Chapter 3
“Close your eyes,” Brianna demanded as she drove into downtown Red Lodge.
“Do I have to?” Nia asked. The little town was so quaint and cute, and she wanted to get to know every square inch of it.
“Yes!” Brianna insisted. “Are they closed?”
“Either that, or I’ve suddenly gone blind,” Nia retorted.
“Okay. Oh, my god. I can’t wait for you to see it. I didn’t want to sign anything until you got here, but I was worried someone else would swoop in and grab it. Actually, I knew that would happen, because it was just too good to pass up.”
Nia felt the car swerve as Brianna pulled over to the curb.
“Keep them closed!” Brianna got out and came around to Nia’s side. “Okay, don’t look yet! I want it to be perfect! Lift your foot. The curb is kind of tall compared to my car. Stand right there…and…open your eyes!”
Nia blinked against the sudden rush of morning sunlight and the pale butter yellow of the brick building in front of her.
It curved along with the corner that it sat on, something that vaguely reminded Nia of the art deco styles she’d learned about in school.
A metal roof jutted out in a semicircle over the entryway, and windows lined both sides of the building that faced the street.
“What do you think?” Brianna was standing next to her, her hands templed under her chin as she bounced on her toes. “I know it’s kind of old.”
“It’s really old,” Nia corrected, “but that’s what I love about it! It’s so cute!”
“Yay! I was hoping you’d like it! Here, you’ve got to see the inside!” The keys rattled in Brianna’s hand. “It needs some work, of course, but I expected any place within our budget would. I know my pack will help us, too.”
The interior was long and slim. The walls were the shade of overcooked corn, and the wood floors were well scuffed all along the windows. An ordering counter took up most of the left side of the room.
“Was this already a café before?” Nia asked, assuming some of the scuff marks were from tables and chairs.
“It was a little restaurant for a long time. According to the landlord, it’s been empty for a couple of years, but everything seems to be working just fine.” Brianna flicked the lights on and off experimentally and then opened the blinds and peered outside. “So, what do you think?”
“I think it’s perfect.” And it was. The place was a great distraction from Cole.
Dinner the previous evening had been torture as she tried to stay calm and not give away the secret that only she and Cole knew.
Her lynx had cried out for him as soon as he’d left after dinner.
Even though she and Brianna had spent the next couple of hours planning, Cole had been right there at the forefront of her mind along with equipment lists, menus, and color schemes.
Nia smacked her hands together in front of her. “All right, where do we start?”
“Oh, you haven’t even seen the best part!” Brianna charged behind the counter and into the kitchen.
It smelled a bit like old grease, and the lighting could stand to be updated, but Nia gasped when she took it in. “You’re kidding me.”
“Nope!” Brianna beamed. “Industrial ovens, a massive refrigerator, and even an espresso machine!”
“Does it all work?” Nia asked, moving closer to the stainless-steel equipment, touching it delicately.
“Mr. Daily says it does. All we can do is clean it up and find out.”
“Then I guess we’d better do that!”
They hit the local store for mops, brooms, paper towels, and cleaners. Then Nia and Brianna started in the kitchen, wanting to make sure that everything was in working order before they went any further.
Nia flushed out the espresso machine and coffee maker, washed all the parts, and then set it to flush again.
While she waited, she grabbed a stepstool wedged next to the fridge and began scrubbing greasy crud from an overhead exhaust fan.
It was hard work, and it was making her arms ache.
There was plenty to think about and a million decisions to make, but the biggest one was the hardest.
What could she do about Cole?
She’d always dreamed of finding her mate, as any shifter would.
She’d heard the stories of the instant bond, the unbelievable attraction, the deep desire that simply couldn’t be denied.
Who wouldn’t want that? Nia just hadn’t imagined the person on the other end of that connection would be her best friend’s dad.
She scrubbed the rest of the wall behind the coffee station before doing yet another flush on the machine, wanting to ensure they were completely clean and sanitized.
What would a relationship with Cole do to their pack?
He was the Alpha. Surely, someone would have a fit if their leader were cozying up to anyone other than a fellow wolf.
“Getting good drink ideas over there?” Brianna asked as she pulled her head out of an oven and set her sponge aside.
“Um, yeah. A few.” Coffee had been the furthest thing from her mind. Nia needed to focus. “Once we get going, maybe we could do smoothies, too.”
