Page 19 of Between Brothers

“This isn’t so bad!” she called back and I smiled to myself. She hadn’t ridden with Cell and I needed to both ease her into things and prepare her for that, so I was a little less gentle in my speed when we turned out onto the main thoroughfare.

Hayley gasped, I could tell because she held onto me tighter. I resisted the urge take my hand off the bars just long enough to pat her hands where they rested over my stomach. The wind was biting and smelled of rain and a bit of ozone by the time we pulled into the lot at Soul Fuel.

I hadn’t had much time to plan for a first date, and it was hard without knowing exactly what she liked, but then I’d overheard Everett telling Dray about the plan at hers and Mandy’s coffee shop for this Friday’s entertainment. It was too perfect to pass up, and so I brought her here.

The lot was pretty full when we pulled in, but I still managed to find parking about four spaces down next to a scooter occupying a space but courteously pulled to one side of the space to allow for another bike or scooter to pull in. I tapped Hayley’s knee and she hesitated, unsure of what I wanted or needed and I said as kindly as I could, “Need you to get off. It’s easier to back in.”

She startled a bit and jumped down, standing on the sidewalk and taking off her helmet while I backed my bike into the space snuggly next to the mint green Vespa. She quickly checked her long hair in the side mirror of an SUV parked next to us, and fixed her windblown bangs and I smiled and held my hand out. She gave me the helmet I’d lent her and I stowed both of them in one of the hard sided saddlebags figuring it was definitely going to rain out here before the night was through.

I held out my hand to her and her fingers were frozen. I cursed my damn self for not thinking to give her a pair of gloves and stopped her.

“Sorry, I should have brought you gloves, or had you put your hands in my pockets.”

“It’s alright.”

“No, I should have thought of it.”

Taking her other hand and putting both of them, palms together, I raised her joined hands to my lips. I cupped them between my larger ones and blew on them gently; warming them with my breath as best I could.

She smiled and said, “You’re sweet.”

I didn’t say anything back, just smiled at her and turning, tucked her hand in the crook of my arm, an old fashioned gentlemanly gesture, but one that she surely deserved. I made sure to walk on the outside and we walked up the sidewalk to the lighted entrance of Red and Evy’s coffee and chocolate café.

The rain just began to patter down as we stepped inside, and I held the door, guiding Hayley in out of it first.

It was crowded in here, but I’d told Evy we were coming and she’d had a girl put a little reserved sign at a two seater table for us. It was low and set between two wing backed chairs. Maren, Nox’s sweetheart gave me a sweet smile and a chin lift from behind the glass case of confections and straightened, leaning in to speak to one of the girls who worked the front.

A few words and the girl came out to make the young couple sitting in the chairs by the fireplace move. They were at least gracious about it, which I could appreciate. I guided Hayley into one of the seats by the fire and the girl, I think her name was Sarah, said “Sorry about that, what can I bring you?”

“No trouble at all,” Hayley said brightly and ordered some kind of fancy mocha with more components than I could remember. When Sarah turned to me, my curiosity got the better of me and I held up two fingers to indicate ‘make it two.’

“Alright then; coming right up!” she said cheerfully and went back around the counter to the giant coffee machine.

A light pattering of applause drew Hayley’s attention from me to the little area set aside with a couple of microphones. Her eyes lit up when the singer from the fair stepped up to it with his guitar. The fiddler was with him, but it was just the two of them this time.

The music was supposed to be a little lower and a little slower tonight, which I could appreciate and I’m sure Hayley could, too.

Maren stopped in front of us blocking the view of the musicians just long enough to set down two plates. She winked at me and said to us both, “Glad you guys came, you get to be my guinea pigs and tell me if this is any good.”

“What is it?” Hayley asked curiously.

“White chocolate maple ribbon cheesecake with a regular chocolate ganache finish. I’m trying to come up with a new autumn themed sweet or two for next year. Mandy wants me to get creative.” She made a face like the prospect both excited and scared the hell out of her and I smiled up at her and gave her a nod. Hayley spoke for us without even thinking about it.

“We will definitely let you know, but it sounds absolutely amazing. I’m going to be in sugar overload before we leave here, I can tell.”

“You only live once,” Maren said and scrunched up her nose in this adorable way that she did before she took off back to the kitchen, just in time for the fiddler to draw his bow across the strings in a slightly mournful tone; the opening notes to their first song.

The blonde girl, came by with our coffee and set it on the low table beside our cakes and winked at me and took off before I could pull money out of my jacket. I shook my head slightly and smiled to myself, figuring Evy had something to do with it. Hayley smiled at me and picked up her mug that could double as a soup bowl, sipping at the frothy liquid inside. I smiled back and picked up my own off the saucer.

She wasn’t kidding about the impending sugar coma. Between the coffee and the rich cheesecake sitting in front of me, I would be lucky not to get a stomach ache. Still, it was something learned about our woman, that she had a sweet tooth. I watched her watch the musicians behind me while I watched her and kept an eye on the door behind her out of habit.

The duo played and sang for around an hour before taking a thirty minute intermission. My nerves hummed to life when they set down their instruments, knowing that I would have to speak to her yet having no idea what I was going to say.

She gave me a short reprieve by getting up and going to the restroom before there was too much of a line. When she returned and sat back down she smiled at me and I couldn’t help myself but to sit there and just stare for a long minute. She was so beautiful when she smiled. Like some mythical creature from another world and totally out of my league.

“What?” she asked, her smile beginning to die at the expression on my face.

“Just realizing how far out of my league you are,” I said.

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