No Place Like Home - Love in Seattle

by Christina Butrum

  Pulling out boxes of straws, lids, and other needed accessories in order to count them, Janelle said, “She’s not too thrilled about what I said to Josh yesterday.”

  Scribbling counts down, Kelsie nodded. “I didn’t think she would be.”

  Rattling off more numbers, Janelle packed the boxes neatly back into their spot under the counter. “She asked me what I have in mind if he doesn’t show up today.”

  Kelsie filled a Dixie cup with Columbian coffee and mixed Hazelnut creamer into it. While tasting it for just the right amount of sweetness, she asked, “What’d you say?”

  Janelle shrugged and pulled herself off the floor. She had thought about it all night, which was the reason there had been an overabundance of baking done. “I had nothing to offer her last night, which only made her angrier,” Janelle admitted. But, after a near sleepless night, she had come up with an idea. “What would you say if I offered you a full-time position as an assistant manager?”

  The idea had struck her as a fantastic one around two o’clock this morning while she finished baking the streusels and sugar cookies. The thought of Kelsie already pulling her weight and then some around the café, Janelle couldn’t help but think of how great it’d be to add Kelsie to some form of management. As far as letting her parents know, she’d do that when the time was right, even if it’d end up being upon their arrival back home.

  “Are you freaking serious right now?” Kelsie asked, her eyes wide in surprise.

  Nodding, Janelle said, “As a freaking heart attack.”

  Kelsie leaned forward on the counter and rested her face in her hands. “I can’t believe this.”

  “Well, you really should, because it’s the best option I have right now,” Janelle said. “You can take some time to think on it. I’m sure...”

  “Yes,” Kelsie spit out.

  “What?” She wasn’t going to lie, she was a bit taken aback by how quick Kelsie had answered. The fact that she had taken less than a minute to think on it had shocked Janelle.

  “I’ll take the position,” Kelsie reiterated.

  “Are you sure?”

  Nodding, Kelsie smiled and said, “To be honest, I’ve been waiting for this chance for a while now, and I’ve been wanting to talk to your parents, but your mother’s sometimes a bit...”

  “Too hard to talk to?” Janelle offered. Only when Kelsie nodded, slightly embarrassed from talking about her like that, Janelle said, “Tell me about it. I’ve had to tread around certain conversations my whole life.”

  Janelle made her way to the office, taking a few minutes to write down a few reminders for herself; starting with number one being to research assistant manager duties and the rate of pay here in Seattle.

  ***

  The chime above the door sounded numerous times throughout the morning. Each time, Janelle had a notion to check if it was Colin Davis. No matter how many times the dang thing chimed, she made a point to check—only to be disappointed to see that it wasn’t him walking through the door.

  Her actions had not gone unnoticed by Kelsie. She was interrupted mid-thought by the clearing of a throat. “Ahem.”

  Turning, she found Kelsie standing in the doorway of the office. Just by the look on her face, Janelle knew she had been busted.

  “I see you checking the door every time the bell chimes,” Kelsie said. “Who are you waiting for?”

  Trying to maintain her innocence, Janelle shook her head and said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Regardless of her semi-warm cheeks turning a shade of red, Janelle ignored Kelsie when she pointed out the obvious. “You’re waiting for him! I knew it!”

  “For whom?” she asked, playing out the last bit of innocence she had left. “I have no idea who you’re talking about.”

  Kelsie crossed her arms as she leaned against the doorframe. “Mr. Colin Davis.”

  She could only pretend like she was taken aback by the assumption. “No way. I can’t stand him. Why would I want to see him?”

  Laughing, Kelsie held a hand up. “Why are you rambling on like a fool then?”

  Closing her mouth, Janelle leaned back in her chair. Had she been rambling just now? She really had no reason to explain her behavior. She should just ignore whatever Kelsie was hinting at—there was nothing to talk about, really.

  “I wasn’t rambling.”

  For the simple fact that she knew she had been rambling, she couldn’t allow Kelsie to think there was something between her and Colin. No way. Not at all. Had she really been giving off those vibes?

  “You can’t be serious right now,” she said, tapping her pen against the desk. “It has nothing to do with Colin.”

  Kelsie raised an eyebrow. “Oh? So, now it’s just Colin?”

  “Will you knock it off already!” Janelle said, tossing another pen, the only thing she could quickly grab from the cluttered desk, in Kelsie’s direction—missing her when she ducked.

  Only when the chime above the door sounded again, did her heart beat faster and butterflies fill her stomach. Wanting to do nothing more than check on the person walking through the door, Kelsie moved to block Janelle’s view of the door.

  Janelle ignored the shitty grin plastered on Kelsie’s face, as she tried to contain her eagerness to check on who had just walked in. Leaning back in her chair, trying to play it cool, she said, “See, I don’t care.”

