Page 13 of Purple Scales & Coffee Tales

“Okay,” I breathed. He could afford it, but I didn’t want him to think I was only doing this for the money. “Thank you, Taran.”

“Anytime.”

Another knock interrupted our conversation, and I was close to slamming the door into Struan Fox’s face so I could thank Taran properly…somehow.

Maybe he wanted to find out whatmytongue was capable of…

“Hello,” the newcomer greeted us, a smile crinkling the corners of his bright blue eyes. He shook first my hand, then Taran’s. “I’m Struan, it’s great to meet you.”

In another life I might have found his soft brown curls endearing, his smile charming, but in that life Taran didn’t exist.

I fell in love with Struan Fox platonically, because not once did he turn to the big ass rich af Dragon for information or instructions. I had been the one to contact him, I’d scheduled this appointment, and he treated me like I was in charge.

It felt amazing.

Barely an hour later, we had a plan and a giddy Dragon who had already given us the okay to get started ASAP. Thanks to a lucky stroke for all of us, one of Struan’s customers had just cancelled their order, which meant he unexpectedly had room in his schedule for the cafe.

We’d be closed for only a month because the cafe didn’t require any structural work, only a fresh coat of paint, new flooring, and new furniture.

This meant we would be back in time for the height of summer and could dive straight into marketing our grand opening party.

“I’ll order all the supplies first thing tomorrow morning,” the contractor told me, making a note on his elegant Kraken tablet. “We’ll have the furniture delivered here so we can put it up as soon as we’ve taken care of the paint and floors.” He scribbled that down, too.

“You’re taking care of the new dishes, right?” he asked.

“I am,” I confirmed, shooting Taran a glance out of the corners of my eyes.

How will he react to my suggestion to design the new branding myself?

“Grand. I think that’s all for now. I’ll be in touch on Monday next week with an updated schedule for the project, and with a quote.”

“Just send that to my personal email address.” Taran handed Struan a dark grey business card with plain gold lettering. “I’ll take care of it straight away and give you further instructions for the invoices.”

“Will do,” the curly-haired man nodded at both of us. “I’m looking forward to working with you. I still can’t believe you found us on Lone Fox’s ArgoS. I’ll have to send Maddie a gift basket.” He chuckled, his blue eyes twinkling.

“We’re so excited! Thank you, Struan.” I shook his hand, unable to keep a wide grin off my face.

Chapter Ten

Maeve

Itook the train to see my parents and my youngest sister for Sunday lunch.

Next best thing to having a driver.

The two hours of uninterrupted time were the perfect occasion to set up my new phone. Switching to new tech was always difficult for me. Once I’d done it, I usually got on okay, but the transition was something I dreaded.

Until this morning, both Tiff and Vaughn had pestered me about finally opening the little box.

I kept it on the kitchen sideboard and tried my best to ignore it.

It sort of worked. My brain just glossed over it after a while. But I brought it with me and took the plunge.

Shit, it’s so fancy.

I extracted the sim card, slid it into the slot, and powered it up.

Woah.

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