“We have stores here, you know.” Noel smiled brightly as she waited for my response.
“They’re not Target!! I need to look around and get my crack corn.” I held a hand to my heart as I thought about the red and white bag of their popcorn that I always bought from the snack bar waiting for me in my room for a snack later. I knew that she didn’t care that I was using her car to get there but more teasing me since she’d been to the store with me countless times when we were in college. “I got you something. If you’re nice to me, I’ll give it to you.”
We ate dinner as Keith talked about his day, sending loving glances towards his wife several times as I quietly envied them. Marta talked about an issue she had with a new client and laughed as she described the mild argument that ensued. It was when we were eating the apple crumble that Noel looked at me as something crossed her mind. “What was up with you today at work?”
“What do you mean?” I feigned innocence as I sipped my milk and broke a piece of the pastry off with my fork. I knew exactly what she meant.
“That guy turned you into a mute, Molly. Do you know him?” Noel asked as Marta looked at me with interest.
“No. I’ve never seen him before. He just seemed so demanding for his first time in a place,” I said as I shrugged.
“He was older, Mom. Dreamy if I wasn’t crazy about Nate,” Noel said as Marta raised an eyebrow at me while Keith paled. He was already having trouble with his only child dating guys her age much less talking about older men.
“How much older?” He asked as Noel smiled at him. Keith was forty-nine and I could almost see his panic in his eyes.
“Oh, Daddy. I think he was in his late thirties or something. Don’t worry,” Noel assured him as Marta smiled at her husband. He relaxed a bit as I thought to myself that the man seemed older. I’d never confess how much I was thinking about him, at least not yet. I helped Noel wash dishes as she chattered about Nate and their afternoon, just listening to her enthusiasm. She asked if I wanted to see a movie the following evening together for a girl’s night out and I agreed as I looked at her. While we worked together, it would never be the same as a night out. I liked the time alone with her away from home and work since it reminded me of college. There were a few good memories from that time.
We finished cleaning the kitchen and went to her room to watch a show. She went to sleep earlier than I did since she was busy all day, so I hugged her and went to my room to read for a while. I lit a candle that filled my room with the scent of spiced cider as I took in the bad boy character and how easily the girl gave in to him. It was familiar to me. Well, apart from the hot sex scenes, anyway. I was grateful that I never gave that to Lance and still held onto my virtue since he would have broken my heart so much worse. I read those hungrily, wondering if that was what sex was like. It always sounded so irresistible and uncontrolled when I’d always been too scared to take things that far, much to Lance’s dismay. It led to many fights, but I was foolish enough to think that he’d wait for me.
I woke up to the alarm, wanting to stay in bed for just a little longer even though the cafe was calling my name. It was one of the mornings that I wished Noel wanted to open a bar until I was moving and showered. I braided my hair into a loose plait in the car and looked into the mirror, using the dim lights on the street. I had put on a little makeup today and checked the mascara that made my lashes look endless. I reached into my purse and applied a burgundy stain to my lips over the balm as Noel glanced at me curiously. She always wore makeup, but this was new for me. “Who’s that for?”
“Me. I didn’t want to look tired today and have chapped lips.” Lies.
“Huh. Okay,” Noel said briefly before she asked me if I wanted to see the new rom com or horror movie tonight, and I told her that the first sounded better. Horror scared me in a theater when I was surrounded by screaming people though it wasn’t too much better watching it in a dark house in the country. She agreed happily as we parked in front of the cafe and greeted
the police officer that waited for us to get inside safely every morning. That was one of the perks of living in a small town to me. We told him to stop by for coffee once we were opened as always and headed inside to get started. I made some strong coffee for us while Noel got to mixing batters and fixed us cups before I helped her out. We had taken notes on favorites over the last few months and she always made them as well as adding a surprise one. The cafe was already set up with multiple ovens, making the process faster for us so we could sleep in a little.
There was also a section for a cook but she wanted to add to our small staff for that. It was already a lot to run this place alone some days. I walked out into the front while everything was baking, inhaling deeply as I wiped off the tables. It was windy and cold outside and I started a fire quickly before turning on some of the fans to low. I brewed more coffee as the hour passed and got everything turned on for the morning, grinning when I saw Mike at the door. Noel rolled out the cart loaded with muffins and cakes to begin to put them inside of the case as I walked forward to unlock the door. “Hi, Mike.” I smiled warmly at him as he walked in and turned on the open sign. I got his coffee and Noel placed his blueberry muffin on a plate as he paid me. It was always that muffin for Mike and he’d even made a few suggestions for it as we got to know him. It had lemon in it now and that made it so good.
I didn’t see the man today, but it was busy enough to keep me occupied. We were both helping people and brewing new pots of coffee all day, making Noel almost late in making lunch. “We need another person here,” I murmured to her when there was a break in the line, making her nod wearily. I looked at the window and watched as a familiar figure passed by, recognizing the man from yesterday. Was he going to come inside today?