  Turning around to leave the office, Kelsie called out over her shoulder, “Colin’s here.”

  Janelle raced out of the office only to find Kelsie bent at the waist, laughing hysterically at her for being so gullible and out of control. She couldn’t blame her for the trick well-played. She had no idea what had come over her since seeing him yesterday, but it was definitely something.

  Chapter Five

  No sooner had mid-morning rush ended, than Colin Davis walked in. Janelle had been helping a previous customer who had ordered a Mocha Latté, when the chime above the door rang and she recognized within seconds who it was.

  Her heart raced and her stomach knotted, causing her to be clumsy and out of control with jitters. She spilled the latte and apologized repeatedly to the customer. Kelsie busied herself with Colin’s drink while chuckling quietly, and shaking her head at the mess Janelle had made. Janelle snuck a glare in Kelsie’s direction, but it went unseen.

  Finishing up with the customer’s latte, she handed it over and apologized once again. Only when the customer turned to leave, did Janelle have time to notice the blue eyes focused on her. Colin was standing across the way with a look of amusement on his face. She was glad he was entertained by this.

  “Rough start?”

  “Don’t even,” she warned him, reaching for the mop bucket from the supply closet. She carried the bucket to the hopper sink in the back room. Filling it halfway, she added a concoction of chemicals to clean her mess.

  Swinging the water-logged mop around the floor behind the counter, she realized Colin was still there, leaning on the counter as he drank his mix of hot chocolate and cappuccino. It didn’t make her uncomfortable with him watching her, but she’d rather he didn’t. Who knew what else could go wrong in front of him, and the last thing she wanted to do was make a fool of herself more than she had already.

  Wringing the mop out, she shoved it into the back room. After emptying the bucket of dirty water, she walked out and swallowed hard when she saw Kelsie offering a cookie from the plate.

  Setting the plate down after Colin grabbed a sugar cookie; Kelsie turned to Janelle and said, “I hope you don’t mind that I gave him one.”

  Shaking her head with a faltered chuckle, Janelle said, “Not at all.”

  “These are delicious,” Colin offered, holding what was left of the cookie for her to see. “You made these, right?”

  Nodding, Janelle said, “I sure did. At one o’clock this morning.”

  Raising an eyebrow in disbelief, Colin asked, “Why so late?”

  She wondered if it was r
eally unheard of... staying up late and baking. It wasn’t like she really had a choice in the matter. Baking was her go-to for stress relief. It had calmed her down not long after preheating the oven.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” she said, pouring her unfinished, cold coffee down the drain.

  “We were just talking about you opening your own bakery,” Kelsie admitted with a smile and a small wink.

  If she thought for one minute she was doing Janelle any favors, she was wrong. No matter what it looked like, her actions, and reactions for that matter, when it came to Colin, were deceiving. He was still her rival from her college days. She was only being nice to him because she had no other choice. Add to that, her mother wouldn’t be happy with her, even more than she wasn’t at the moment, if she heard that Janelle was rude in any way to Mr. Davis. She just was obligated to play nice and keep things running smoothly around here.

  “Haven’t you always wanted to have your own bakery?” Colin asked, finishing his cookie and washing it down with his drink.

  She didn’t care to share much more with him than he already knew, but the fact that he was being decent and still wanting to have a conversation with her after yesterday meant something. It had been cruel for her to laugh at him when he had mentioned that he liked to bake. The reason behind his baking had melted her heart and given her something to think about last night.

  “I’ve loved to bake my whole life,” she admitted, taking one of the treats off the plate for herself. “I’ve dreamed of baking before I even learned how to bake. Owning a bakery has always been one of the long-term goals I had set for myself at a young age.”

  The memories of spending time with her grandmother came rushing in. Her grandmother had taught her at the age of seven how to bake the perfect sugar cookie, along with many other goodies for each of the seasons and holidays that were some of their family’s favorites. She owed a never-ending amount of thanks to her grandmother for the cherished baking lessons, undertaken with love and sweetness.

  “I think you should go for it,” Colin said, chomping on a mouthful of strawberry crispers.

  Hating the thought of sharing anymore personal details with him, she tried to end the conversation. “Well, I suppose, I have a lot of things to get done in the office.”

  The glance between Colin and Kelsie did not go unnoticed. She had a feeling they knew better, but she didn’t care. She refused to allow this guy, who had never once thought twice about her, other than thinking of their next competition to plan for his own success, any leeway into her personal life.

  Shrugging off their blank stares, Janelle walked toward the office, leaving Kelsie alone to fend off the afternoon crowd that would be coming in any minute. Shutting the door, she locked it as she leaned against it. In an attempt to refocus her thoughts where they needed to be, she turned on the radio and picked up the inventory list she and Kelsie had gone through earlier this morning.

