Page 24 of A Breeze Over Rosewood Beach
He noticed that there was a delivery truck parked in front of the café, and in the next moment, he saw a woman standing next to the driver, signing off on the shipment.
It was Sally, wearing a lime green knit hat with a pom-pom on the end and frowning in confusion.
“Are you sure this is right?” He heard her say as he got nearer. She shook her head as she looked down at the paperwork. “I just can’t believe it’s this much. I’ve been gettingthis same order for years, but I’m wondering if there’s a mistake this time. Have prices really gone up all that much?”
The driver shrugged. “I don’t think there’s an error. And prices have been going up, or so they’re telling me. You’re not the first restaurant owner to complain about it.”
Sally nodded, sighing. “I don’t mean to complain. It’s just—well, it’s frustrating.”
“I understand,” the driver said, patting her on the shoulder sympathetically. “Don’t worry, Sally. I know you’ll figure it all out. That’s all we can do, right? Figure out life as we go along?”
Sally chuckled. “You’re so right, Hank.”
Oscar slipped past them and stepped inside the café. He was curious about the conversation he’d just overheard. Sally had seemed distressed, and it was the first time he’d ever seen her behave in a way that wasn’t overly cheerful. It made him realize that her optimism wasn’t a sugary-sweet, fake persona that she put on to get people to like her, but a genuine choice to look on the bright side of life.
How does she do it?he wondered, shaking his head.I certainly couldn’t.
He looked around the little café, with its bright colors and big windows that let in a great deal of winter sunlight. It smelled heavenly of richly roasted coffee and savory foods and sweet baked goods, and the air was filled with the sound of people talking and laughing. It was a comfortable, happy place. Was Sally happy because she got to work there every day, and it helped lift her spirits? Or was it such a warm, welcoming place because Sally ran it, and she knew how to make a place pleasant because of her own joy?
He heard the door open behind him and he saw Sally step back into the café, looking concerned. She didn’t notice him as she walked into the kitchen, and he realized after a moment thathe was just standing in the middle of the entryway staring after her. He cleared his throat and sat down at the counter.
“I’ll take a cup of black coffee, please,” he said before the barista could ask him what he wanted.
“Sure thing,” she told him with a smile. “It’ll just be a minute.”
Sure enough, it was less than one minute before she’d set down a steaming cup of black coffee in front of Oscar. He grunted out a thank-you and took an eager sip of it. He was liking Ocean Breeze Café’s coffee more and more. It didn’t have the perfectly smooth taste he was used to, but it had more flavor and character. It was earthier, he thought, closing his eyes for a moment. It created a warm, comfortable feeling in his core.
There was another person sitting at the counter, a couple of stools down from him. She was an older woman, with sparkling blue eyes and short brown hair streaked with gray. She had a pleasant expression on her face as she sipped her own cup of coffee. He noticed there was a half-eaten muffin on a plate in front of her, which implied she’d been at the café for a while. He almost felt as though he’d seen her before, but he soon decided that she simply had one of those warm, reassuring faces.
A moment later Sally came back out into the main room, sighing and shaking her head. She started toward the counter, and for a second his heart skipped a beat as he thought that she was coming toward him, to sit down next to him.
She wasn’t looking at him, however. She was looking at the woman with the short brown hair. Sally tumbled onto a stool beside the other woman and pulled her lime green hat off her head with a groan.
“These prices, Vivian,” she said. “It’s just criminal. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“Oh, I know.” Vivian shook her head. “The Lighthouse Grill hasn’t raised its prices in years, but it’s looking as though we’re going to have to. I hate to do it.”
“So do I.” Sally sighed.
“At least we have each other to commiserate with,” Vivian said, smiling at Sally. “Business owner friendships for the win.”
“So true.” Sally chuckled. “This would all feel so much harder if I didn’t have you to talk about it with.”
Oscar quickly put two and two together. This woman named Vivian must be the owner of The Lighthouse Grill, that other restaurant he’d seen when driving through town. It seemed strange to him that the two women were friends. Surely their businesses were in competition with each other. Wouldn’t they both want to make sure the other one didn’t have access to useful information? Instead, it seemed as though they were in the habit of helping each other out.
This is the strangest place I’ve ever been in in my life,he thought, watching Vivian and Sally out of the corner of his eye.What is this town? Is everyone here actually this kind and genuine?
He wished that Sally would notice that he was there and say hello to him. He nursed his coffee slowly, wanting it to last as long as possible.
Since he was already paying attention to Sally and Vivian, he couldn’t help paying attention to their conversation. Sally was fretting aloud about the prices of high-quality foods and wondering how she was going to meet her budget.
Immediately his mind latched onto a business strategy for her. He knew all about how those big food distributers worked, and he knew there were ways that she could have the high- quality products she wanted for her café without going outside of her budget. His mind began to whir as he considered what could be done, and what might be the best ways to go about it.It had been a while since he’d thought about business, and his mind felt both rusty and eager for a challenge. He’d spent his life surrounding himself with finance and business information, and thinking along those lines came naturally to him. It felt good, like getting back on a horse he knew well.
As he concentrated, he began to drum his fingers on the counter. He didn’t mean to draw attention to himself, but a few moments later, Sally noticed the faint sound and turned in his direction.
“Oscar!” she said, and the way her face lit up with an expression of genuine happiness when she saw him nearly made his jaw drop. He couldn’t believe she’d reacted that way, and he didn’t understand why. It left him with a warm, kind of sticky feeling in his core that he wasn’t sure what to do with. “Just wait till you hear what our special for the day is.” She grinned impishly at him. “It’s a grown-up grilled cheese with fried onions and tomato slices inside, with a side of none other than…” She paused for dramatic effect. “Tater tots!”
Oscar smiled. He couldn’t help it. It was a very small, half-hidden smile, but it was determined to stay on his face and he couldn’t get rid of it.
