“Well, now youhaveto tell me,” she said.
I sighed. “My favorite coffee isn’t on the menu at the Crumb.”
“Intriguing,” she said. “What’s your favorite coffee?”
I hesitated. “Iced strawberry matcha latte with vanilla sweet-cream foam.”
Her mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide. “You’re kidding.”
I shook my head.
She looked at the regular iced coffee in my hand. “Why didn’t you get what you wanted?”
“There was a lot going on,” I said. “This seemed easier.”
“Wow…” She shook her head. “Not what I expected.”
“What did you expect?”
She chewed her bottom lip, turning her eyes to the sky like the answer lay in its cloudless blue expanse. “Maybe just a black coffee? No, that would be Dane.”
We’d started down the footpath that wound through the park and around the lake and I stopped at one of the benches that lined the path.
“Dane does like his coffee black.” I gestured to the bench and she sat like we’d taken this walk a million times before.
Like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Knew it,” she said. “Okay, I would have pegged you for an oat milk latte, no sugar.”
“Sounds boring.” I felt an absurd wash of happiness when she laughed again. I’d done that. I’d made her laugh, and I wanted to keep doing it. “I’ll take my iced strawberry matcha latte with vanilla sweet-cream foam, thank you very much.”
“Does Beck know?” she asked, like it was a deep dark secret just between us.
“Yeah but he doesn’t like it.” I held up the coffee Rosie had handed me on our way out of the Ground. “Is this your favorite?”
I didn’t want to tell her it sucked ass.
“I never really had a favorite, but this might be it from now on.” She looked at the cup. “It was supposed to be an iced coffee with cream and sugar, but I think there’s something else in there.”
“Lavender.”
“Yes! It’s so subtle. And delicious. I didn’t ask for it though.”
“Rosie likes to take liberties with customer drink orders. She says she gives them what they don’t know they want.”
“Points for Rosie. She was right. I didn’t know it, but I definitely wanted this.”
“You sure you’re not just desperate for caffeine? That was quite a scene back there.”
The Common Ground seemed a million miles away. The bench was shaded by the trees that towered above us, and the lake lapped at the sandy bank on the other side of the path. Every now and then, someone walked or jogged by, flashing a smile or a wave before continuing on.
It wasn’t as good as being in the garden, but it was damn close, especially with Avery sitting next to me.
She grinned. “Boy was it! I take it Lyle and Rosie aren’t members of a mutual-admiration society?”
“Don’t let them fool you. They live for their rivalry.”
“Have they always been like that?” she asked.