Page 69 of Second Chances
Chapter 30
Josh walked Megan tothe café in the darkness at 5 a.m. The two of them shared the first coffees of the grand opening together as they watched the sun rise over the buildings of downtown Chance Rapids.
“I’m so proud of you,” he smiled at Megan and held her hands across the table. “Are you ready for today?”
“You know what? I actually think that I am. I’m nervous as hell, but I think that it’s the good kind of nervous.
They heard the back door open and the staff start to file in.
Megan stood behind the counter and as the cappuccino machine squealed out its first official latte, she felt her heart swell with pride. She had been so nervous unlocking the door that morning, but she couldn’t let the staff see her butterflies. The smell of fresh bread and grinding coffee beans welcomed the Chance Rapids residents as they walked into the Sugar Peaks Café.
She had completely recovered from her bout of hypothermia, although Josh told her that she’d likely be prone to recurring frostbite on her cheeks. Every hour that they weren’t sleeping or making love, they were at the café, getting it readying it for the Grand Opening.
Megan tightened the strings on her dark gray apron and with the first sale, took the dollar from the till and pinned it up to the bulletin board in the back office. Her settlement hadn’t come through yet, but Charlotte was already treating Megan like a fifty percent shareholder.
She thanked her lucky stars that Piper, a recent college graduate had just moved back home to Chance Rapids and had put her way through college working at coffee shops. She was a skilled barista and knew her way around a café.
Megan pulled a tray of Sugar Peaks’ signature meringue tarts from the refrigerator and circulated through the room, passing them out to all the customers. The coffee shop was buzzing with activity, and while there had been a few small hiccups, everything was going off better than she could have ever dreamed possible.
She looked up and amongst the faces in line for a coffee and saw Freddie’s smile. She was getting used to recognizing faces everywhere she went, and she was really starting to get why people like living in small towns. Freddie raised his hand as he waved at her and she waved back. She wove through the crowd and presented the tray of tarts. “Sugar Peaks Meringue?” she asked.
“I’d love one.” Freddie grabbed a tart off the tray and popped it into his mouth. “Looks like this is the place to be in town today.” He looked around the room. “Is Billie Jo here?” he asked.
“No. And she’s Charlotte now.”
Freddie smiled, “Right, Charlotte.”
“She had to go back to the city to present an offer. She really wanted to be here.” Megan was partially telling the truth. Charlotte did want to be there for the grand opening, but she was still trying to figure out how to present herself. The only people that knew her true identity were Megan, Josh, and Freddie. Josh said that he swore Freddie to secrecy, and Megan trusted that Freddie would be true to his word.
“That’s probably a good thing,” Freddie whispered under his breath. “Logan is in town and he would definitely recognize her.”
Charlotte had never really revealed why she hated Logan Brush with such a passion. Megan chalked it up to high school stuff but planned to get Charlotte to spill the beans over some wine when she returned to Chance Rapids.
As if on cue, the door to the café opened and an impossibly big and attractive man stood in the doorway. The room became hushed and Megan heard all the patrons whispering under their breath. Whoever he was, he had an aura of star power around him, standing tall and commanding a room the way only someone who is used to being the center of attention can achieve.
Freddie waved to the man, “Over here.”
And that’s when Megan knew that she was staring at superstar hockey player, Logan Brush. She noticed that all the women in the café were blushing and some were staring while others shot nervous side glances at the huge hockey player.
“Megan, this is my brother, Logan.”
Logan extended his hand and Megan couldn’t believe how it enveloped hers as she shook it. “Pleased to meet you, Logan.”
Logan grinned at Megan, “The pleasure is all mine.”
Megan felt her phone buzz in her apron pocket. “You’ll have to excuse me, but please, take a tart.”
Logan smiled at Megan and she couldn’t believe just how perfect his teeth were. She thought that hockey players were always missing teeth and had busted up looking noses.
She stepped into the back and pulled her phone out to see a text from Josh. He had sent her a photo of Timber holding a bouquet of daisies in his mouth. ‘Timber wanted to wish you a happy opening day’.
She saw that an earlier message had come in that she hadn’t noticed. It was from Charlotte:
I lied. I didn’t have an offer. I’m coming to the café.
Oh no, Megan felt the blood rush to her face. Charlotte couldn’t show up, the man she hated more than any person on earth had just stepped into the café and was eating meringues in the front window.
She immediately dialed Charlotte’s number.
