The pumpkin spice cafe

‘How was your trip?’ Jeanie asked as they settled in at a table in the corner.

‘It was good. Very nice.’ She finally turned her intense gaze to Jeanie. ‘I’m just so sorry I left you in such a bad situation.’

Jeanie winced. She’d told her aunt about Norman a few days ago, and she certainly hadn’t been expecting a surprise visit.

‘It’s fine. Really. Everything is straightened out now.’

Her aunt huffed, as though in disagreement.

‘Here’s your tea.’ Adelyn left the mug in front of Dot and scurried back to her post, obviously sensing the mood at the table. Jeanie was suddenly wishing she could hide behind the counter, too.

‘It’s absolutely not fine, which is why I demanded he meet me here today.’

‘You what?’ Jeanie had managed not to run into Norman since he quit, which had proven trickier than she expected. Just the other day in the grocery store, she had spent a full twenty minutes hiding in the frozen-food aisle while Norman finished up his shopping so they wouldn’t accidentally meet at the register. Her fingers were so numb she could barely get her card out of her wallet when she finally went to check out.

‘We need to settle things.’ Dot folded her hands on the table, her stacks of gold rings clinking together.

Who needed to settle things? Dot and Norman? Norman and Jeanie? For Jeanie’s part, she felt perfectly fine with never seeing the man again.

The bell above the door jingled and her attention snapped to the entrance.

Logan found her immediately, his lips tipping into a smile that transformed his face from stoic to soft in an instant. He noticed Dot next, and he lifted an eyebrow in a silent question. Jeanie shrugged as he strode toward their table.

‘Hey, Dot. What brings you into town?’

‘Logan! Please join us. I hear you and my niece have become quite an item.’

Jeanie watched in delight as Logan’s cheeks turned red above his beard.

‘Uh ... yes ... we ... I mean, I––’

‘Just sit down, Logan,’ Jeanie said with a laugh, and he gratefully sank into the seat next to her. Adelyn came over with his usual black coffee and he thanked her with a smile.

Dot’s laser focus returned to the door. Her leg bounced nervously under the table, bumping into Jeanie’s over and over. Was her aunt really this worried to confront Norman? Sure, he was grumpy, but the man wasn’t exactly threatening.

‘What’s going on?’ Logan whispered into her ear, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

‘Aunt Dot invited Norman. So we can settle things,’ Jeanie said, leaning into his comforting warmth.

‘Good. I have some things I’d like to settle with that guy, too,’ he muttered quietly.

Jeanie was about to remind Logan that under no circumstances was he allowed to fight Norman, when the door opened again and in came the man in question.

Norman’s eyes sca

Holy shit. Hazel was right. There was something big going on here.

Norman pushed up his glasses and ran a hand down his vest. Jeanie caught Dot tucking the wisps of silver hair that had escaped her bun behind her ear as Norman strode toward them. An uncharacteristic blush crept up her aunt’s cheeks.

‘Dorothy,’ he said with a small nod.

‘Norman.’

Jeanie glanced at Logan. He raised his eyebrows and shrugged, at as much of a loss with the whole situation as she was.

‘I’d like to apologize,’ Norman began.

‘You damn well better,’ Dot snapped, the imaginary cartoon hearts circling her head crashing to the floor. Logan stifled a laugh and Jeanie kicked him under the table.

‘I’m sorry for the damage I caused to the café, and to Jeanie’s state of mind, as well. Things went much farther than I ever intended them to.’ He caught Jeanie’s eye, and she gave him a small nod of forgiveness. Beside her, Logan, feeling much less forgiving, glowered at him. Norman snapped his gaze back to Dot. Not that she was being any more sympathetic. Poor guy. Jeanie really did feel bad for the man. This level of awkward conversation seemed like more punishment than was really necessary.

‘You terrorized the poor girl. Scaring her half to death in the middle of the night!’

‘To be fair, that wasn’t him,’ Jeanie cut in, but ignoring her, Dot didn’t take her eyes off of Norman. Beads of sweat formed on the poor man’s forehead.

‘I never intended for that to happen. I just thought I could cause a little trouble. It went too far. I paid for the damages.’

‘Well,’ Dot huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. ‘That was the least you could do.’

Norman gave a stiff nod. ‘I know. My actions are unforgivable.’

‘Already forgiven, Norman,’ Jeanie said, and Dot cut her a look, but her aunt’s face was already softening. Jeanie’s attention flicked back and forth between Dot and Norman, but she might as well not exist with the way they were locked in each other’s gaze. She gave her aunt’s shoulder an encouraging nudge.

‘I suppose, if Jeanie forgives you, I could, too. Maybe.’

Norman let out a sigh, his posture relaxing but the angst still etched into his features. ‘I was hurt,’ he said. ‘When you left, I thought, well, after all these years working together, I thought it just made sense for me to buy the café. That I should take it over for you.’

‘Or you could have come with me.’

‘What?’ Jeanie clapped a hand over her mouth, not meaning to cut in again, but really, what?!

Norman blinked, his mouth opening and closing before words finally escaped. ‘Dorothy ... I don’t understand?’

Her aunt let out a long sigh. ‘Of course, you don’t. I suppose that’s half my fault. But the reason I didn’t leave you the café was because I hoped you might retire, also, and that we could ... we could finally...’ Dot’s words trailed off as Norman sank down into the nearest chair.

‘I d-didn’t know,’ he stammered.

Dot gave a feeble shrug, all the anger draining out of her. ‘I never told you.’

Jeanie had never seen her aunt be anything other than confident and strong, moving through the world in exactly the way she wanted to. But now, looking across the table at the man she had apparently been in love with for years, Dot looked shy, nervous even, and Jeanie could feel the butterflies reflected in her own stomach.

‘Maybe we should go—’ Logan whispered, but Jeanie waved him away.

‘Shush.’ She wasn’t about to leave now. Things were just getting good. This town was really rubbing off on her.

Norman reached across the table and grabbed Dot’s hands. ‘Dorothy, I’ve been in love with you for years.’

Dot sniffled and Jeanie slid her a napkin. She’d never in her life seen her aunt cry. Dot dabbed her eyes and then placed her hands back in Norman’s.

‘I should have told you sooner,’ she said. ‘But I was afraid, I guess.’

‘Afraid of what?’

She shrugged. ‘That you wouldn’t love me back.’

Norman shook his head. ‘Impossible.’

Jeanie smiled, even as Logan took her hand under the table and tried again to tug her away, to give her aunt some privacy.

This time, Jeanie agreed, and the two of them got up and stood together behind the counter, watching Dot and Norman scoot closer and closer together until her aunt’s head rested on his shoulder.

Jeanie sighed. ‘Imagine loving someone for so long and never saying it,’ she murmured.