Chapter 25
twenty-five
E lisa stacked the homemade donuts she’d pulled from the air fryer into the display tower at the serving counter of the Blossom. She glanced at the clock on the wall over the door, and fought back a yawn. 5:15 a.m. Between replaying her interaction with Noah, and replaying her father’s unexpected heart-to-heart last night, she’d finally given up on sleep and gone to the Blossom to get an early start for the morning rush.
Except her churning thoughts had followed her to work.
She gazed around the diner—at the chairs turned up on the yellow tables, the way the overhead lights reflected in the windows against the still-dark morning. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but soon, the floor would be streaked with sunbeams. The early risers would hustle inside to claim their favorite booths. Farmer Branson would order more bacon than he could eat so he’d have leftovers for his hound dog. Pastor Dubois would get his standard black coffee and settle in with his Bible.
Her throat knotted as she slid the final donut onto the stack. Once Delia sold the diner, would the new owners keep things the same? Would they keep her as manager? Who would cook? Would the menu change? What would the locals do if they couldn’t order their favorites?
Too many questions, and not any answers.
The front door swooshed open, and Delia ambled inside on a walker. Her eyes weren’t as cheery as usual, but her lipstick was as pink as the buttons on her oversized shirt. “Morning, sweetheart. You’re here early.”
“Delia!” Elisa rushed around the counter, wiping her icing-covered fingers on her apron. “What are you doing here at all? And where’s your chair?”
Delia let go of the walker long enough to flit one hand through the air. “Surgery is scheduled for next week, so I thought it was time to part ways with the thing. Besides, I’m not doing a whole lot right now.”
“You’re still going to church and coming in here. That’s plenty.”
“I’m not crippled.” Delia winced as she made her way to one of the tables. “Lower that chair for me, will you?”
Elisa obeyed, then took the seat opposite her once Delia was settled. “I tried so hard, Mama D. I really did. But I failed.”
Delia pursed her hot pink lips. “What are you talking about, sweet girl?”
“I’ve been looking for ways to save the diner.” She couldn’t bring herself to admit to her plan to pay for the surgery. “But it’s all falling through. You’re going to have to sell. I fought with my dad. I’ve lost Noah.” She rubbed her temples. “I might not even have a job soon.”
Then Elisa sat up straight, her hands slapping down against the table. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make you feel worse. I know you didn’t ask for any of this to happen.” Great, now she sounded selfish. She dropped her head to her arms.
“Shush, now.” Delia patted her hand. “Look at me, Elisa Bergeron.”
Elisa raised her head just far enough to make eye contact.
“One thing at a time.” Delia smiled, her teeth white against her lipstick. “Then you’ll see it’s not all that bad.”
“Feels like it.”
“Well, you’re not a failure, no matter what plans you did or didn’t have.” She sniffed. “That’s foolish talk. Secondly, I’m glad to hear you fought with your dad. That’s progress, dear one.”
Elisa sat up straight. “I guess it was.” She updated her on the events of last night.
“See?” Delia shook her head. “Miracles abound.” She gave Elisa’s hand another pat. “What happened with Noah?”
She groaned. “We need donuts for this story.”
“I always need donuts.”
Elisa retrieved two of the fresh pastries from the display, and then took her seat. As Delia crunched her way through the sprinkled topping, Elisa filled her in on the treasure hunt status, the ball game, the fight, and the jail. “I blew it. He was starting to trust me again…I was starting to trust him…and I just stood there. I let my dad intimidate me, again .”
“What your father said about old habits is true, love.” Delia brushed crumbs off her fingers. “They’re hard to break. And you’ve had decades of bad habits.”
She winced. “That’s not very encouraging.”
“I wasn’t done.” Delia held up one finger. “If Noah is the man I think he is—and I really do think he is—he’s going to see that we all make mistakes. And he’s going to come around.”
She was too scared to hope. After all, Noah hadn’t come back the first time she failed to back him to her dad. “You think so?”
“I’m rarely wrong about these things.” She lifted her chin. “Or much of anything, really.”
Elisa snorted.
“Now, the diner…” Delia nodded slowly, her smile fading as she absently wiped a napkin across the table. “That’s been a hard one for me too. But this is the lot the Lord has dropped in my lap, and trust me when I say I’ve prayed for alternatives. There just hasn’t seemed to be any.”
“I’ve prayed too.” The whisper floated from Elisa’s lips. “Almost as much as I did for Mom.”
“I know your roots here run deep, honey.” Delia tapped her finger on the table. “And I know that God is the God of the midnight hour. Maybe we’ll get a stroke of midnight miracle.”
“Maybe.” Elisa rolled in her lower lip, fighting a wave of frustration. If Noah would just forgive her and work with her…if they could figure out the last clue before the clock ran out…
“But if not, I’m going to hold to something else I know is true.” A smile lit Delia’s wrinkled face. “That hands surrendered to the Lord are never empty for long.”
She was right—as usual. “I agree.” Elisa leaned back in her chair. “But it’s sure scary in the meantime.”
“Of course it is. For me, too. But look at all the good that’s come already from this treasure hunt and from my fall.” Delia brushed a rogue sprinkle onto the floor. “You’re mending fences with your father. And with the Heberts in general. Big things are happening. Don’t you see?”
It didn’t make the inevitable much easier to swallow, but she could see it. And see there was hope for the future—whatever that looked like. A bit of the burden lifted. She wasn’t alone, and never had been.
“Remember this.” Delia raised a white eyebrow and pointed at Elisa. “Blank pages are only scary when we don’t know the Author.”
