Chapter 1
one
LUCY
The bell jingles as the café door swings open.
I spin, coffee pot in one hand, half eaten scones on a plate teetering in the other.
I narrowly dodge a toddler who has decided the aisle between the tables is a runway.
The espresso machine hisses and one of the baristas mutters something about “mutiny” while wrestling with the grinder.
It’s chaos, and I love it. Thistle & Spoon isn’t just a café, but also a piece of my heart and a piece of Mum’s, too. She built this place from nothing, pouring her soul into every cozy corner, every battered book tucked onto the shelves. And now it’s mine.
Juliette strolls in, calm as a Sunday morning, tote slung over her shoulder, and stops dead. Her eyes sweep the room, twinkling with amusement. “Did someone declare war on this place?”
I drop the scones onto the counter. “You’d know all about that, Mrs. Mum-of-Twins Extraordinaire.”
She laughs. “At least my little terrors are at home with Knox today. I swear your brother thought twin girls would be a breeze.”
“Knox has always been overly confident,” I say, wiping my hands on my apron. “He doesn’t do reality checks unless reality hits him square in the face.”
Juliette moved here to Scotland from the States when she started dating my oldest brother, Knox.
Now they’re married with two girls, Maisie and Keira.
After Juliette moved here, it wasn’t long before her best friend, Bree, ended up with my other brother Callan.
Now she’s future sister-in-law number two.
I never imagined my hard-headed brothers settling down, but somehow these women have softened them in ways I didn’t think possible.
Watching them all pair off so easily, like it was written in the stars, makes me so happy for them.
Jules and Bree are the sisters I never had.
At the same time, though…I’m a little restless.
My brothers found love that crossed oceans, and I can’t even decide if I want to give the guy down the road a proper chance.
The thought barely settles before Juliette slides onto a stool at the counter, instantly making herself at home. “Speaking of MacKenzie men and their delusions, have you heard from Callan and Bree?”
I roll my eyes. “Callan texted this morning. According to him, Bree has decided they need to taste test every wedding cake in Scotland before they commit.”
“That sounds like Callan’s idea, not Bree’s.”
“Oh, it absolutely was.” I grin, pouring her a cup of coffee without asking.
“This is such a cute idea!”
I glance up and catch the sparkle in her eye as she studies the stack of flyers beside the till.
“Kids’ night at Thistle & Spoon,” she reads aloud. “Stories, snacks, and stargazing. Every child leaves with a homemade treat and memories to keep. Lucy, this is exactly what we need.”
I nod, a flutter of excitement and nervousness mingling in my chest. “I’ve been thinking about it for ages. The town has plenty for the grown-ups, but the wee ones deserve their own special night, too.”
“I’d love to bring the twins. Do you think ten months is too young?”
My heart melts at the thought of my nieces. “Are you joking? They’d be our guests of honor. I can’t believe how fast they’re growing.”
“Too fast,” Juliette sighs. “They’re starting to pull themselves up on everything. Knox caught Maisie trying to climb a bookshelf yesterday.”
I laugh, already imagining the twins crawling around, their matching rompers bunching at the knees. “I was hoping they could come. I’ve got a special corner planned with sensory toys and those soft picture books they love. I also found the sweetest little star-shaped teething biscuit recipe.”
“You’ve thought of everything. The parents will adore you for this.”
“I just want to create something special, you know?” I say, fiddling with the edge of the flyer.
Something lasting. Something that matters.
It might be silly to care this much about a kids’ night at a café, but when the doctor’s explanation of my endometriosis is still lodged in the back of my mind with warnings about lower odds, you start searching for other places to pour all that hope.
So, I’m trying to make this a place where kids will laugh and grow. Somewhere my heart can live, even if the family I dreamed about stays just that. A dream.
I push the thought away before it can get its claws in too deep.
“Everything okay, Lou?” Juliette’s voice breaks through my thoughts.
I look up quickly, pasting on a smile. “Aye, just thinking about all the details.”
Juliette studies me with those perceptive eyes of hers. She has this way of seeing right through people and is one of the few people who knows what I’ve been dealing with. “You know you can talk to me about anything, anytime, right?”
I busy my hands, straightening the flyers into a too-perfect stack. “I’m all right,” I say, a little too quickly.
Juliette doesn’t push. She just watches me with that quiet patience she’s so good at, her hands cupped around her mug.
I clear my throat and force a smile. “Anyway, I was thinking we could set up a cookie decorating table.”
Juliette gives me that soft, knowing smile of hers that tells me she sees right through the pivot but loves me enough to leave me be. “That sounds perfect.”
I latch onto the topic like a lifeline, because right now it’s easier to be just the girl who loves her café and her town, and not the girl who’s terrified her life might never look the way she always dreamed.
“Are you volunteering as the cookie supervisor?” I ask, trying to sound brighter than I feel. “The twins can eat the rejects.”
Juliette lets out a genuine laugh. “Knox will thank you for that. He’s already convinced they’re going to be master chefs by age three.”
“MacKenzie delusions strike again,” I say, and we both giggle, the sound chasing the tension out of my shoulders for a heartbeat.
I let my gaze wander around the café. The mismatched chairs, the worn wooden tables that have seen a thousand first dates, heartbreaks, and celebrations.
It’s not perfect. Nothing ever is. What it is, though, is alive, messy, full, and golden in its own way. Just like life, just like family, just like this small corner of the world I’m lucky enough to call mine.