None of that order went past Stephanie when she arrived. She showed up at the table with her green tea and gave a scrutinizing eye to the cup and plate on the table in front of me.
“Oh, this is one of those situations?” she asked, pointing to the muffin.
I had already used my fingers like tweezers to pluck all the chocolate chips out of the top of it.
“Yep,” I said.
“Be right back.”
She set down her tea and walked back up to the counter. A few moment later, she returned with something that smelled like Christmas.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Peppermint white chocolate mocha,” she said. “And a dark chocolate chocolate-chunk scone.”
“Ah. Ebony and ivory. Very nice.”
Stephanie made an affirming sound and tore a bit from her muffin. “So, what’s going on?”
“I told you I was looking for a job so I can help out my parents,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I went for an interview this afternoon.”
“That’s fast. How was it?”
“Two kinds of heavy cream and a chocolate chip muffin bad,” I said. “Mason was there.”
She nearly choked on her mocha. She regained control of herself and stared at me over her cup as she lowered it to the table. “Mason?”
“Yep.”
“As in your Mason?”
I shook my head. “No. Very distinctly not my Mason anymore. If you’ll remember, that’s the reason I left Astoria in the first place.”
“Where were you applying for work? The last I heard of them, the Anderson boys bought a bar.” I lifted my eyes to look at her, and her mouth dropped open. “You applied to work at a bar?”
“They were looking for a bartender,” I said. “At this point, I need to find something fast. I don’t want to get to a point where I’m struggling to pay my own bills and help my parents. I can coast on my savings for a while, but I would feel much better if I had a consistent income coming in, too.”
“But you’ve never worked at a bar,” Stephanie pointed out.
“And I highly doubt I’m going to work at one now,” I said. “You honestly think Mason is going to hire me to work with him? I’m surprised he went through the interview.”
“He interviewed you?” Stephanie asked, her voice dropping lower.
“I nodded. “That’s where the whipped cream comes in.” I realized how that sounded in the second after it came out of my mouth. Cringing, I shook my head and let out a breath. “Yes, he did the interview. And he was very professional.”
“Too professional?”
“A little bit.”
“So, I’m guessing he told you he was giving it to someone else?” she asked.
“No, he said they’d get in touch. I haven’t heard from them. And honestly, I’m not even sure I want to. It would be much less awkward if they just didn’t say anything,” I said.
“You know,” Stephanie said, swirling a swizzle stick through her coffee. The shock was gone from her voice, now replaced by something hinting. “It is kind of amazing you were only back in Astoria for a day and you already ended up back with him. I have to admit, I think it’s fate.”
She said it in a breezy, noncommittal kind of tone meant to keep me from overreacting. It almost worked.
“It is not fate. And I’m not back with him. I was in the same room with him for maybe ten minutes. That’s it. And it’s only because I need a fast job and he happened to have one.”
“Just happened to,” Stephanie said, nodding but clearly unconvinced.
“Yes. And now I’m going to job hunt.”
“I’ll come with,” she said, standing and trying to juggle both her drinks and the remnants of her scone.
She finally figured it out, and we headed out of the coffee shop. For the next couple of hours, we strolled through town dipping into every restaurant, shop, boutique, and small office we found. I put in applications where they said they might be hiring and left my business card with those who said they weren’t, just in case. We were sitting down in a small park to take a break when my phone rang.
I fished it out of my pocket and showed the screen to Stephanie when I saw who it was.
“The bar,” I mouthed.
Stephanie pointed at the phone. “You know they can’t hear you until you actually answer, right?”
I rolled my eyes and answered. “Hello?”
“Ava, this is Tyler Anderson again.”
“Hi, Tyler,” I said. “How are you doing?”
“I’m doing well,” he said.
“That’s good to hear. How’s your mama?”
Stephanie squeezed her eyes closed, pursed her lips, and shook her head, mouthing, “No.”
“Well, she’s not doing all that well, Ava,” he said. “She and Pops have both been dealing with cancer for a while now.”
It was like a kick in the head.
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said.
“It’s actually why the other boys and I got started with the bar. We need to help them out. But I know they will be happy to hear you were asking after them. I’ll be sure to tell them next time I see them. Now, speaking of help, we are in need of it,” he said.