Page 7 of Seeing You

They opened the shop and had all their usual customers. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood and things were fairly uneventful. At the first lull, she made herself a cup of coffee.

“I hate to say it,” Jade began, “but Ash was right. The croissants are amazing.”

“I know, I know…I was too stubborn to take her seriously, but I have a feeling these are going to become our new top seller.” Pausing, she took a sip of her coffee. “We may need to think about a bigger display case.”

“I’m all for it, but that could mean we’d need to do some renovations on our entire service area. One little change has a ripple effect. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing, but…we would need to get a contractor in to really help us see if it’s feasible. I don’t want to take on anything that would require us to have to close for an extended period of time.”

“Agreed.”

The front door opened and Ashlynn came breezing in. She was smiling and glowy and clearly not dealing with any kind of morning sickness. “Please tell me you made more croissants!” she said as she approached the counter. “I ate the ones you gave me yesterday, and I’ve been craving them all night. I don’t even need to be at the salon until noon, but I couldn’t wait to come in and get more. Do you have them? Do you? Please?”

“Um…Ash?” Billie motioned to the display case. “Use your eyes, not your mouth,” she teased. “Plus, I made an extra half a dozen for you to take home.”

“Oh my God! You are thebest! Thank you!” Running behind the counter, she gave Billie a massive hug. “You’re already the baby’s favorite. Trust me.”

Laughing, she shook her head. “You’re not even three months along. I have a feeling you’re going to be telling people that throughout the pregnancy.”

“Keep making me goodies, and I swear you’ll never be replaced.” Batting her eyelashes, she leaned back on the counter. “Can I have one now, or do I have to take it from the box you made for me?”

“You can have one from the case,” Jade told her. “Decaf coffee?”

“Ugh…that’s been the hardest thing so far. I didn’t realize just how much I relied on that caffeine kick throughout the day. And I don’t care what Reid says, decaf isnotthe same. He keeps saying it’s all in my mind and I need to just think of it as fully caffeinated.” She studied the menu board. “He also said I need to cut back on the super sweet specialty drinks too. It’s like he doesn’t even love me anymore.”

“Believe me, I get it,” Jade told her, patting her hand. “It was rough being here every day while I was pregnant with Cal. All I wanted was a caramel frappé, but both the doctor and Levi reprimanded me. But my mom had one waiting for me as soon as the baby was born. Trust me, it’s going to feel like forever, but once you’re holding that little, tiny baby in your arms, it will all be worth it.”

“I know,” she said with a sigh. “But that doesn’t help me right now when all I want is…well…a caramel frappé. Dammit, Jade! That wasn’t even on my radar!”

Grinning, Jade shrugged. “Sorry!”

Billie took a croissant from the case and put it on a plate for her sister. “Do you want me to heat it up for you?”

“Yes, please!”

Placing the plate in the microwave, she was about to comment on what she thought Ashlynn should drink when one of the ovens began to beep. “Jade? Can you get this when the microwave beeps? I need to go pull the coffee cake from the oven.

“No worries. Go do your thing!”

In the kitchen, she took the pan from the oven and placed it on the table. After making a quick circle, wiping down surfaces and making sure the oven was off, she washed her hands, reapplied some lip gloss, and went out to rejoin everyone.

“He looks kind of familiar,” Ashlynn was quietly saying.

“Really? I thought so too, but he’s definitely never been in here before,” Jade whispered.

Billie walked over to see who they were talking about and froze.

No. No, no, no, no, no…

There was no way—after all these years—that this could be happening. Just…no. She must have made some sort of sound, because Jade was suddenly in front of her, gently grasping her shoulders. “Bill? Are you alright? You don’t look so good.”

“No…I…uh…”

Ashlynn took one look at her and then toward the customer who was browsing before her eyes went wide with recognition. “Ho-ly crap! Are you okay? Are you freaking out? Because you totally look like you’re freaking out.”

“What the hell is he doing here?” Billie hissed. “Why would he even be back in town after swearing he’d never come back? And why would he comehere?”

“Um…maybe because we’re amazing,” Jade suggested. “Or because everyone in town knows we aretheplace to get the best coffee. The list is endless.”

“Did something happen in his family?” Ashlynn guessed. “I haven’t seen his dad around in a while…”

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