Page 16 of Otter Heart
“I can help whoever’s next!” one of the baristas called.
Apparently, we were holding up the line.
“Let me get your coffee,” Adam offered.
“You don’t have to do that,” I began.
“No, I insist. Consider it an apology.”
“Well, I’m getting a pastry too, so let’s hope you’re as rich as that cologne.”
I heard him smile and I couldn’t help grinning back.
“I think I can handle that.”
Ten minutes later we were both seated at a booth with Bessie curled up under the table. I had my Americano and my scone while Adam was sipping away at an iced chai latte. I could smell the cinnamon and ginger in it from the other side of the table.
We’d been talking for a few minutes, mostly exchanging pleasantries. He wanted to know if I’d always lived in town and what I did for fun around here. Turned out that while he owned a cabin nearby, he was fairly new in town. But he wasn’t willing to go into much detail as to why he’d moved. I could respect the distance. We hardly knew each other.
A silence fell between us for a moment, giving us a chance to enjoy our drinks. A few seconds later he pulled the cup back from his lips and set it on the table, his bracelet jingling.
“What kind of stone is your bracelet made of?” I asked. “I heard it last time we met but I can’t tell what it is.”
“Oh.” I heard him pick at it, spinning it around his wrist. “I think it’s made of jade. Just little jade beads.”
I held out my hand. “May I?”
He slipped it off and placed the bracelet in my hand. It was still warm.
“Ah,” I said, turning it through my fingers. “This is one of those little prayer bead looking things, right?” I pulled at it, the bracelet stretching easily. “Uh-huh. They have these in every gift shop around here.”
“My best friend got it for me,” he replied. “He said it matched my eyes.”
“What color are they?”
“The bracelet? It’s jade.”
“No. Your eyes.”
There was a long pause. “Green, I guess.”
I handed the bracelet back to him. “Be more specific. When I think of green, I think of grass. Are they that color?”
“You know colors?”
“I wasn’t born blind.”
“Oh.” Another pause. “Just a second.”
I heard him rustling through his stuff and then a small click. It sounded like the power button on my phone.
“Okay. So, it looks like they are mostly green with a ring of brown around the outside edge. And there’s maybe a little splash of yellow here and there too?”
“What shade of green?”
“Uh… I don’t know. Like maybe… pine tree colored?”
“Spruce, cedar, or something else?”