Elisa let that wash over her for a moment. She liked being in control. But she couldn’t flirt her way out of this one, or conform her way back into Noah’s favor. She could only be herself, and trust the Lord to work things out the way He saw best.
Even if that looked different than how she would’ve done it. She swallowed. “Sometimes it’s hard to release the pen.”
Delia reached over and tapped her walker. “Don’t I know it, hon. But God is good, all the time. Even when there are hospitals and For Sale signs involved.”
Her conversation with Noah at the library courtyard flitted through her mind. “It’s just that things are often beyond our ability to understand this side of heaven.” She had finally gotten to a place where she could mean that about her mother. She meant it for Noah.
Now she needed to mean it for losing the diner.
She closed her eyes, releasing the rest of the lingering stress. “Thanks for being here, Mama D.”
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.” Delia patted her arm again. “Now, what’s an old lady have to do to get another donut around here?”
Elisa shoved her chair back with a laugh. “Hint taken.” She stood just as her phone chimed from her apron pocket. She tugged it free, shot a look at the screen, and widened her eyes at Delia.
A text from Noah.
Noah
Meet me at Chug a Mug at 6 a.m.
* * *
Noah stood in the pre-dawn light just inside the front door of Chug a Mug, which opened every day at 5:30 a.m. Miley was already inside, yawning, furrowing her pierced brows and scowling as she worked the espresso machine.
Perfect. The coffee he’d already ordered would be good.
He glanced at his phone, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet as his stomach churned. Elisa hadn’t texted him back. He could only hope, at this point.
Even if they were destined to be apart, he didn’t want to do this without her.
Noah turned to check the sidewalk again just as she pushed through the doorway.
Elisa stopped abruptly in the entry. “Hi….” Her hair was swept back on one side with criss-crossed pins, and icing dusted the shoulder of her purple top. Matching streaks decorated her jeans.
He breathed in her vanilla scent like a starving man. There was so much to say. So much to explain. “You look like you fought a donut.”
That wasn’t what he meant to start with.
“Don’t worry, I won.” She grinned, but it faded as she crossed her arms over her chest and huddled into herself. “I got your text.”
“Thanks for coming. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you hadn’t.” His arms itched to pull her into a hug. But not yet. Not until they said everything they needed to say.
Not until he knew.
“I have to admit, I was surprised to get a text after last night.” Her eyes searched his, even as she guarded her body with her arms. “After everything you said.”
She deserved an explanation. The full story of all he’d realized at his grandfather’s grave last night. All the “whys.”
But they were on a time crunch.
There was time for an apology, though. He shifted his weight. “A lot has happened. But you need to know, I’m sorry for the way I responded last night. My father caught me off guard, and well—I fell into a pit. But that’s no excuse. You were trying to do the right thing, and I stifled you.”
“I was.” She visibly swallowed. “And I’m sorry I was so late.”
Speaking of—Noah pushed back the sleeve of his flannel shirt and checked his watch. 6:01 a.m. He grimaced.
Elisa still looked confused. “Did something else happen with Russell?”
“Yeah. Something big.” He appreciated how she didn’t refer to the man as his dad, but by his first name. Further regret over how he’d brushed her off washed over him. Elisa knew him—understood him.
And yet, even knowing that, he still couldn’t bring himself to wrap her in his arms. He wanted to leave the same legacy of love by which his grandfather had clearly loved his grandmother. He wanted the happily ever after. The whole story.
But just because he wanted all those things and they had both apologized, didn’t mean they were ready to trust each other on that level. And he couldn’t let any more passionate embraces or fiery kisses cloud the issue until they were. He didn’t want a repeat of their teenaged fling.
He wanted the real thing.
“I understand if you don’t want to tell me.” She picked at the dried icing on her jeans.
“That’s not it.” He shook his head as the coffee grinder behind them whirred into action. “I’ll explain everything, I promise. But first—I think I figured out the final clue.”
“Are you serious?” Her blue eyes flashed up at him with hope.
“It’s just a hunch, but…” He glanced at his watch again, then at the door behind her. “We don’t have much time.”
“Okay.” Elisa frowned. “Then why are we here?”
“Remember who said she always gets coffee at six o’clock and two o’clock?” Except today, apparently. It was 6:03 now. He bit back a groan.
Recognition dawned on Elisa’s face. “You think the clue is at Second Story.”
He nodded.
She tilted her head. “But Magnolia retail stores don’t open until ten on weekdays.”
“Exactly why we’re here.” He peered out the window behind Elisa. No sign of Sadie. What if she didn’t come? The bank opened at nine, and he had to beat his dad there.
His hopes were ticking away with each second hand movement on the clock.
“Hey! Lumberjack!”
Noah spun at Miley’s bark from the counter. She gestured to the two cups of to-go coffee sitting at the pickup station before turning back to the milk frother.
“I’m assuming she means me.” Maybe it was time for a wardrobe upgrade. He headed for the drinks just as he heard the front door open. He picked up their coffees, then turned back, his heart leaping at the sight of the curly-haired woman strolling inside.
Elisa, however, actually lunged. “Sadie!”
Surprised, Sadie stepped back, eyes wide, as Elisa grabbed for her. Noah rushed toward them both. The strap of Sadie’s tote fell from her shoulder and the bag landed on the floor.
“Sorry.” Elisa grinned sheepishly as she picked it up. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
“How’d you know I was com—ahh. Every day at six, right?” Sadie darted her gaze between the two of them, then leaned forward. “Let me guess. Sunny weather report?”
“No, actually, cloudy.” Noah held up his cup in a salute. “But we have a favor to ask…and the coffee is on me if you say yes.”