Marriage For One

“Okay. Thank you, Sally. Just one more second, Jack. I hope I’m not making you late.”

“It’s fine,” he muttered as a new customer walked in and started to look at the food and ask Sally questions. I welcomed the newcomer and put the lids on the two coffee cups I had prepared myself, grabbed two small paper bags that had our logo on the front, and quickly put two lemon bars inside each one along with an extra chocolate muffin in one of them. “Okay. We can go,” I announced, smiling at Jack.

He held out a credit card to me between two fingers. “I hope you don’t forget to ask for payment from all your customers.”

“My husband gets a free pass,” I pointed out softly as we stared at each other and I ignored the credit card. Sally walked behind me toward the espresso machine. “Ready to go?” I asked Jack.

“Rose, I’m not taking anything if I’m not paying for it.”

My smile started to melt off my face as he spoke.

“It’s your first day—if you start giving away free coffee to everyone you know on the first day, you won’t have this coffee shop for very long.” There went the rest of my smile. “I wouldn’t have ordered so many if I’d thought you weren’t going to accept payment for it.”

He extended the credit card farther forward and I reluctantly took it.

Before pushing in the amount, I glanced up at him. “I’m not taking payment for your coffee, Jack. I’m…just not.”

We had a short-lived but intense staring match where I came out as the winner. “Okay. Okay, that’s fine,” he agreed. “I didn’t mean to make you upset, Rose.”

“It’s okay.”

I handed him the four bags and the card. Then I took the two coffee cups and the extra small bag myself. “Be careful not to tip the cups,” I warned as Jack glanced inside the bags. “I’ll be right back, Sally!”

I followed him out to the curb where Raymond was waiting. He rushed out as soon as he saw us coming with our hands full. He opened the door for Jack and waited.

“You should put the bags on the floor, Jack, keep them between your feet so they don’t make a mess in the car.” Jack leaned down and arranged everything carefully as I turned to Raymond. “I’m sorry, I don’t know how you take your coffee, but I made you what I made for Jack, black with a splash of milk, and if you want, there are sugar packets in the bag too.” I handed him the cup and the small paper bag. “And there is a lemon bar in this. I made it myself. It’s good.”

“Thank you, Rose, and congratulations on your new place. It looks amazing.”

It was the first time he’d called me Rose. “Thank you so much, Raymond, and you’re welcome.” I beamed after him as he walked back to the driver’s side.

“And these are yours,” I said as I handed my husband the other coffee cup and paper bag, feeling a little shy all of a sudden. “I put a lemon bar and a chocolate muffin in yours because I wasn’t sure what you liked, but if you don’t like —”

“You made the muffin, too?” he asked, peeking into the bag.

“No, Owen baked the muffins. I made the lemon bars and the sandwiches. He is…” Did I need to give him an explanation? He hadn’t asked, but I felt like I wanted to. “Owen, I mean, he’s my friend. Barely even a friend. We worked at this café two years ago and talked every now and then after that. So, I just wanted you to know. He is just a friend.”

“I don’t need an explanation about your friends, Rose.”

Despite his harsh answer, I thought I saw his shoulders relax a fraction. I could live with that.

“Okay.” Not sure what to do with my hands, I just stood there.

“Did anyone unwanted show up today?”

I arched a brow. “Anyone unwanted? You mean like Bryan? No, he didn’t. Neither did Jodi.”

“Good. I had a quick talk with him. He won’t bother you again.”

“What? When?”

“After he showed up here. It doesn’t matter now.”

He had a coffee cup in one hand and the bag in the other. With his tailored suit and that I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing here look on his face, he looked so…so grumpy and adorable that I couldn’t stop myself from giving him another hug.

Since his hands were full, he couldn’t do anything but stiffen this time. Before I realized what I was doing, I found myself pressing a hand on his cheek and kissing him on the other side, surprised by my sudden act, I lingered. When I let go of him and backed up, he was looking straight into my eyes. I flushed but managed a smile. “Thank you, for the flowers and the coffee order. That you’d even think of buying coffee for your work friends—and they’re not even your friends—and only because it’s my first day…it means so much to me.”