Page 40 of Coffee Break with the Billionaire

“Hello and welcome to Coffee for the Sole,” I chirp at the older woman at the counter who looks like she applied her makeup with a shovel.

Still, she’s my real first customer. Leodie gave me the go-ahead to serve her myself. “I’m Fenella, and what can I get you? A pumpkin spice latte? A caramel macchiato? Or how about a flat white with…”

The woman flicks her gaze to Silas with a frightened glance. “Morning, Mrs. Pebbles,” he says quickly. “She’ll have a flat white, Fenella. And a cinnamon bun?”

“Always,” Mrs. Pebbles says.

“I can do a flat white,” I tell him.

“I know you can.” And Silas smiles down at me.

That distracts me, but I manage, even decorating the micro-foam with a leaf decoration.

Silas has a great smile. I don’t love the scruff of beard or the bit of mustache that hasn’t quite filled in yet, but the smile is first-rate. It makes his green eyescrinkle. I like that he’s so open with it, bestowing it on anyone who comes in the shop, not just a select few.

I like the way he smiles at me.

“Do you know everyone’s order?” I demand after Mrs. Pebbles takes her order to a table where she gives half her bun to her overweight dog. People seem to feed pastries to their dogs a lot here.

“If they’re regulars.”

“How long have you worked here?”

Leodie gives a cough behind me. “He owns it.”

I glance around the shop, seeing the tables full of satisfied customers, comfortable to sit and have their coffee. I see the pictures on the wall of long-ago Battle Harbour, the fishing paraphernalia, the cups and plates… and the hominess of the place.

It makes sense that Silas owns it.

“It’s not much,” he mutters.

“It’s everything,” Leodie argues. “This place is the cornerstone of the town. Silas took over ten years ago when his parents retired and doubled the income within a year. It was great with Mr. and Mrs. Bell but—”

“You made it your own,” I interrupt. “You made it… home. It feels like home. Friendly and comfortable and… you.” I see him in a new light. “I’ve never done that with anything.”

“It’s just a coffee shop,” he mutters, ducking his head from my scrutiny.

“It’s not, it’s the cornerstone of Battle Harbour,” I echo Leodie’s words. “I could go anywhere in Laandia, but I come here. Over and over again. There’s a good reason for that.”

“I thought it was because of me.” Silas’s eyes widen as if he can’t believe he had just said that. “Because you like my pumpkin spice lattes.”

“I do like your lattes,” I muse. “But it’s more. What you’ve created is impressive.”

“Thanks,” he says.

Chapter fourteen

Silas

Fenella has been workingfor almost two hours and it’s gone… well.

Better than expected.

If anyone had told me Fenella Carrington would be the newest employee of Coffee for the Sole, I would have laughed and laughed and laughed. But she’s still here.

Still smiling, even though I can tell her feet hurt.

Leodie hasn’t let her out of her sight, going so far as to forgo her break to make sure Fenella gets the training she needs. It might be because I trained Nathalia and she doesn’t trust my methods.

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