Page 38 of Christmas in Watch Hill
FOURTEEN
JESSICA
“I’m going to get ahead start on our dry goods inventory,” I told Steve during a midafternoon break between customers. I’d been in a distracted fog ever since Molly stopped by the café. I needed time to myself and working on something repetitive and mundane sounded perfect. “You okay out here by yourself?”
Steve surveyed the half empty shop. “Yep.”
I took a legal pad from the drawer underneath the cash register and shuffled into the dry goods pantry. I usually placed orders for coffee, sugar, creamer, milk, and spices on the fifteenth of the month, but I also saw January as the perfect time to try new roasts and flavors. Customers said they liked the way a new menu corresponded with the start of the year. I did, too. Kept the place feeling fresh.
For the next half hour or so, I made a running list of the contents in the room. Fourteen bags of ground coffee, ten bags of coffee beans, two large jars of raw sugar, one pound of brown sugar . . . the measured banality of it all allowed me to get lost in my thoughts.
And there was a lot to consider.
I wanted to keep the baby. I’d made that clear to Ian, and I hadn’t wavered from that decision. And I could do it. I had some money saved, and Already Perked was a successful business. I had friends who would step in to help me. Watch Hill Community Church also ran a daycare center and preschool that I often heard parents rave about, so I wouldn’t have to go far to find quality childcare.Plus, this baby—I looked down at my stomach, still in awe of the idea of a baby in there—this baby will grow up in a safe, happy community.I couldn’t think of a better start for a child. Things might not be easy or simple, but this was the kind of twist I could conquer, with or without Ian’s help.
Yes, I could do this.I will do this.
I moved from inventorying dry goods to counting napkins, paper plates, paper towels, and plastic flatware. With every passing count, I felt a little better.
And then a rap came at the door. I whirled around.
“What’s up?”
“There’s someone here to see you,” Steve said.
“Can it wait? Or can they come back? I’m busy right now.”
He shook his head. “No, it can’t. They said it’s urgent.”
“Did they say what it was about?”
“Nope.”
When I got back to the main dining room, I stopped short, my breath catching in my throat. Ian stood next to the bakery case, his thick hair a little disheveled, his suit jacket wrinkled. A smiled crossed his face when he saw me.
“What are you doing here?” I managed, then closed the space between us.
“I know you don’t want to talk to me.” He lifted a hand. “I’ve tried to reach out. I just decided I needed to say all this in person.”
“There’s not much to say. We live in two different worlds. You have your life in DC”—I looked around the shop— “and I have this place I’ve put my heart into. Despite what’s going on between us, I don’t think it’s fair for either of us to have to give up our dreams.”
