Page 56 of Coffee Break with the Billionaire

It doesn’t take long for Edie to show me around. One bedroom, bath, living room/kitchen combo, and a cat. But the idea of staying here excites me.

I’ve never had a place to myself.

I leave my bags in the bedroom after she hands me the keys. I tell Ernie the cat that I’ll see him soon. I don’t have time to move my things today, since my shift is about to start and I don’t want to be late—for various reasons, none of which are because I’m a punctual person—plus, I’ve been invited to a family dinner at the castle tonight.

After I say goodbye to Edie and practically skip across the square, I realize that Edie’s apartment and Silas’s place are directionally kitty-corner from each other.

That makes me even happier.

“How was shopping?” Jem calls as I sweep into the shop. Jem is tall and gangly and looks a bit like a scarecrow. But he seems nice and even more excited than Leodie about me working here.

“It was great,” I sing.

Leodie gives me a strange expression. “Shopping in Battle Harbour is never great.”

“It was today. Is Silas here?”

Jem points at the wall. “He ran back to his place. Something about needing to check on something.”

I’m already backing toward the door. “Have I got a minute? I just have to show him what I got.”

I turn to the door even before they answer. “You can show us,” Leodie calls after me.

“I will. Back in a minute,” I throw over my shoulder. Out one door and in the next—but the door to the empty storefront is locked.

Isthere another way in? A door at the back, through the alley like at Edie’s?

I take a glance down the narrow walkway.

I’m not going down there. I bang on the door, wait a moment, and then knock louder.

It takes a moment, but Silas eventually appears. “Fenella?” He looks confused as he unlocks the door, with his hair more mussed than usual, like he’s run his hands through it. “What’s wrong?”

He’s wearing another plaid flannel shirt and I think it’s my favourite yet. It’s the right shade of green with browney-orange lines running through it.

I think it brings out the green in his eyes.

“I need to show you what I got,” I tell him, pushing past him into— “You live here?”

The room is long and narrow, half the size of the coffee shop, and covered in a layer of dirt. Thick cobwebs hang in the corners of the ceilings and piles of dried leaves and old newspapers dot the floor.

I whirl around to face Silas. “You live like this?”

“I live upstairs. I use the door at the back. I keep this—” —he glances around— “—closed. Because it’s a mess.”

“Just a little. What’s your place like upstairs?” I ask with a fair amount of concern. If Silas lives like this…

“Much better than here,” he assures me, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I haven’t been in here in weeks. It’s kind of a… yeah. Are you okay? You scared me with your knocking.”

“I had to show you what I bought.” The state of the store has dimmed some of my enthusiasm for my news, but I quickly get it back, along with a flurry of ideas. “And to tell you I’ll be staying in town!”

“You are?” Silas sounds incredulous.

“Edie asked me to house-sit for her while I’m in Laandia,” I explain. “She has a cat, and I don’t think he’s the devil incarnate.”

“You’re staying at Edie’s while you’re here.” He deflates a little but still gives me an encouraging nod. “That’s great. Ernie needs company. And staying at the castle must feel like a big hotel.”

“I’m used to staying at big hotels.”

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