t.