Page 45 of All You Need Is Macchiato

"My shoes are fine."

"Your shoes are dangerous." But he's kissing me, tasting of coffee and joy and forever.

Annie's exaggerated sigh breaks the moment. "If you two are done being disgustingly cute, we have actual work to do."

"Right." I straighten my apron. "Back to making wishes come true?"

Nolan's hand finds mine. "Already did."

Some wishes happen in grand gestures.

Others in quiet moments between coffee cups and kisses.

And the best ones? They feel exactly like this—like belonging, like purpose, like love served in a hand-thrown mug with a mountain view.

I'm wiping down the last table when Nolan slips in through the back door, right on time.

"Hot chocolate's almost ready," I call out, hearing him hang his jacket on the hook we installed last week. The one right next to mine, like it belongs there.

"No coffee?" He appears behind me, sliding his arms around my waist. "I thought that was kind of our thing."

"Even coffee experts need a change sometimes." I lean back against him, savoring his warmth. "Besides, I added a secret ingredient."

"Let me guess—hazelnut?"

"Maybe." I turn in his arms. "Though you'll have to test it to be sure."

The hot chocolate steams in two of our favorite mugs—handmade by a local artist, decorated with mountain scenes. We settle into our usual corner, where the Wishing Wall's fairy lights cast a gentle glow.

"To success?" Nolan raises his mug.

"To partnership." I clink my mug against his. "And to you, for believing in this crazy dream even when I doubted."

"You never doubted." He takes a sip, his eyes warming. "Not really. You just needed someone to remind you how capable you are."

"Is that what you were doing? All those arguments about community integration and local suppliers?"

"Obviously." His smile is soft around the edges. "I was definitely not being stubborn or difficult at all."

"Of course not." I curl my feet under me, watching the marshmallows melt in my chocolate. "Thank you, though. For everything. For helping make this place what it is."

"Kathryn." He sets down his mug, taking my free hand. "You're the one who made this happen. You saw what the Coffee Loft could be when everyone else had given up."

"Not everyone." I squeeze his fingers. "You kept the hazelnut macchiato on the menu."

"Best decision I ever made." He brings our joined hands to his lips. "Well, second best."

"What was the first?"

"Letting myself fall in love with a corporate troubleshooter in impractical shoes."

I laugh, but it catches in my throat when I see his expression. "You're ridiculous."

"I'm honest." He takes my mug, setting it beside his. "And I'm ridiculously, honestly, completely in love with you."

The words aren't new, but they still make my heart skip. "Even when I reorganize the wish cards three times in one day?"

"Especially then." He tugs me closer until I'm practically in his lap. "Even when you wake me up at dawn to test new recipes. Even when you spend an hour arranging Marie's flowers 'just so.'"

---