Page 25 of Lost and Found Cowboy

Mack held back a yawn the next afternoon as he wiped down the front counter of the coffee shop. The morning had been busy, and he’d kept at it all day, but thanks to the fact that he’d stayed in town until close to midnight so he could drive by Lorna’s house several times just in case her jerk of an ex-husband decided to make another appearance, and then gotten up extra early to get his chores done so he could be at the coffeeshop by seven, meant he hadn’t gotten much sleep.

It had been a fun day with Lorna though.

She’d gone through the basic menu with him when he arrived that morning and showed him how to run the register and mark the hot or cold cups with the customers’ names and the codes for their orders. She’d even talked him into wearing one of the shop’s pink polo shirts that had the Mountain Brew logo across the breast pocket.

Although he had enjoyed teasing her by pulling his T-shirt off in front of her and offering her a couple of bicep flexes as he took his time donning the new shirt.

He loved the sneaky little grin that played at the corners of her lips as she’d feigned disinterest, but he still caught her looking.

Growing up, he’d been a skinny kid who’d probably bordered on malnourished, thanks to his mom’s frequent absences, an empty pantry, and a growth spurt in seventh grade, but he’d gotten his first job on a ranch when he was seventeen and the abundance of healthy meals and the tasks and responsibilities of a cowboy had filled his body out and created strong muscles that he’d earned with every toss of a hay bale or swing of a hammer.

He saw himself as kind of average looking, and he knew the strength of his body, which gave him the ability to help out on the ranch and with the chores, but he still liked that a cheap flex made Lorna smile and caused her to get a bit flustered. Like the way she dropped the measuring cup when she tried to show him how to use the bean grinder.

Most of the coffee drinks started with at least one shot of espresso, so after he’d changed, she taught him how to use the espresso machine and the differences between lattes, cappuccinos, and iced coffee drinks.

He had eventually worked up to frothing milk and plating croissants and baked goods, but he was also happy to bus and wipe tables and restock napkins and stir sticks. It didn’t matter what he was doing, it just made him happy to be helping her.

And it was fun watching her work.

Besides how cute she looked in her navy apron, pink shirt, white sneakers, and snug ankle length jeans that hugged her generous hips, she had a great rapport with customers. He couldn’t get enough of hearing her laugh, and there was a practiced flow to her movements as she mixed and poured and created frothy drinks that she presented with care and love.

She knew almost everyone who came in and was adept at remembering the way they liked their coffee and their names, as well as those of their family members. And he loved how she snuck dog biscuits from the glass jar under the counter to the four-legged friends who accompanied some of them.

The whole culture of a coffee shop had changed over the last decade, and it was now somewhere to be, to hang out, to meet friends, to hold meetings, to go on dates. It was more about community, and there was something unique and special about handing someone a drink specifically made for them.

“I have to admit, I haven’t spent a lot of time in a coffee shop before today,” he told Lorna during one of their breaks. “But I like your place. It has a good feel about it.”

She grinned over at him. “Thank you. I try really hard to create that neighborhood ‘coffee with a friend’ vibe. And it means a lot to have a non-coffee shop guy get that.”

“I do. You’ve created a space where people are comfortable working or just hanging out, and it’s been fun people-watching and eavesdropping on conversations all day. There was that one couple, with the girl in the green dress, who I couldn’t figure out if they were on a first date or a job interview.”

She laughed. “I was wondering about them, too.”

“It’s been fun working with you, as well.” Fun, and a little frustrating.

Working in such tight quarters and smelling her hair and her perfume as she rushed past him, had him constantly trying to find ways to be close to her. The space behind the counter wasn’t very wide, so it seemed like they were constantly bumping into each other or brushing against the other one.

It was amazing.

And maddening.

He nudged her with his hip. “You’re pretty impressive.”

“Thanks. So are you. I’m surprised at how quickly you picked things up today. You’ve been a huge help. Especially this morning when Max was still here. You’re really good with him. And it helped that I didn’t have to close the shop to run him the few blocks to school.”

“He’s a good kid. And funny. He makes me laugh. And finding odd little jobs for him to do was much easier than trying to stall that customer who came in while you were gone. Because I hadzeroidea of how to make the grande half-caf skim-milk five-tears-of-a-dragon drink he ordered.”

Lorna laughed. “Yeah, that five-tears-of-a-dragon latte is one of our more complicated ones.”

“I don’t know how you keep them all straight. Or how your employees do. Plus, all the other things you do here.”

“Mainly because I have an OCD rocket scientist for a sister who filled in here when I had Izzy, and she created plans and lists and a book of procedures for everything from opening to closing to recipes for all the drink options.” She pulled a laminated deck of colorful cards on a binder ring from under the counter. “I was going to wait to show you this until tomorrow, but these cards explain how to make all the drinks we offer, complete with illustrations and detailed instructions.”

“What?” He flipped through the cards. “These are amazing.”

“I know. Leni made them. They’ve helped my employees so much.”

“I kind of want to take these home and study them, so I’ll be a bigger help tomorrow.”

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