The Cosy Coffee Shop of Promises

After her café in Leeds had shown the first signs of bottoming out, Mel had sold while the going was better than worse and decided to search out a new spot to move to. She’d had two rules in mind. One, the place had to have little to no competition. Two, after moving around for so many years, she finally wanted to find a place she would come to call home. So she’d packed up her life, headed south, and stumbled across Rabbits Leap after getting lost and motoring about inland Devon with a perilously low tank of petrol.

The moment she’d seen the pretty village filled with blooming flower boxes, kids meandering down the main street licking ice creams without parents helicoptering about them, and a store smack bang in the middle with a ‘for rent’ sign stuck to the door, a little part of her heart had burst into song. The plan had been to settle down, set up shop and make enough to save and survive. But, as she watched Tony flick through a fashion magazine, she could see her plans to make Rabbits Leap her forever home go the way of coffee dregs, down the gurgler.

She picked up the coffee and walked it over to Tony’s table where he was stuffing his face.

‘Your coffee.’

‘Thish shcone is amazhing.’ Tony swallowed and brushed crumbs from his lips and chin.

Full lips, strong angular chin, Mel noted, before mentally swatting herself. She wasn’t meant to be perving at the enemy. ‘Well, it’s my grandma’s secret recipe, so it should be.’

‘Can I have the recipe?’

‘What part of secret do you not understand?’ She set the cup down with a clank.

‘Sit.’ Tony pushed out the chair opposite him with his foot.

‘I’ve things to do.’

‘Sit.’

Mel huffed, then did as she was told.

‘So how are things?’ Tony picked up the cup and took a sip, giving a small grunt of appreciation.

‘That’s how good yours are going to have to be.’ Mel folded her arms across her chest and tipped her head to the side. A small show of arrogance, but for all the things she wasn’t great at, she knew she could cook and she could make a damn good cup of coffee.

‘It’s good to know the benchmark.’ Tony’s voice was strong but she was sure a hint of panic flashed through those blue sparklers of his. ‘Anyway, this isn’t about me. How are you? I haven’t seen you in the pub with that vet of yours for a while now.’

Mel narrowed her eyes in suspicion. ‘Have you been staking me out? Figuring all the ways you can try and horn in on my bit of business?’

‘Rabbits Leap makes a habit of knowing Rabbits Leap. We keep an eye on our own. We take care of our own…’ A tightening of those lush lips. A moment of regret? No matter. He’d given her ammunition.

‘You take care of your own by taking over parts of their businesses? My, how civically minded you are.’

‘I know you’re annoyed about the machine, Mel, but you don’t have to be sarcastic about it. Can’t we deal with the situation like adults?’

Mel’s grip around herself tightened as her irritation soared. ‘I can be whatever I want in my café. And I can say whatever I want, however I want, especially when dealing with a coffee thief. What’s next? You’ll be calling my beans supplier? Good luck with that. They know what loyalty means.’

Tony’s lips thinned out more. Good. She was getting to him. Giving him something to think about.

‘As for the vet? Not that it’s any of your business but we’re over. He decided small-town veterinary work wasn’t for him and headed over to Africa to work with wildebeest or something like that.’

‘Thought he would.’

‘Really?’ Mel’s chin lifted in surprise. She’d never thought Tony was the kind of guy who delved below the surface of anything. With that easy smile and light laugh, he seemed… well, about as shallow as one of the puddles that amassed on the main street after a spring shower.

‘Yeah, he had that look about him, the “this place will do for now” look. I’ve seen it before. I knew it was only a matter of time before he left.’ Tony picked up his coffee and took a sip. ‘God, this really is good. Is everything you do this good?’

Mel’s ears prickled hot. Was she imagining it or was that a double entendre? She met his blue eyes and saw not a hint of sparkle or tease. Nope, no double entendre; he wasn’t trying to pick her up.

‘I guess that means I was “this girl will do for now”,’ she said out loud, more to herself than to Tony.

‘Then he was a fool. A man would be lucky to have a pink-haired barista and amazing cook loving him, cooking for him and making his morning coffee.’

‘That sounds more like a slave-master relationship than a real, true-love one…’

‘I’m sure the man would repay you in other ways.’

This time the sparkle was definitely in his eyes.

‘I’d make sure he did.’ The words came out before she could stop them, along with a wink. Traitor. She dipped her head to hide the flush creeping up over her cheeks. How dare her body flirt so easily with the enemy, even though, with his kind words, he was acting more like a friend. Or someone who might be angling for something more than that. Not that she’d ever sleep with the enemy. Uh-uh. No way.

Taking a long, slow, cooling breath she looked up into Tony’s eyes. Something flashed through them. Something quick, hot, fierce. A heck of a lot like desire. Had he been thinking about her… with him? Mel shook the thought clear. Nope, that’d never happen. They were chalk and cheese. Besides, there was no way she was playing around with the local lothario. He didn’t tick any of her boxes. Well, not all of them. Hot. Yes. Fun. Yes. But he couldn’t commit. She’d heard the village gossip. He was a one-man band. No woman lasted more than a night. Anyway, he was hardly boyfriend material. He only loved himself, and he was obviously careless with money, which meant careless with security, and that was the one thing Mel was always careful about.

‘So why did you come here, Tony?’

‘I need to apologise and then we need to have a conversation.’

Mel sat up straighter in her chair. An apology? She hadn’t seen that coming. ‘So, apologise.’

‘I’m sorry I bought the coffee machine. Actually, I’m not. But I’m sorry you had to find out about it like that.’

‘Not much of an apologiser, are you?’

He at least had the good grace to look slightly ashamed.

‘Well, I’m hoping we can come to an arrangement about it.’

‘Really? How about I arrange for it to be removed and you go back to bartending?’

‘How about you teach me how to use it… and maybe even teach me how to cook?’

Mel couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was Tony mentally deficient?

‘Cook? What are you on?’

‘That smell, what is it?’

Mel sniffed the air and remembered she had lamb shanks slow-cooking in a tomato balsamic jus in the back kitchen.

‘That’s my dinner.’

‘It smells amazing.’

‘Don’t try and distract me.’ She waved her hand in impatience. ‘Why would I teach you my whole trade? Coffee and baking? I’d be out of business within weeks.’

‘No, I don’t want to know how to bake. I’m talking about learning to cook real food, like whatever it is you’ve got going back there.’ Tony’s eyes sparkled with excitement.