Page 5 of Cups of You

Benjamin shook his head as he tried to ignore the thought of being considered old. He was only thirty-seven. That was nothing, right? Didn’t someone say thirty was the new twenty?

He froze before snapping himself out of it. Getting older was a fact of life and there wasn’t much he could do about it other than embrace it.

“No. Just the same old day.”

His answer didn’t seem to be what Olivia was looking for and she put her hands on her hips cocking one to the side. “Oh really? So, no new people came through? No attractive women came in to sweep you off your feet? You didn’t swipe right on the new Mrs. Murphy? I won’t be getting a stepmom for Christmas?”

Benjamin frowned. “Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that head of yours, bean.”

“Back at you dad. But you didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m going to ignore your question and simply ask my own again, what are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” She asked. “I’m here to help out with the café.”

“Seems like you’re here to gossip.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and moved her to the side planting Olivia in front of the sink. “You want to help? You’re on wash duty.”

She groaned. “I’m always on wash duty. I don’t know why you won’t teach me how to make drinks.”

He shook his head. “You focus on school and sports and I will focus on the business, okay?” Olivia frowned and he put his hands up trying to placate her. “You’re only fifteen, kiddo. You shouldn’t be worrying about working right now. There will be plenty of time for that when you’re an old fogey like me.”

“You’re not that old, dad.” She dropped her arms and eyed him up and down. “Just maybe a bit out of touch, but not ancient or anything. Still young enough to find love again.”

Benjamin chuckled and shook his head. He turned back to the counter when he saw a customer walking up. “Just focus on washing those dishes and I’ll worry about my own love life kiddo.”

He ignored her muttered words and focused on the customers’ orders. They had two hours before closing and often people came back through to get their evening coffees and the last few baked goods prepared for the day for after dinner desserts. The café wasn’t large, but business had been steady since Benjamin opened it up six years ago.

Before opening the café, he had been stressed out working in corporate finance. Trying to balance making money as the primary breadwinner of three people and finding time to be with his family had been almost impossible. It was his ex-wife’s idea to pack up and move to her hometown so he could cut back on his hours, be with the family more, and open a business.

It had seemed like a great idea at the start if only because he hadn’t known the real reason for why she suggested Millensville when she had previously never mentioned moving there. He had grown up in a town of similar size up north and figured one small town was just as good as another if they were close to family.

The revelation that there was more to her desire to move back had been slow to come as he slowly built and opened the café until it was out fully, and she was long gone.

“Hey dad, want me to start wiping down the tables?”

Benjamin turned and smiled at Olivia’s suggestion. An hour had gone by in the blink of an eye and now there were only a couple other people in the shop besides them.

“Great idea, Liv. I’ll start putting away the items for tomorrow.” He looked over the items on the display shelf. “We might actually get out of here before eight.”

“Good. Aunt Sam and Uncle Randy said they were going to bring dinner to the house tonight around eight.”

“Well then, we should try to get as much done before seven so we can get back to meet them. You know how your uncle is,” Benjamin replied pulling the item trays from the shelves. “If we leave him waiting outside for too long, he’ll start complaining about being hungry and how we’re all trying to starve him.”

Olivia giggled before nodding and grabbing the cleaning rag. Benjamin’s gaze followed as she walked around the counter and his chest warmed with pride as he watched her pick up the few remaining dishes and wipe down one of the tables.

She didn’t always come to the café after school. Benjamin was serious when he told her he wanted her to focus on school and not on working. But whenever she did show up, she was always a big help.

They waved goodbye to the remaining customers who clinked out the door at fifteen to seven and by a little past seven, they were locking up and heading to the car.

The town was quiet as they drove through Main Street and towards the small house they now called home. It was a far cry from the large family home he had purchased back when he was married, but after the split, Benjamin had wanted a fresh start out of the house that held some painful memories.

He wasn’t sure exactly what Olivia knew about the details of his split with her mother, Evangeline, but he had done his best to keep most things quiet. Randy and Samantha, his two closest friends and the ones who stuck by him after the split, knew about it all. He was lucky to have them especially after choosing to stay in town so Olivia could stay close with her mother’s side of the family and he could continue running the business he had grown to love.

Benjamin shook his head and sighed in amusement when he pulled into the driveway and saw Randy and Samantha sitting in the rocking chairs on the front porch. He rolled the car to a stop and got out.

“You could have at least moved your car over so I could pull all the way up in my own driveway.”

Randy rocked in the chair. “Well, if you were already here, I would have been parked behind you anyway.” He smirked before standing and helping Samantha up. She gifted him a smile that was just as warm as it had been the day they got married and Benjamin couldn’t help but smile as well.

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