He didn’t. We finished the day and closed, bringing a bag home for the house like we always did on Fridays. Noel’s parents helped us a lot with starting this business, even putting the idea in her head with all the baking that she did. There was a much smaller version of it in college when we were in a place with an oven. Noel did all the baking for parties and got paid by friends for supplying treats for them. We took short naps and ate pizza with her parents before heading out to the movies in the next town over.
We paid for our tickets and walked inside to get a large popcorn and a drink to split before finding seats. We’d chatted all the way here and I was glad that Noel seemed to forget about the man in the cafe, focused only on Nate. He was with his friends tonight but even before him, we always tried to spend a Friday night together. The cafe was open fewer hours tomorrow and we could make it through the shift and have time for a nap.
I was taking a handful of popcorn when I saw someone pass our seats as the lights were going down, and my hand stilled as I recognized him. I felt desire fill me and my heart start to beat as I watched him sit down with another man, holding a bucket of popcorn. He was here to see this movie? I pictured him as more of a horror type and I glanced at Noel to see that she hadn’t noticed him, smiling in relief. I wasn’t ready to share this yet.
Chapter 5
Robert
I leaned back in the theater, feeling a bit irritated that this was the movie that my colleague wanted to see. I wanted to see the new horror movie that was out but I compromised. It had been a tough week and getting out was nice on its own. I looked around the room as it went dark and the previews started playing, seeing that it was full of women, in groups and on dates. Typical, but still a night out. I wasn’t in a big city anymore and the bar scene was a lot different around here. I noticed a familiar face and stared at Molly as she watched the screen and nibbled on popcorn. She laughed at something someone next to her said and I realized that she was with the redhead who reached over for some popcorn. Molly was beautiful and I looked for a moment before turning back to the screen. Maybe I could get to know her today, away from the cafe.
The movie was mildly entertaining if not a bit predictable and I laughed a few times, distracted by Molly’s presence a few rows behind me. When the credits rolled, I looked back to see her looking around as people started to leave. I always waited for the crowd and she seemed to settle in her seat to do the same before looking at me. The contact was broken with people walking by but she saw me and kept staring. Once the room was emptier, she licked her lips and glanced at her friend with a quick smile. The girls stood and she looked over her shoulder to glance at me as they left, making me glad that Randy stood up to leave at the same time.
The theater was surrounded by a couple of bars and a few restaurants and I looked around to see the girls headed to the right. They were talking and laughing and I listened as close as I could before they walked into a diner. That made me wonder about how old Molly was but I was certain that she was over twenty-one. They might not be big drinkers and there was a drive home to consider. “Want to grab a beer?” Randy’s words broke into my thoughts and I looked at the bar beside the diner.
“Yeah, why not?” We had the following day off and although I planned to go to the cafe, it was still relatively early in the night. He led me to a place beside the diner and I looked through the glass to see the girls sitting at a table and looking at menus before we were at the door of the bar. Randy drove and he enjoyed one beer, taking his time since we didn’t need to get into any trouble. He talked about his girlfriend and the base, trying to get me to talk about myself a bit. I kept things private but did tell him that I was a bachelor and committed to the air force. I talked about the places that I’d lived over the years, fondly remembering some of the experiences as I relayed them to him. Randy was thirty and considering marriage and kids soon, something that never happened to me.
He looked like he was in love with Mara and I told him that he should propose to her. I wasn’t against love but I’d just never found someone that I wanted to bring with me as I moved around for work. He asked why and I just said that it never happened for me. I knew that there was a slim chance that it could and I might end up with a family, but never admitted how much I doubted that it would.
We left a couple of hours later after I’d had two beers and I glanced into the diner to see that Molly was gone. I hoped that she was home safe as some odd sense of possession washed over me, making me blink. I wanted to protect this girl but from what? I was the one that might hurt her, not anything else in this world.
I kept things simple in my life but there were the girls that fell for me and there always would be. I just tried to stay as honest as I could along the way. There were already women at the base that were expressing interest but I kept that as a strict boundary. Too much could go wrong.
He dropped me off and I caught some late-night television before bed. I was planning on a morning run tomorrow around the forest path and then some coffee and another one of those muffins in the morning.
I woke to the alarm after about six hours of sleep and stretched. The military made it easy for me to get up quickly, showering and changing into some sweats and a shirt to make the run. I pulled a thick running jacket over it and laced my best shoes before sliding an ear bud in and securing my phone in a pocket. I ate a protein bar as I left the house and during the first part of my run, starting slow. I was jogging at a steady pace when I got out of the woods and turned to head to the cafe, wiping my face with the towel that was draped around my neck.