Page 8 of A Cup of Autumn
“Sorry about that.” Raine readied her finger over the cash register to take the order. “I had no one to cover me.”
Margot peered over the counter. “Where’s your staff?”
That was the question of the day. “Out.”
“You’re here alone?”
“Yes.” Raine’s smile slipped. She forced it back into place. “The usual?”
“Not today.” Margot studied the menu board on the wall behind Raine. “I’m overheated from the meeting and need to cool down. I’ll have an iced tea. Extra ice with a smidgen of sugar. Oh, please add a lemon slice.”
Raine rang up the sale. Margot paid with cash and tucked two dollars into the tip jar.
Usually, Raine left the tips for her staff to split and didn’t take a share. Today, the money would be all hers. She would use it to buy dinner after she closed.
Margot remained standing in front of the cash register. That was…odd. Most customers moved to the other end of the counter to pick up their drinks.
Raine filled the stainless shaker with iced tea. “Did you want something else?”
“No. I want to tell you what happened at the meeting.”
Margot was also the hub for gossip in town. “Drama?”
“A few tempers spiraled.”
That happened when coordinators needed to be assigned to an upcoming event. Sometimes, people were eager to volunteer. Other times not.
Raine added a teaspoon of sugar—what she’d determined Margot considered a smidgen. “What got people so riled?”
“We voted on who would be in charge of the Boo Bash.”
“I thought someone was picked in August.” Raine shook the mixture.
“No. The Boo Bash coordinator is selected the month before.”
Raine had missed that meeting too but assumed…
She filled a plastic cup with ice. “Was it a fight for the position or were there crickets?”
“Crickets.”
That meant no one volunteered. The association must have drafted someone. Okay, being selected wasn’t as bad as being named a tribute in the Hunger Games, but that might be preferable to juggling the event and a busy real life.
Raine poured the tea into the cup, added a slice of lemon, a lid, and a straw. She set the drink in front of Margot. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.” Margot didn’t reach for the cup. “I have good news for you.”
Raine’s heart leapt. She leaned forward. The counter pressed against her stomach. “Do you know someone looking for a job?”
“No, but I’ll let you know if I hear of anyone.”
She straightened, tamping down her disappointment and picking up the shaker to wash it. “So, what’s the good news?”
Margot’s smile deepened the laugh lines around her mouth. “We voted for you to be in charge of this year’s Boo Bash.”
The shaker slipped from Raine’s hands. She caught it.
Thank goodness for fast reflexes. Still, her pulse raced as if she’d shot a liter of caffeine straight into her vein. “How? Why? I wasn’t there.”
