Life In Reverse(36)

“You might want to choose something. Two minute decisions are key in a coffee shop and,” I jerk my head toward the crowd, “you’re kind of holding up the line.”

The only response I get is an angry brown-eyed glare and a flick of auburn hair over her shoulder as she steps to the side. It’s then that I decide to take matters into my own hands. I plow straight back behind the counter. Ember stares at me dumbfounded as I head right for her.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing, Mickey? You need help, and I’m helping.”

She passes coffee to a woman with a huge rack and an amused smile who is watching us like we’re some kind of side show.

“If I were you,” she reflects, and we both glance at her, “and I wish like hell I was,” she winks at me then looks to Ember, “I’d accept his help.”

Ember opens her mouth to protest, but all that comes out is a resigned breath as her shoulders sag with relief. “Okay.”

“Great.” I clap my hands together. “Let’s get this party started. Just tell me what you want me to do.”

For the rest of the day, since I know f*ck-all about making lattes, Ember takes the lead there while I handle ringing up customers and passing out pastries. The morning and afternoon go by pretty smoothly and I’ll admit we make a great team. Once we finish cleaning and she locks up, we take a seat at one of the tables. She grabs us a few cinnamon rolls and brings over a hot coffee for me and a fancy whipped cream number for herself.

“So….” She takes a bite of her cinnamon roll with a hesitant smile. “Thanks for swooping in and saving the day.”

“Eh.” I sip my coffee, so hot I nearly burn the roof of my mouth. “It’s what I do.”

She leans back, eyeing me above the rim of her cup. “Is it now?”

“Not really.” I chuckle. “But you looked like you were drowning and I thought I’d throw you a life preserver.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, her smile disintegrates. “What is it? What did I say?”

“Actually, you know what?” She sits up straighter and brushes it off. I wish I knew what that was about. “It’s totally fine. You don’t have to filter everything you say. After all,” her smile returns, “I don’t.”

Regret and confusion still remain but I nod anyway. “So everyone is out sick?”

“Yup.” She brings the cinnamon roll to her mouth and inhales a huge bite. When she places it down on the plate, I notice a spattering of icing settled just below her lips. I tap a finger to my chin.

“You’ve got some icing….”

Ember lifts her napkin and dabs it against her lips twice, missing the spot. I shake my head and waggle my finger to urge her closer.

“C’mere.”

She leans in to the table and I reach out, swiping away the sweet, sticky frosting with the pad of my thumb. Her eyes, so amazingly green from up close, lock on mine. A few seconds pass and I realize my thumb is still moving back and forth over her skin—and it’s so damn soft. Abruptly, I draw back and clear my throat.

“So yeah… everyone’s sick you were saying?”

Her eyes clear and she blinks. “Yeah. Anna still has a stomach bug and Rosie has strep throat. Troy had already scheduled the day off to spend with his sisters. And I don’t know where the heck Peter is. There was also Charlotte, but she quit recently because she moved to Virginia.”

“That sucks. But I’m glad I showed up.”

Then, as if she realizes she’s been meaning to ask me all along. “Why did you show up?”

I fold and refold the napkin in front of me. “I wanted to thank you and buy you a coffee, which I now realize makes no sense.” I laugh at my own stupidity. “Because you get it for free. And now I did, too.”

“You earned it.”

I stare over my shoulder and snicker. “I couldn’t believe those people. They kill their own for coffee.”

“Yeah, well.” She grins, taking a drink then holding up her cup in salute. “I’m one of them.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh, yes.” She sneaks another sip, whipped cream sticking to her upper lip. Her smooth, pink tongue darts out in a half-circle to lick it away. I snag my coffee from the table and gulp some down, not caring that it’s still hot. “My mother used to take me with her to Starbucks all the time. She’d order those mocha Frappuccino’s and would always let me have some. My father didn’t like it and told her she shouldn’t be doing it, that it wasn’t good for me. But she kept doing it anyway. And I got hooked.”

“It’s easy to get hooked on things that are bad for you. Especially when they taste so damn good,” I agree, trying to ease the burn in my throat.

“Like Twinkies, perhaps.”

“Exactly.” I grin and peel off a chunk of cinnamon roll, popping it into my mouth. The sweetness lingers on my tongue and I swig more coffee to balance it out. “So what do you do for fun? You the adventurous type?”

She swirls her straw around the layer of whipped cream topping her cup. “Not nearly. My brother was, though. I think the biggest risk I’ve ever taken was when my friend Troy coerced me into riding the Looping Thunder roller coaster at Oaks Park. I almost had a coronary and didn’t speak to him for days after that.”