Page 11 of Cups of You

“Is everything okay?”

Benjamin’s voice cut in and Amber jerked her gaze up. She had almost forgotten where she was. His expression seemed concerned, and it dampened some of Amber’s anger. She nodded before quickly deciding to end the call. She had a lot to think about and none of it was going to be solved by getting angry in the middle of a café. She needed to go home and scream into a pillow. Or punch it.

Probably both.

“Josiah, I have to go.”

“You have to go? Go where? And who the fuck was that talking to you?”

Amber glanced up at Benjamin before answering. “A friend. I’ll talk to you next week.”

“Amber—”

She disconnected the call not wanting to listen to anything else he had to say. It took her a couple of deep breaths before she was able to give Benjamin a look that hopefully didn’t show just how furious she was. Her cheeks were hot, and she knew her smile probably looked more like a grimace, but Benjamin returned it with a tentative one as he handed her two cups.

“Sorry about that.”

“No, it’s okay. It just, you seemed upset, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Amber nodded. “I’m fine.” Benjamin looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead he handed her the box that Amber could smell had their muffins in it. “Thank you.”

He stepped back letting her get up. “No problem.” He scratched the back of his head. “Listen, I know it might be out of line but…if you ever want to talk.”

“No,” Amber replied firmly. When his expression fell, she sighed at the feeling of guilt that washed over her. How someone the size of a linebacker with a full beard managed to look like a kicked puppy she would never understand. Begrudgingly, she continued. “But thank you for the offer. Josiah and I have arguments sometimes. It’s no big deal.”

He nodded. “Josiah is your…”

“Boyfriend.” The word didn’t fill Amber with happiness the way it had when they first began dating. Now, it was more like a weight that fell hard at her feet. Even without the cloud of his infidelity looming over them the past couple months, something had changed in her and Josiah’s relationship, but she wasn’t sure if she had the bandwidth right then to deal with it.

“I’ll see you later. Feel free to drop by the house whenever. I know Jackie would probably love the extra company.”

“Right, yeah.” Benjamin held up a hand and waved as Amber turned and left the shop. She noted that his once beaming smile was dimmer now, but she didn’t have the patience to figure out why.

Without glancing back, she left the comforting warmth of the coffee shop and stepped out into the chill of the day. If there was a part of her that wished to turn around and soak in that warmth forever, she refused to acknowledge it otherwise she knew she might never leave.

Amber was good at ignoring what she wanted to do and doing what needed to be done. She pulled her coat up to her chin to combat the lingering chill and made her way back to her car.

FOUR

Benjamin stood unmoving as he watched Amber leave. It was strange. He hadn’t been harboring any thoughts other than getting to know her, but something that seemed a lot like hope had wanted to bloom in his chest when Liv had joked about Amber being single. It was a stupid sort of hope no doubt born of his lack of dating since his split with his ex-wife two years ago.

Even so…

“Everything okay dad?”

He snapped out of it and turned away from the door. He pasted a smile on his face, but it didn’t seem to sit right on his face feeling fake and brittle. “Yeah. Of course.” He walked back to the counter with measured steps. “Dishes all done?”

Liv rolled her eyes at him and gestured with a soapy finger. “Does it look like it? I don’t know how you manage without me here to wash dishes for you.” She looked back down and picked up another dish. “It might be time to hire someone to help out around here.”

“I don’t get that much business, Liv. Plus, your Aunt Sam helps out here and there if needed.”

“Yeah, but she’s super pregnant and will pop any day now. Soon she won’t have time to help out and since you won’t let me help out more often—”

“Hey, kiddo.” Benjamin put a hand on her shoulder halting the flow of her words. “Don’t worry so much about me or the café. Everything is fine.”

“You keep saying things are fine, but I don’t think you know what that word means.”

“Liv—”

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