Elsie #2
“I’m wearing a sweater because the mornings are chilly, and shorts because the afternoons are warm.” I clasped my hands on the counter, staring up at him with daring eyes. “Happy?”
He frowned.
“So, you’ve just contented yourself with having one half of your body being uncomfortable for the whole day?”
“I’m not uncomfortable,” I told him. “Thanks for the concern, though.”
“I’m not concerned.” He bristled. “I’m confused.”
“And here I thought a guy like you didn’t get confused about anything.” I smirked at him, finding great entertainment in the easy banter we always seemed to fall into.
He could keep up. I appreciated that about him. There was nothing worse than making a funny comment and being met with a blank stare.
It was then that I noticed Ava behind the counter, staring at Will. As a writer, I’d made a habit of studying people. Their behaviors, their mannerisms, their expressions.
Which is why it stuck out to me like a sore thumb the way her face lit up when she noticed him.
“You’re back already?” she said before finally landing on me. Her expression dropped almost instantly. “Oh. Hi, Elsie.”
Ouch.
If I hadn’t met her that first day, I could’ve written it off as her not being naturally open to new people. But there was a distinct difference in the way she’d interacted with me that morning and the icy way she was staring at me now.
And considering I was decently certain I hadn’t done anything to piss her off since then, I could only assume that maybe she was keeping me at arm’s length on account of Will’s former reluctance toward me.
But we were past that, weren’t we?
“Good morning.” I smiled warmly at her, hoping it might counteract her coldness.
“What can I get for you?” she deadpanned.
Annnnd, to no avail.
“I got it,” Will told her, sliding around the counter.
“I thought you ran out to do an errand?” she asked pointedly.
“I decided to go later,” he responded in the same clipped tone that invited no further comment.
Apparently, Ava didn’t care.
“You can go now,” she told him. “It’s not going to get busy again for a few hours.”
Apparently content to ignore her, he turned toward me, while I contemplated the myriad of reasons for the strain between Will and his sister-in-law.
Then again, maybe he was just that hostile with everyone.
“You getting the same thing as last time?” He turned his attention toward me.
I arched a brow, hoping to diffuse whatever tension was lingering in the air by keeping it light-hearted. “Do you remember what I got last time?”
He busied himself with starting the espresso machine as he asked. “Remind me.”
“Wait, I have a question.”
“I’d love to hear it.”
“Hm. Doubt that, but I’m going to ask anyway.”
He stared at me, hazel eyes blinking in boredom as he waited.
“Do you have pumpkin coffee?”
“No.”
I frowned. “But it’s almost October. Are you getting any soon?”
“No,” he repeated.
“Why?”
“Because no one here drinks pumpkin coffee.”
“Well, obviously,” I told him. “Because you don’t have any.”
In the background, Ava was busying herself with intensely wiping down the counter, though something about the way her head titled slightly in our direction told me she was acutely aware of our interaction.
“If we had any, no one would drink it,” Will clarified.
“And how do you know?” I asked, just to be a pest, because as much as my questioning seemed to irritate him, it was a decidedly different manner of agitation than he’d been just moments ago.
“Because people like what they like,” he explained with that crease between his brows I was growing fond of. “Everyone in this town has been ordering the same thing for as long as I’ve been alive.”
He walked away, thinking it would stop me from arguing the point.
“Maybe the tourists would enjoy a festive fall beverage,” I countered, watching as he started up the espresso machine.
“We don’t get tourists.”
“Yeah, because you scare them off.”
“Apparently not,” he said with a pointed look in my direction.
I feigned a wounded gasp, feeling smug at the smile he was trying to suppress.
I nearly called him out on it until my mind got sidetracked by the sight of him sprinkling cinnamon over the latte.
“You did remember.” I beamed as he pushed it across the counter toward me.
“It’s an easy order.”
“Are you calling me easy?”
He didn’t respond at first, but the twitch in his jaw told me he wasn’t entirely sure how to proceed.
“I’m kidding,” I told him. “It’s a joke.”
Not everyone gets your humor, Elsie. Tone it down.
I wasn’t sure when Andrew’s words had become my inner voice, but I was irritated to find that his little tidbits of ‘advice’ he’d given over the years kept popping up in my head.
“Will doesn’t do the humor thing very well,” Ava commented from her place behind him.
I didn’t think that was true necessarily. After all, dry humor still counted, even if he was technically the only one aware of the jokes he made.
But the sound of Ava’s voice made him stiffen, and any lightheartedness that he’d slipped into was gone just as quickly.
I smiled at her, not wanting to get involved in whatever tension was simmering between them. Especially when my latte was in the war zone.
I quickly passed over my card, but Will shook his head, reminding me that he’d offered it on the house.
“You’re going to go out of business if you keep giving out free coffee,” I told him.
He snorted, looking around the bustling café. “I think we’ll manage.”
“Well,” I said, shifting under the weight of Ava’s stare. “I should be going.”
That hadn’t been the plan. In fact, I’d very much wanted to take up residency in the corner by the window and get back to work on my writing. I was sick of being alone. And there was only so much wandering around the town I could do.
But something about the atmosphere between Ava and Will made me want to be anywhere but. It was better to leave them alone to sort whatever family drama they were currently engaged in, which I had already been witness to more times than was comfortable.
I turned to go, making it only a few steps before Will’s voice called out, “Are you going to be home later?”
I spun, staring at him incredulously.
“Um…”
“For the carbon monoxide detector,” he was quick to supply. “You really shouldn’t be living in a house without one.”
Ava snorted in the background, and I suddenly felt humiliated that he thought me so helpless that I wasn’t capable of doing it myself.
“I already told you, I’ll handle it.”
“Will you?” he asked sarcastically. “When?”
“When I get to it.”
“I’ll be by later.”
“Fine. Now! I’ll go now. Gosh.” I huffed. “You’re kind of bossy.”
“Do you know where the hardware store is?”
“No, but—”
“I’ll take her.”
I felt my jaw drop at Ava’s offer, shocked she’d willingly help with anything after her less than enthusiastic greeting.
And apparently, it shocked Will as well.
“You’re going to take her to the hardware store?”
“Sure.” She shrugged. “I mean, unless you need both of us here?”
We all started at the distinct lack of a line, everyone already seated and enjoying their morning coffee. Will scratched his head, as if debating how to respond. Before he could say anything, I turned toward her with a smile.
“That would be great, Ava. Thank you.”
Besides not knowing where the hardware store was, the truth was, I was lonely. It would be nice to have at least one friend in town. Maybe my relationship with Ava could still be salvaged if I put in the work.
Will, looking anything but pleased at the prospect of the two of us going off together, turned his attention toward Ava.
“Do you even know what you’re doing?”
“Of course.” She sounded offended.
“Are you doubting both of our intelligence?” I tilted my head at him. “Is it because we’re women?”
“No,” he said slowly. “It’s because of the specific women in question who don’t seem particularly suited for the task.”
“I’m going to pretend not to be insulted by that,” I told him.
Will was silent another minute, looking between the two of us as if trying to size until he finally exhaled and resigned in defeat.
“Suit yourselves.” He shrugged.
I grinned at him while Ava reached underneath the counter and pulled out a purse. Pulling her apron off and slinging the purse over her shoulder, she stepped around the counter to stand beside me.
“I’ll be back in an hour,” she told him, and he waved us off with an apprehension I found laughable.
I pushed the door open, letting Ava pass through first as he yelled out one more instruction to us.
“And don’t forget batteries!”
I leaned over close to Ava and whispered, “I definitely would’ve forgotten the batteries.”
She let out a laugh, almost reluctantly, and I beamed. It was progress.