Page 33 of Entering a New World

A smile tugged on my lips, as I saw him interacting with his customers, the way he chatted them up, laughed with them, asked how their kids were doing, all while casually packing up their order without losing eye contact even once.

He was a pro at work—and it was obvious he loved his job.

And damn, I hadn’t tasted any of his creations yet, but the smell alone made my mouth water. Just breathing in the sugar probably made me gain ten pounds if I stayed any longer. Which I would, no doubt about it.

“Soo… no coffee yet?” One of the women asked.

Herbert huffed. “Damn thing was created by the devil to torment me.”

Both women chuckled. “You’ll figure it out, Herb. Can’t… what’s his name help? C… D…?”

“Cam?” Herb asked.

“Yes. He’s already helping with the baking, right?”

Herb nodded. “Yeah. He’s a good fella. Hard worker. Dedicated to learning everything the right way. I wasn’t sure about hiring him in the beginning, and even less sure about eventually selling the shop, but… none of my grandchildren are interested in taking over. They’re busy living their city lives, and I respect that.”

Listening to them chat, I peeked past Herb, trying to get a better look at the coffee machine. I’d been working as a barista for three years now, so I knew a thing or two about how to handle the professional machines, but I also knew they tended to be tricky, and some definitely had a mind of their own.

After his customers had left, Herb focused his attention back on me. “So, you’re saying you know how to operate the devil’s spawn?”

Snorting, I nodded. “Pretty sure I do, yes.”

Without further ado, Herb walked into the back, only to return with a deep red apron in hand a moment later. “Okay, son. Show me what you’ve got. My granddaughter has been nagging me to update my coffee selection for years. According to her, people only put up with the simple coffee because of my baked goods, and I could make more money by offering the same kinda fancy shit Starbucks offers. I’ve even got a couple of those syrup-things in the back, but never got around to putting them out and coming up with a menu. Hell, I wouldn’t have known what to do about it. People buy their coffee black, with milk or sugar. That’s it. Only thing I did was have oat milk on hand.”

“That’s a great start,” I reassured Herb, taking the apron off of him to tie it around my waist. “But I have to agree with your granddaughter; you could probably make more money by offering those fancy-pants choices.”

I just didn’t think his granddaughter had chosen the right path to go about introducing modern coffee to her grandfather.

Holy shit, I was sweating all over!

Wiping my forehead with the back of my hand, I grabbed the counter with the other one, willing the room to stop spinning. Fuck, it’d only been two hours, merely a quarter of a regular shift I used to work back in Vancouver, yet I felt like I’d run a marathon.

“Are you okay, son?” Herb asked, placing a steadying hand on my arm. “You don’t look too good, if you don’t mind me saying that.”

“Nah,” I said, though it was hard getting the word in between breaths. “Been sick, not back to a hundred percent.”

Shaking his head, the old guy led me over to one of the small tables. “Sit down, you fool. You should’ve told me earlier. Here I am, putting you to work without even asking. I’ll get you something to eat to get your blood sugar levels back up. And a coffee.” Wrinkling his nose, he shook his head. “If I get that damn thing to work.”

I laughed, forcing a smile to my lips.

“I can make my own coffee.”

Maybe.

Probably.

In a couple of minutes.

“Maybe just get me a glass of water first?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Herb nodding, and a short while later, he was back, a plate laden with pastries in one hand, a glass of water in the other.

“Eat whatever you like. I’ll pack the rest up for later, son.”

“That’s not—”

“Necessary? Hell yeah, it is. Do you know how many coffees we’ve sold in the two hours since you manned the machine? Hate to admit my Allie was right, but even small-town folks from around here seem to like their coffee fancy nowadays.”

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