Page 37 of The Pumpkin Spice Romance
Felix laughed. Because corporate-selected artwork is non-offensive, trackable, and doesn’t require the effort that investing in local artists does.”
“I suppose,” I said doubtfully. “I just don’t know why youwouldn’twant to invest in the local community.”
“Because you give a damn,” said Felix, smiling at me, and I swear my heart did a backflip. I hadn’t crushed this hard on someone since college.
“Your family really doesn’t mind you spending all this time with me?” I asked. I hated to admit that I was angling for information, but he’d been vague about his family situation, and Ineededto know before I embarrassed myself.
“It’s just me,” he said, shaking his head. “My family pretty much disowned me when I didn’t want to go into the family business, which is trees. I spent my childhood cataloging, planting, chopping, living, and breathing trees. I like trees, but good grief, if I ever see another evergreen, it may be too soon. I was interested in the business side of things, but everything went to my older brother, and he wasn’t interested in my opinions. So, after college, which they thought was a waste of money, I never went back. I get Christmas cards sometimes. But all of that is to say that since I’m now officially retired, my time is my own.”
“My family keeps saying I workata coffee shop,” I said. “My sister has kids, so everything is about them. I’m pretty sure if I didn’t show up for Christmas, they wouldn’t notice.”
“Families,” said Felix with an understanding nod. “Always so fulfilling and accepting.”
“I’ve got some pretty good friends now, but it just seems sad that part of growing up is realizing that my family isn’t able to provide what I need.”
Felix nodded again. “It’s part of the reason I moved. It’s in my nature to like roaming around, but ultimately, I want to put down roots and make my own community.”
I couldn’t help smiling at him. He was so earnest. And single. And handsome. I tried to shake off my crush and focus. He was doing me a favor. I shouldn’t try to make this something it wasn’t meant to be. Unless it was. I paused, hoping for a helpful vision, and got nothing but static.
“You retired?” I said, suddenly catching up on his story. “You seem too young to retire.”
“I sold out to corporate early in my career, got paid a lot, and invested well,” he said, although I thought there was something slightly glib in the answer. “I still do some consulting, though.”
I nodded in faux seriousness. “Well, what I heard is that you’re unemployed, so I should feel free to take advantage of you.”
Felix grinned. “Please do.”
FELIX
We lined up for what I thought was going to be a fairly crappy customer service experience, and I cracked a joke to make Maddie laugh, which was my new favorite thing. It made her eyes crinkle closed, and she ended up looking like anadorable anime character. And maybe I was imagining things, but I swear that she was flirting with me. Sometimes.
She periodically tried to be serious and put on her business face. Which was equally adorable because she ruined it every time by feeling sorry for her competitor’s baristas, getting distracted by small children and random dogs, or pausing to help an elderly person navigate the coffee shop entrance. She had so much kindness and heart for people she didn’t even know.
“This coffee is going to taste like Folgers,” I predicted. As a Shifter, my metabolism didn’t have any trouble with having gallons of the beverage, but my taste buds definitely had problems with bad coffee. It made me appreciate Deja Brew even more.
Maddie was frowning and clearly not listening to me. Abruptly, she reached out and snatched one of the snack bars out of the display.
“Wow!” she said at a volume that made me lean away from her. “It’s so weird that this has pistachios in it.” Her voice was loud enough to carry over the clatter of voices, but she had turned away, seeming to aim for the cash register. “See? Right here in the ingredients? Pistachios!”
But she didn’t hold the bar out to show me. Whoever she was talking to—it wasn’t me. I looked around, feeling like I’d missed something. Several people had turned to stare at Maddie and her aggressive pistachio commentary.
“Wait,” said a girl at the counter, about to complete a purchase. “Which one do you have?”
“This one,” said Maddie, shoving the bar in the girl’s direction. “I love pistachios, but they aren’t for everybody.”
The girl laughed. “No kidding! I’m deathly allergic and don’t even have my EPI pen today. Guess I won’t be buying that one.”
“Probably a good idea,” said Maddie. “How about this one? Almonds and chocolate.”
“Thanks!” said the girl, taking the bar and carefully inspecting the ingredients before returning to the counter.
Maddie put the pistachio death bar back on the display and turned back to me. “Good thing the ingredients caught my eye. Weird coincidence. I think this coffee is going to taste like Folgers. We should go.”
“Yeah, I guess so?” That hadn’t seemed like a coincidence to me, but I didn’t know how else to explain it.
I dropped Maddie back at her apartment building with plans to visit two more coffee shops the next day. I was still puzzling over the pistachio incident as I drove back toward my house when my phone rang. By the time I disentangled my phone from my pocket and the seat belt, the call had gone to voicemail, but I saw with shock that it was my brother’s number.
7
