Page 4 of Between the Lines

It’s already Wednesday.

“Sounds great, I’ll be in touch,” I lie with a tight-lipped smile and shove the papers in my back pocket.

As the van backs onto the street, I lock the house up. There’s no time to think about the news I’ve just been given though.

Daisy laughs as I break into a jog towards Luanne’s house. The stroller bumps over every sidewalk crack, and my heart pounds harder with each passing second. I’ve been late for work before, but never on team meeting days, which are consequently the only days the owner shows up.

Caden Brooks isn’t a mean boss. But he’s standoffish at best, someone I don’t want to disappoint. Not after he took a chance on promoting me to manager only nine months ago.

His coffee shop, Good Grinds, might technically belong to him, but it’s my circus. My caffeine-fueled, slightly chaotic circus where I am finally making decent money. But decent money means I can pay my student loans, buy diapers, and buy groceries every week. It doesn’t mean I can buy a whole dang roof.

I trudge up to Luanne’s front door, knocking twice, fanning myself as my heart sinks deeper into my stomach.

What’s $19,000 minus $132?

Whatever it is, that’s what I need to come up with. Soon.

2

Caden

“Halle, where is Fia?” I snap, glancing at the time on my phone again.

Team meetings start at 8:45 AM sharp. Fia knows that.

She’s fifteen minutes late, and every minute is another we have to keep the cafe closed.

Halle freezes behind the counter, her mouth agape as she stares at me. “I’m not sure, boss . . .” She scrambles for her phone. “I’ll call her.”

“Great idea,” I grumble, turning my back to the other eight employees sitting at the long wooden table in the center of the cafe.

These meetings, and people in general, are not my forte.

Three years ago, I was desperate to get out from under my father’s construction business. The moment people started comparing us, I knew I had to leave and build my own legacy. He’s the last person I want to be like, or be compared to for that matter. So I bought the first business I found: a failing coffee shop I could buy in cash. It had an unbeatable location on the corner of two busy downtown streets, and that’s all I needed to know.

I knew nothing about coffee, hated interacting with people, but figured I knew business. I knew money.

Turns out, by hiring the right people, I actually made this work.

However, I’m not cocky enough to think I could have done this without Fia.

There’s been a line out the door since I handed her the reins. She’s integral to the shop’s success, so when she’s not here, it’s a pretty big fucking problem.

Especially today.

We’re rolling out a brand-new summer menu, which was her idea to begin with. Not to mention she’s training two new hires today.

Halle approaches me as I lean against the wall, careful not to disturb the plants hanging off it.

“She said she’ll be here in a minute, she—” Halle’s cut off by Fia pulling on the front door.

It catches on its metal lock, a solid clunk reverberating through the silent cafe.

It’s locked for the meeting.

“Go let her in,” I instruct, running a hand through my long dirty-blond hair.

Halle rushes to unlock it.