Page 2 of Pieces of Heaven

I picture an old woman, needing a late afternoon pick-me-up. Or a construction worker just off the job and craving caffeine.

Instead, I find a beast of a man. His shoulder-length, blond hair drapes a bearded face and icy blue eyes. When his gaze falls on me, I feel pinned to my spot. I can hardly breathe.

“Yes?” I ask, thinking I’m being robbed.

“Coffee. Black.”

His voice is rough like he’s gone too long without liquid to smooth out the edges.

I look past him to find an empty parking lot. XYZ Coffee is located in a shopping cove on the outskirts of McMurdo Valley’s downtown. I share the parking lot with a locksmith and an out-of-business pizza restaurant.

“Did someone drop you off?” I ask dumbly as I walk to the counter and pour my first cup of coffee for a real customer.

Except I sense this giant, rugged man is looking for charity. He smells like he’s been in the wild for a long time. He isn’t dirty, just sweaty. Maybe he isn’t homeless. I do notice how he carries a backpack like a man whose life fits in a bag.

“I came from there,” he says and points through the window to the woods on the other side of the quiet road. “Didn’t realize a new business had opened up over here. How long have you been around?”

“Two weeks,” I say and rest the XYZ Coffee mug on the counter. “Oh, did you want that to go?”

“No,” he says and settles his large build into one of the stools at the short counter. “I know most faces around McMurdo Valley, so you’ve got to be new.”

“I just moved here.”

“Why?”

“It’s a beautiful place.”

“That it is,” he says and gulps down the coffee.

I nearly tell him to be careful because it’s hot. Realizing this massive man doesn’t need me to baby him, I keep my mouth shut.

As his icy gaze greedily drinks me in, he asks, “Are you getting many customers in this spot?”

“Can you excuse me?” I mumble and step back.

Hurrying to the shop’s tiny bathroom, I splash water on my face without thinking. I just want to freshen up since I’m having a conversation with a wildly handsome man capable of making my heart race. After remembering how I’m wearing makeup, I dab away the mess the water’s made.

“Give it up and get back out there before he robs the place,” I whisper to the mirror before chuckling bitterly. “Oh, yeah, you don’t have any money in the register.”

I return to find him in the same spot. He’s admiring the place or scrutinizing it, maybe. His sharp gaze returns to me.

“Why this place?” he asks, picking up where we left off.

“I wasn’t living in town when I signed the lease. A dumb mistake to make, of course. I was in a hurry to start my new life. I trusted the realtor who said this was a prime location. His office sent me pictures. It looked so lovely,” I say, losing the strength to continue. “But no one comes around here, do they?”

“This realtor, what’s his name?”

“Why?”

“Just seems shady, don’t you think?”

In a defeated voice, I mumble, “You can’t take advantage of people with quick minds.”

My father said those words a million times. They take on an ominous meaning after he screwed me out of my promised inheritance. I’d been duped so easily by the lies my parents effortlessly told.

The man rubs at his shaggy blond beard and shrugs. “I don’t think that’s true, necessarily. But even if you have a dull mind, the realtor should have shown more class.”

His concern wins a dopey smile from me. Underneath his wild hair, rough masculinity, and earthy scent beats the heart of a kind man.

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