Well Matched (Well Met #3)(6)

“Hazelnut latte.” The woman ordering didn’t look up from her phone as she placed her cash on the counter. “I’ll take it to go.” I couldn’t even see her face, just dark hair streaked with gray bent over her phone.

“You got it, Carla.” Emily kept a sunny smile on her face even though Carla didn’t see it. She made the drink and took the money, making change and pushing it back across the counter with the latte in a cardboard cup. “Here you go!” Emily turned away, getting two clean ceramic mugs off a shelf to start making our coffees. Yay.

I was back at our table, skimming the first chapter of one of my chosen paperbacks, when a loud voice startled me.

“What the hell is this?”

I looked up to see Carla, her last customer, slam her coffee back down on the counter with enough force that some liquid spilled out of the sippy-hole.

Emily turned around from the espresso machine, her eyebrows raised. “It’s a hazelnut latte. Is something wrong with—”

“I said vanilla. I want a vanilla latte. Didn’t you listen?”

Emily blinked. “I’m sorry. I could have sworn you said hazelnut. Give me a second, and I’ll—” She reached for the to-go cup, and Carla huffed.

“I can’t believe you got it wrong.” She crossed her arms. “I always order a vanilla latte. Don’t you remember that? I come in almost every day.” Sheesh, this woman gave lethal stink eye.

“I know you do.” Emily’s voice was steady, unruffled, as she took the lid off the offending coffee and poured it down the sink. “That’s why I thought it was so weird that you’d ordered hazelnut.”

Carla folded her arms. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Okay, that was it. I’d had enough. “You ordered hazelnut.” I put down the book.

Carla whirled in my direction, fire in her eyes. “Excuse me?” There was a beat of silence as both of them looked at me.

“I said you ordered hazelnut.” My hands shook as I got to my feet. I hated confrontation. I liked keeping to myself. But that whole argument had been ridiculous, and that bitch had been dangerously close to insulting my little sister. I wasn’t going to let that happen. “You were on your phone, you probably weren’t thinking, but I was right here and I heard you order hazelnut.”

“I didn’t . . .” Carla stopped speaking, her mouth hanging open for a second, and I saw the moment click when she realized she was in the wrong. A flush climbed the back of her neck, and the fire in her eyes froze. She stared straight at me, and I stared back, the both of us leaving Emily out of the conversation.

“It’s fine!” Emily’s cheerful voice cut through the tension, and she put a fresh to-go cup on the counter. “Here you go, one vanilla latte. I even upsized it for you, no charge, for the inconvenience.”

Carla turned around and looked at the coffee as though she’d never seen one before. She looked at me one more time, then back at the coffee. She sniffed loudly and picked up the cup, not meeting Emily’s eyes. Her thank-you was a mumble, and she all but slunk out of the store, leaving Emily and me alone. Finally.

I heaved a long sigh. “Who was that bitch?”

Emily’s sigh echoed mine. “Carla owns a shop here in town. Kitschy jewelry. She’s head of the Chamber of Commerce. So that’s fun.”

“Jesus. I bet.” I sat back down, and soon Emily joined me with two fresh lattes.

“Don’t worry about her. Carla’s a cranky old woman and sometimes she likes to take shit out on people.”

“And you put up with it?” I shook my head.

Emily sighed. “Head of the Chamber of Commerce,” she repeated. “It sucks. She sucks. But whatever. I don’t listen to her half the time. Thanks for sticking up for me, by the way. The look on her face was priceless.”

“Eh.” I shrugged. “I stick up for the people I love. You know that.”

We shared a smile across the table. Emily and I hadn’t always had the best relationship growing up, due more to our age difference than any actual animosity. But since she’d come to Willow Creek we’d gotten closer, and I’d learned what it was like to really have a sister. I loved her, and she knew it. That was leaps and bounds over where we’d both been five years ago.

“So,” she said. “Mitch.”

I sighed. Crap. Back on topic. “Yeah.”

“You’re really gonna go there?” She grinned. “You’ll have to let me know what’s under that kilt.”

“Oh, God.” I pressed a hand to my forehead. “First of all, I’m not getting under anything.”

“Well, that’s too bad.” Emily snickered into her latte. “I bet he’d be fun.”

I shook my head hard. “No, thank you. Himbos are not my type.”

“Aw, come on. Give him a little credit. He’s more than his looks.”

“Seriously?” I stared at Emily. “I seem to remember a certain someone drooling over him when she first came to town.”

She put up her hands in a defensive gesture. “Okay, guilty. I thought he’d be a fun distraction. And I stand by that. But then I got to know him, and he’s . . .” She shrugged. “He’s a good guy. Genuinely nice, and he’s not stupid, you know.”