Hu Gh:And trust some new-age mechanic with my baby? Nah. I’ll get to it when my knee stops hurting.
Tammy Jane:I don’t trust those mechanics either. Good on you, Hugh.
Kerry Winsor:What is the world coming to right now? Since when do Hugh and Tammy agree???
“Damn,it’s not even seven and there’s a line,” Jade muttered. “Can’t these people find something else to do?”
“It’s moving fast today,” I said. “Looks like hiring Kelsey was the right thing for Theo to do.”
Strawberry Springs’s new coffee shop, The Reserved Bean, opened up with an explosion of business. At first, I’d thought it had been because of the newness of it, but after trying the coffee, I knew the truth. It was the best drink I’d ever had, and all the business was well earned.
It was also more than one person could handle.
He’d been stubborn about it, but one complaint from Kerry was enough to get him in line. So far, Kelsey was helping keep the lines down and people were happier.
But Theo was still busy.
I’d asked Jade to meet up to talk about the disaster that was yesterday. We’d both made a silent agreement not to talk about anything involving the baby in public. She was doing a great job at pretending to be normal.
I was losing my mind. I hadn’t been this angry since Brooke nearly started a fire in the bathroom with a hair dryer. I didn’t do well when I was mad, and it showed when I walked away from Dean instead of figuring out aplan.
It was hard not to check my phone every five seconds to see if Dean messaged. I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to or not.
Brooke had almost been right. A lot of guys weren’t good people. It was easy for a man to pretend to be nice to get in my pants. But I bet he didn’t stick around places for a reason.
It took everything I had to focus on the line, which was slowly leading us into the building.
Theo was taking orders while Kelsey made them. The two of them seemed to get along well and had quickly become friends, but there was too much going on for either of them to talk.
Still, Kelsey waved at us when she saw us. We all were friends by proxy since we grew up together, but she hadn’tseemed to want to get attached to Strawberry Springs again. Jade had tried to invite her to hang out with all of us, but she turned it down.
The only person she talked to was Wren, but that was only because Wren was close to her mom, Tammy.
“You’re busy,” Jade said to Theo once we were at the front.
“Yeah, no kidding. What can I get you?”
This was how he was with me. Friendly enough, but distant. Everyone had their theories on why he didn’t date around, but we had no real idea why he was by himself so much.
“Iced coffee for me,” Jade said. “Grace, are you in the mood for any caffeine?”
I knew what she was hinting at. I dimly remembered the instructions Dr. Anderson had given me. I could have up to a certain amount a day.
“Just a regular, please. It’s not too strong, is it? On the caffeine, I mean.”
“No, it has the normal amount.”
“Which is?”
Kelsey was eyeing us from behind the counter and I wondered what she would say.
“I just get jittery,” I rushed to add.
Theo didn’t seem like he cared. “I think it’s around eighty milligrams, less if you leave room for milk and cream.”
“I’ll do that then. And please leave room.”
He nodded and entered in our order.