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‘I’ll grab a ladder from my truck and get that tent out of the tree once the storm settles down.’
Jeanie cleared her throat. ‘Perfect, thanks,’ she said, instead of ‘you know what, forget Norman, forget the tent, forget everything except you and me and that fla
New Jeanie wasn’t that bold.
Logan nodded and was out the door before Jeanie could change her mind.
‘There you are!’ Norman’s disgruntled voice came from behind the counter as soon as Jeanie’s foot hit the last step. She turned the corner into the café and his disapproving frown sent heat to her face. Had she been caught already? Were Logan’s kisses somehow glowing on her skin? It certainly felt like they were.
You’re the boss here, Jeanie. Not him.
She squared her shoulders. ‘I got caught in the rain at the farmers’ market. Just had to change my clothes.’ The lingering imprint of Logan’s fingers on the skin of her stomach warmed beneath her dry shirt.
Norman narrowed his eyes. ‘Well, I’ve been here by myself, with this crowd and no power.’ He huffed indignantly.
Jeanie looked around at the sparse, wet, and relatively calm crowd and nearly rolled her eyes. ‘You seem to be managing it very well. Thank you for covering.’
Norman didn’t have much to say to her compliment, so instead he said, ‘We need to keep the refrigerator closed until the power comes back or we’ll lose all the perishables.’
‘Got it.’ Jeanie gave him a thumbs up as she grabbed her apron off the hook near the register. ‘Good call. We’ll also have to go pick up the table and the carafes after the storm’s died down. I kinda made a run for it and left everything.’
Another disgruntled frown.
‘Anything else, Norman?’ Jeanie asked cheerfully, finding it best to fight his grumpiness with positivity. It had always worked with Marvin, too. Jeanie was surprised to find a prickle of sadness in her heart at the thought of her old boss. For better or worse, they’d been together for a long time, and suddenly the thought of never seeing him again seemed impossible.
And then something strange happened to Norman’s face. Was that a slight blush working its way up his cheeks? Was there an uncertainty in his eyes, a shyness?
‘Have you spoken to your aunt?’ he asked, diligently wiping down the counters and avoiding Jeanie’s gaze.
She propped a hip against the counter. Well, this was interesting. Maybe Hazel was right about Norman. Maybe he did have a thing for her aunt. Maybe he was missing her. The thought softened her towards him immediately. Poor old guy.
Jeanie studied him as he cleaned. He wasn’t a bad-looking man. She tilted her head. He might even be sort of cute in the button-up shirts and sweater vests he wore every day. His dark-framed glasses were quite distinguished, and he still had a full head of hair, graying at the temples. Aunt Dot could definitely do worse.
‘I talked to her yesterday, actually.’
If Jeanie hadn’t been staring at him trying to picture him with her aunt on his arm, she would have missed the tiny change in his body language. The way he paused in his counter wiping, the way he leaned toward her just a little, as though wanting to get closer to any words about Aunt Dot.
Interesting, indeed.
‘She asked how things were going so I filled her in. I told her you’ve been a really big help to me in getting settled.’
Norman did something entirely uncharacteristic then. He smiled. It was the first Jeanie had seen from the man since she got here, and she nearly fell over.
‘She’s having a great time in St. Thomas. Snorkeling, windsurfing. She even went zip lining the other day.’ And just like that, the smile dropped from Norman’s face. Aha! Even more proof he missed her aunt! His grumpiness toward Jeanie wasn’t about her, at all! He just missed Dot. It was almost sorta sweet.
‘Well, she should have trained you better before she ran off,’ Norman said, with one last swipe at the counter before he marched off into the backroom, muttering something about taking his break.
Okay, so maybe Norman wasn’t that sweet, after all.
Jeanie leaned her elbows on the counter, watching the rain pour down outside. A brave couple decided to leave the café and make a run for it to their car, and Jeanie watched them hurry out. That left her, an older man with giant headphones and the Sunday paper in his lap at the window seat, and a group of high school kids nursing the dregs of their lattes as they waited out the rain. The perfect crowd for a rainy afternoon.
The conversation with her aunt had been good. Jeanie was excited to fill Dot in on how things were going, and it was nice to see her aunt’s tan face, with her dangly seashell earrings filling up the screen. Thinking back on it now, though, Dot had acted a bit odd when Jeanie mentioned Norman. She’d given Jeanie’s comments about his helpfulness only a brief acknowledgment and then changed the subject to her latest snorkeling adventure.
Jeanie pulled out her book from under the register, ru
She flipped open to the next chapter, hoping the farmer would finally make his feelings for the milkmaid known. She didn’t have time to worry about Norman and Dot.
She had her own secret relationship to think about.