Chapter 4
AVERY
Iglance around the Honey & Harbor coffee shop the next morning and am still in awe that this is my life.
Eight months ago, opening a shop was just a small dream in the pile of dreams I hadn’t accomplished yet. Then again, it was more like a delusional goal, since I was in a well-established career as a lawyer.
I lived over a thousand miles away and was still trying to figure out what to do with my life at twenty-seven, when everything imploded in my work and personal life.
I got the call a few weeks later from my older sister, Cora, asking if I could come help her in Penrose Beach.
I didn’t realize how much I needed the change until a few weeks later, when I settled in.
“Hey, Earl,” I say, grinning at the elderly man who just walked into the shop. “What can I get you today?”
He’s been a loyal customer ever since we opened the shop. It helps that he lives in one of the upstairs apartments next door. Unlike the building I live in, all the apartments there are fully finished and rented out.
Our apartment is the only one completely finished in our building.
The one across the hall from us has the wiring and the heating done, but everything is exposed.
It’s like someone started the project, went to lunch one day, and never came back.
The number of cobwebs in there is creepy.
How do I know? They took down the front door and never put it back up.
Above us are just two more floors, but nothing built out.
Maybe the guy renovating the place ran out of money?
It wasn’t like they did much for my coffee shop space downstairs.
I brought in the building crew on my own to get things done quickly.
Making sure the electrical was perfect was my biggest issue, especially since we needed to make sure the coffee machines worked well.
The one nice thing that was already here is the industrial stove and oven. I’d love to expand my menu offerings to give people more options in this town, but that will have to wait until we get things moving for the business in general. Extra choices mean stocking extra ingredients.
Earl gives me a toothy grin. “I would love one of those special coffees I’ve seen people with.”
“What do you mean by special coffee?” I ask, giving him a reassuring smile. This is the second week since I opened the shop, and while I would love to say the townspeople have embraced my business, I have about three regular customers, all of whom live within a twenty-yard radius.
“You know…the ones that have the light-colored milk and stuff like that.”
“Like an iced coffee?” I ask.
He bobs his head, and I hesitate for a second. “Earl, are you sure? You’ve only ordered black since we opened.”
He hesitates for a moment, then says, “Well, sometimes a guy needs to try new things.”
I laugh and go to pull out a large cup like he usually gets. “Do you want me to do a small for you today, just to make sure you like it?”
He’s about to say no, but then he changes his mind and nods. “I think that’s a great idea.”
I put the large cup away and grab the smaller one, scooping some ice into it.
“How’s your day been?” I ask, working to get all the contents right while chatting with him.
This was the original appeal of owning a coffee shop.
I love people, and hearing their stories is one of my favorite things.
It would be nice to get a few more bodies in here daily, but if what the locals say about the booming summer season is true, hopefully I’ll be able to keep things afloat here.
I hired Sarah, who hasn’t worked a ton yet. When she’s come in, I had to cut her early so I don’t go deeper into the red than I already am after purchasing machines and all the renovations to this space. Obviously my business plan needs some work.
The building is at the south end of town, just before the marina and the hardware store. There isn’t much farther south as far as businesses go, and I’m wondering if I should’ve found a spot closer to the heart of Penrose. But I couldn’t turn down the lower building costs here.
Some parts of Penrose are being rebuilt and refreshed, thanks to the Beautification Initiative the mayor has started.
My favorite are the beautiful murals painted on the sides of a few buildings throughout town.
Maybe I need one on my building—then again, we’re kind of landlocked, so the painting would have to be on the front of the building.
I’ve never met my landlord, and I don’t know if that would be breaching my contract, meaning I’d have to pay that much more if I ever leave.
Am I going to have the same problem every offseason, where I’m begging for customers?
I’ll have to scrimp and hope I have enough business to continue to pay rent and get me through to the summer season.
The only things saving me right now are the debt repayment program at my old firm and my having worked through law school—with a lot of my wages going toward student loans—keeping the debt lower than it would be by now. It was the reason I was able to get a small business loan for the café.
“I’m doing good,” Earl says as if I’d already asked several questions.
“That’s great,” I say. “Every day we get up and do what we love is the best kind of day.”
He grins at me, and I work the lid onto his coffee before handing it to him. “Have a great day, Earl.”
“You too, Ms. Avery,” he says, lifting the cup toward me for a second before walking out of the shop.
I watch as he steps onto the sidewalk and takes a sip. His lips pinch together, and I can’t help but laugh.
I glance at the clock and make a mental note of everything I need to get done before Lila gets out of school for the day.
She may be fifteen and mostly independent, but there’s a lot that still goes into caring for her.
She’s a total people person, and sometimes that’s good, while other times I feel like I’m dragging her away from things.
I clean out some coffee filters and wipe down any messes that might have gotten overlooked during today’s rush of two people, then untie my apron and call out to Sarah that I’m heading to work on the books.
Might as well get those done early so I don’t have them worrying my brain as much in the evening. I’ll pay her a couple of hours to watch things so I can work on the business some more.
“Sounds good. I’ll keep it running,” she says, stepping back from taking a picture of one of our unsold pastries. I’ve put her in charge of our social media for the shop since she does a lot for her balloon business. I’m excited to see what she comes up with.
I head upstairs, where I won’t be distracted, and slip into the zone, getting things organized and tracking down numbers.
Things aren’t great, and I want to have the hope that we’ll be able to continue, but we need customers.
Coffee is a popular drink worldwide, and with all the major chains being miles away, I figured this would be a hot spot—next to the beach and not competing with any other business aside from the diner.
Blowing out a breath, I have the urge to do something now that’s tangible and will make me feel like I’m making progress. That was probably the best part of practicing law—I was able to do a lot of research that could make or break a case.
My brain is spinning with ideas.
What would it cost to get one of those sign-spinner guys on the corner? Maybe Sarah could do it as part of her plan? At this point, maybe that should be my job.
Would staying open later help us?
So many decisions to make, and there are a lot of them I don’t have a ton of knowledge in.
My phone rings, and I see my sister’s picture pop up. “Hey, sis, how was your flight?”
“It was delayed a bit, but I finally made it to Oklahoma. I don’t have much time because I had to step out of a staff meeting. The school called about Lila. I guess there was a scuffle she was involved in? Will you go down and check on her?”
“Yeah, I wonder what it was about.” Lila has been having problems for a few weeks, mostly with a boy who teases her about being too tall for her age, having freckles, or the worst, not having a dad. I hope it doesn’t have to do with him, because I might add to the chaos.
“I’m not sure. Thanks, Avie. You’re a life saver. Update me later, will you?”
“Did you figure out how long you’re supposed to be gone for?” Ever since she took this new job, it feels like she’s been gone way more than she’s ever been in Penrose.
“Next week. They lost a couple of nurses to maternity leave, so I’m helping fill in.”
“Got it. We’ll keep things running here, even though I’m a better aunt than guardian.”
She laughs. “Yeah, I don’t know about that. I don’t have much to send for bills yet, but I will once I can.”
“We’ll figure it out, Cora. Parkers always land on their feet. How else would you have gotten me to move here?” There’s a long beat of silence on the line, and I pull the phone away to see if we got cut off.
“They’re calling me back in, Ave. Thanks again.”
I can’t help but feel like something is off with my sister, but maybe it’s a combination of new responsibilities in her job and the constant travel. It’s taking a toll on all of us.
How am I supposed to keep Lila out of trouble when my own life feels like it’s starting to tilt?