Page 9 of Steadfast

“Third of all, Maeve,” he responded, without skipping a beat, “I don’t believe for a second that you’ve everbeendecaffeinated.”

He beamed at her in a way that made her feel momentarily inarticulate.

Dallas leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, shifting gears in their conversation—even though she wished he wouldn’t.

“You get the weather advisory this morning?” he asked with apprehension in his tone. “Storm’s comin’ in and it’s supposed to bea bad one.”

“Great, just what we need,” she replied, clasping the mug between her hands.

“Just another reason we need a church building,” he said, getting down to business. “I don’t think we can pack any more people into this place if we tried.”

Meeting in the coffee shop on Sundays was only meant to be a temporary solution after the church had burned down. No one could have anticipated the boom of the town’s population, leaving the coffee shop bursting at the seams with new congregants.

“It’s a great problem, though, don’t you think?” Maeve smiled and shrugged as she took another long drink from her mug.

“The Lord’s been good to us, that’s for sure,” Dallas answered with his usual humility. “I have to confess, I’m really looking forward to the new building.”

“Yeah, about that—” Maeve bit her lip. She didn’t want to let it slip that the contractor had recently handed her a thick binder of interior options that had been sitting on the kitchen table for a week now. She had cracked open the front cover and was immediately overwhelmed with what seemed like infinite shades of white. “We’ll figure it out.” She squeezed his hand tightly with reassurance.

When they were done with what Maeve calledlunch,which was really just three cups of black coffee filled to the brim, she and Dallas gave each other one last embrace. The table wasn’tempty for more than a few seconds before an anxious young couple swooped in and eagerly took their spot.

Dallas took her by the hand and led her through the crowd of customers toward the door.

“One second, Dal,” Maeve said, releasing his hand as she paused by the counter.

Catching Oakleigh’s attention, she waited patiently while she pulled a hot pan of cinnamon rolls out of the oven. Oakleigh was clearly struggling to meet the demand for the mouthwatering viral pastries.

“Everything okay?” Oakleigh asked, swiping her hands and leaving powdery white prints on the front of her red apron.

Noticing the wisps of blonde hair that had escaped her ponytail and the vacant look that had replaced the enthusiasm in Oakleigh’s expressive hazel eyes, Maeve knew she was exhausted and frazzled,

“Listen, I want you to know that you’re doing great,” Maeve said, pulling Oakleigh into a side hug, “but you’re tired. I know you are, don’t argue with me.” She let the words flow quickly, knowing that Oakleigh would immediately push back on such an accusation. It was no secret to Maeve that Oakleigh was eager to prove that she could be trusted to take on more responsibilities. “I want to drive you to the airport to pick up your friend, okay?”

Oakleigh took a breath and exhaled. “I don’t want to burden you with this.”

“You’re never a burden to me.” Maeve waved away Oakleigh’s concern with a casual flip of her hand. “And I’m looking forward to meeting your best friend.”

Oakleigh conceded with a weak smile, clearly knowing that attempting to argue with Maeve was pointless. “Thanks, Maeve.”

Pushing the door open with a loud jingle, she couldn’t help but notice Oakleigh bristle. She could see how the sound could get annoying with the record number of customers now coming through the door of the coffee shop.

Still, that was Ruth’s bell, and Maeve was going to hold firm.

Dallas was waiting for her outside. He clasped her hand once again, leading her through the throngs of fans yearning to capture a familiar face to post to their own social media accounts.

When she gave Dallas one last goodbye, Maeve climbed into the quietness of her truck. She silently prayed for Oakleigh, giving her concerns over to the Lord. With inclement weather in the forecast and Mia on her way into town, her intuition told her something was brewing on the horizon.

Chapter 4

Mincing Words

When the afternoon sun dipped behind the trees, Oakleigh flipped the sign fromOpentoClosed. Even through the solid glass door, she could hear the audible groans and murmurings of complaints from the few customers lined up and still waiting to order.

Popping her head out of the door, she caught the bell short mid jangle, causing it to give a tinny clang in her hand.

Oakleigh cupped her hand over her mouth and shouted, “Hold up!” Catching the attention of the disappointed patrons before they could take their leave. She knew they were already scrolling through their phones, preparing to leave her scathing reviews.

“One cinnamon roll, one cup of coffee for each of you until we’re out,” she announced. “And it’s on the house since we closed early.” Despite her generous offer, she knew some would still leave her a long winded review, full of complaints over her lack of customer service.

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