“Oh, I like that! A good blender won’t really cost that much, especially since we’ve already got some of the bigger equipment.” Brianna sighed happily. “Can you believe this?”
No, I can’t. But Brianna wasn’t talking about Nia’s problem with Cole. “Yes! It’s going to be amazing.”
“I think I want to mop, and then I’m going to try these ovens out with a banana bread recipe.” Brianna stripped off her yellow cleaning gloves and took a big chug of water from her bottle.
“Does that mean another run to the store?” They’d bought cleaning supplies, but not ingredients.
Brianna swept the toe of her shoe in a wide arc on the floor. “I might have gotten ahead of myself and bought a few things before you got here.”
Nia had to laugh. Brianna was her favorite person in the world, but she was also impulsive and impatient. “Where did you put them? I don’t see anything.”
Crooking her finger, Brianna led Nia to a large closet over on the side of the kitchen that they hadn’t explored yet. She opened the door to reveal bulk bins of flour, sugar, nuts, and baking powder. Muffin tins, cake pans, and cookie sheets sat on the next shelf.
Nia found the best treasure just below them. “Coffee beans!”
“Yep! I wasn’t sure exactly what you wanted, but I figured they were at least good enough to start with.”
“Yes, let’s do it!”
It was getting well into the afternoon, but the little café was actually starting to smell like one. Buttery goodness drifted in the air alongside the deep roast of the coffee.
“Let’s take a taste testing break,” Brianna suggested.
Nia nodded, but then she paused. “Uh, we’re going to need some dishes.”
“Never fear!” Brianna went back to the closet, hauling out three large cardboard boxes. “My mom remodeled her kitchen and sent me all the stuff she wasn’t using anymore. None of it matches, though.”
Nia laughed as she pulled out a mug that said, ‘Don’t Talk to Me Yet’ on the side. “That’s all right with me! It’s kind of funky that way, and it means we can thrift all the dishes we want without worrying about whether or not anything matches.”
They parked themselves on the stools at the counter with coffee and thick slices of banana bread slathered with cream cheese. Nia lifted her mug and clinked it against Brianna’s, which featured a cartoon cat holding a balloon. “Here’s to our future.”
“And to the best business partner I could ever ask for.” Brianna took a sip and savored the dark liquid. “I know it’s just plain coffee, and I’m probably biased because I want it to be good, but that’s really good!”
Nia dug her fork into her banana bread, which was nicely browned on the outside but moist on the inside.
“So is this! I have to tell you, Bri, I was a little worried about coming out here. I worked a short stint in a coffee shop, but I don’t really consider myself a barista.
It was such a big change, and I think I stayed up for a week straight before the trip out here, but I think we’re going to be all right. ”
Brianna frowned a little. “Do you miss home?”
“Well, sure.” Nia thought about the covenstead and all of her witch sisters she’d left behind. They weren’t related by blood, but they didn’t need to be. “It wasn’t easy to leave them, but something told me I needed to come here.”
She hadn’t known that it was the urge to find her mate that had driven her. Nia felt a stab of guilt as she took another bite of banana bread.
“At least you’re further away from your ex now,” Brianna joked.
“Gavin was a good guy and a great musician, but we just didn’t really have time for each other.” Nia buried her nose in her mug. She didn’t want to talk about men with Brianna, because it only made her think about Cole.
“Well, we’ll have to see if there are any men around here for you,” Brianna teased in a sing-song voice. “It’s a small town, but you’re so pretty that you’re sure to get a lot of attention.”
She’d gotten a bit of attention from Cole, that was certain. He hadn’t exactly been subtle about avoiding her as much as possible at dinner the previous night, though Brianna hadn’t noticed. This was one time Nia was grateful that her best friend could be a bit scatterbrained.
How long could Nia avoid telling her, though? And how long could she and Cole dance around the truth between them? This was so complicated, and she hadn’t even had a real conversation with Cole.
“You know,” Nia began slowly, wondering if she could breach the subject subtly enough, “I think it would be really nice to find my mate.”
“We’ve got time.” Brianna waved her fork in the air.
Nia nodded. “We do. Dating is nice and all, and it can be fun, but I don’t know if I want to waste a lot of time on someone that isn’t my person.” She grabbed another bite of banana bread.
“Look at my dad,” Brianna began.
Nia’s eyes widened as she coughed, a few crumbs flying from her mouth. She took a sip of coffee to wash it down.