Page 47 of Hearts Like Hers

“A red eye with an extra shot,” Kate repeatedback to the next customer, perusing the options on the keypad. “Hmm. A red eyewith an extra shot. Okay. Where are you?” The older gentleman with a smilewaited patiently. Another regular.

Autumn decided to step in. “You know what? Onthe house today, Stan.”

“Why, thank you!” Stan said, beaming. “Bestnews I’ve had today.” He nodded and moved down to pick up his drink from Steve.

“Hey, I’m really sorry about that,” Katesaid, but she was still smiling.

“How is it that you’re enjoying yourself?”

“I have no idea. I suck at this.”

“You do suck.”

“But it’s a lot of fun, too. I feel like thegatekeeper.” Well, how was she supposed to argue with that? “I’ll pay for thedrink you just gave away. Your bank account shouldn’t suffer because I’m awfulon a register.”

Autumn bumped Kate’s shoulder. “No way.Comping stuff is one of the best parts of owning your own business.”

Kate’s hazel eyes met hers and held. “You’rethe expert,” she said quietly, as the air around them thickened. You’d havethought they had the shop to themselves, hell, the planet.

As the morning progressed, Kate got better.But not a lot. They had a good time, though, Kate calling over drinks and sheand Steve tag-teaming to turn them around quickly. Another interestingdevelopment was the number of neighborhood women who took an extra few moments,oh…deciding their order or batting their eyelashes as they made small talk withKate. Autumn had their number and knew exactly what they were up to. Not thatshe blamed them. She’d stall for a little extra Kate time, too, if she were intheir shoes. Luckily, she was blessed with a lot of Kate time that morning, andshe was drinking in every minute of it.

“So, where’d you head off to the other day?”Autumn asked Kate. Steve had taken his break and the morning rush had taperedoff, leaving them a moment on their own.

Kate turned and leaned against the counter,facing Autumn. “Oh, uh, Santa Barbara. There was a woman there I needed tosee.”

“Gotcha,” Autumn said, ignoring the feelingshe’d just been punched in the gut. Hard. And how stupid was that? She neededto get past that kind of overly sensitive reaction, and quick. She and Kate hadbeen very mature about the nature of their relationship up to this point, andshe was not about to go all jealous-girl on her now. “Cool.”

“Not like that,” Kate said, dipping her headto meet Autumn’s averted eyes. She took a moment and seemed to make a decision.“I’d never met her before. She’s the mother of a couple of kids from back home.They were in an accident and could really use her about now.”

Autumn straightened. This was newinformation. “What kind of accident?”

Kate took a moment before answering. “Afire.”

“The same one that brought you out here?”

Kate nodded, but it was as if a heaviness haddescended on her. She stood ramrod straight, and her relaxed features were nowguarded and weary. “They’re okay now, but they lost their father. I couldn’tget him out.” She turned back to the cash register as if needing to study it,and right on cue, one of Autumn’s least favorite customers and the owner ofSeven Shores approached.

“Ms. Primm,” Larry Herman said, nodding toher. He wore a brown corduroy blazer in May, but she decided to let that onego. If Isabel had been there, however, she’d have had a field day. Total missedopportunity.

“Hi, Larry,” she said, wiping down theespresso machine.

“What can I get for you, Mr. Herman?” Kateasked. The professional diversion seemed to have snapped her out of the fog.

“Wait,” he said squinting at her. He took offhis 1980s plastic-framed glasses and put them back on his face. “You work herenow? Ms. Carpenter, if you’re here on a permanent basis, we’ll need to revisitour rental agreement.” The concept of any sort of change in Kate’s plans seemedto have thrown Larry for a magnificent loop. He scowled as only Larry could,worked up over nothing. It must be exhausting to be him.

“Nothing’s changed,” Kate told him. “Justhelping out a friend for the day.” She made brief eye contact with Autumn, whorelaxed marginally when met with that slight smile. She took a moment to enjoythe connection.

“If it does, I can draw up a lease. We shouldkeep this as official as possible.”

“It won’t change,” Kate said,matter-of-factly.

Autumn’s enjoyment ended there, the doorslamming shut. The reminder that Kate would soon pack up and be gone foreverleft her with a hollowness she felt all over. She focused on the room aroundher, checking her milk levels, scanning the dining area for tables that neededto be bussed. Anything to push past the sinking reminder of a day on thecalendar.

“What can I get for you?” Kate asked Larry,all the while keeping an eye on Autumn. Of course, she’d sensed a shift inAutumn’s demeanor.

“I’ll take a triple macchiato, half sweet,non-fat with caramel drizzled like a lattice.”

Kate stared at him. “No, but really.”

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