  No matter how hard she tried, her thoughts circled back to Colin. She couldn’t deny that her anger towards him was lessening—she didn’t feel as much angst as she once had. Still, there was absolutely no way she would allow herself to let him talk her into anything business. She wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but she could bet that whatever he offered, it was for his best interest, not hers.

  Only when the coast was clear—Colin was nowhere to be seen—did she allow herself to escape the isolation of the office. The look on Kelsie’s face explained that Janelle wasn’t the only one thinking she’s crazy.

  “What was that all about?” Kelsie asked, the tone in her voice was evidence that she was annoyed.

  Not having, nor wanting, to explain anything to anyone, Janelle did her best to ignore her as she made her way to the other end of the counter, by the register. Opening the drawer, she counted each stack of bills, starting with fives and ending with twenties. It was almost five and they had made well over three-hundred dollars—a fair amount for the lack of customers they’d had throughout the day.

  “I think he cares about you,” Kelsie offered, blocking the register drawer so Janelle couldn’t grab any more money from it.

  “And what makes you think that?”

  With the history the two of them shared, with college being the upside down turning point of any possible friendship, Janelle had to disagree with Kelsie. There was no way that Colin cared about her, nor would that ever be possible. No matter how charming and good looking he was these days, he was the same Colin Davis she remembered from college—a man short on honesty and selfish for his own gain in success.

  “Just the way he leans in when you talk,” Kelsie said, smiling as she counted off reasons on her fingertips. “Or the way he keeps his eyes on you, long after the conversation has ended.”

  Only when Kelsie noticed that Janelle was shaking her head, denying everything that she was hearing, Kelsie said, “The fact that he’s now encouraging you to make something of yourself and be happy in life says a lot about him and how much he cares.”

  Still shaking her head, she refused to believe a damned thing Kelsie was saying. She could talk until she was blue in the face, but she still wouldn’t believe that Colin cared about anyone other than himself.

  “You don’t know him like I do,” Janelle offered, knowing that it could possibly bring more debatable facts from Kelsie. She counted down silently from three as she waited for Kelsie to counteract.

  “Technically, you haven’t seen him in what? Several years?” Kelsie asked, chuckling at the idiocy of Janelle’s reasoning. “Also, take into consideration that people do change. Whether you want to believe it or not, he doesn’t seem as bad as you’re making him out to be.”

  “That’s your opinion,” Janelle stated, as she restocked the cups along the counter. She’d give anything to have this day at the café over with; to be at home in her pajamas, reading her favorite Nicholas Sparks novel. She dreaded having to stay here any longer and face what appeared to be the honest truth from a girl she had just met.

  “One of these days, before the summer is up, he’s going to prove it to you,” Kelsie said, pointing a warning finger at Janelle, with a smile on her face. “And then I’ll be able to say I told you so.”

  Chapter Six

  Bound and determined to relax and enjoy the rest of the night, Janelle had prepared a Nicholas Sparks novel, along with an ice cold glass of sweet tea on the end table by her beloved, oversized chair. Knowing all too well what work awaited her from Cincinnati, she ignored it as she snuggled into the chair and covered herself with her mother’s soft, purple and ivory colored quilt.

  It was the perfect night for reading. With the sound of raindrops splattering against the puddles that were collecting outside, and the distant rumble in the night sky, it was the kind of peace and quiet Janelle had waited for all day.

  Snoozing off had not been in her plans for the night, but she awoke to the sound of her alarm ringing noisily across the room where she had left her phone. Grumbling her way to the other side of the living room, she silenced her alarm. Six a.m. was arriving too soon each morning. She had never been a morning person, except when she didn’t have a choice—like now.

  Day four was off to a rough start when she walked to the kitchen only to find the Folgers canister empty. Searching the pantry and any other valuable cabinet around the kitchen, she was unable to find coffee. What on earth was a coffee shop’s owner’s house doing without a satisfying stash of coffee?

  Adding coffee to the list of items she needed to purchase at the store, she made a special note to buy a large can, to last her a while. While she was writing this down, she checked for other needed items. Coffee creamer was scribbled down once she realized the small container was near empty. A cup of coffee without creamer was like drinking hot, bitter water—she would rather go without if she couldn’t have creamer, and she was certain the world wouldn’t want her to go too long without coffee.

  Tossing the pad of paper onto the table, she headed upstairs. First things first,
with or without coffee, she needed a shower. Turning the shower on cold, in an attempt to wake up, she climbed in. The freezing water splashed her skin, nearly causing her to jump back out. Quickly ducking out of the way of the water, she cranked the handle to add heat. Kicking herself, she wondered what the hell she had been thinking, as she allowed the heat to chase the shivers away.

  Fumbling around the bathroom in an attempt to get dressed, she managed to stub her toe on the vanity and almost fell as she slipped in the puddles of water on the floor—thankful for the same vanity that caused her pain as it caught her fall. Tossing a towel on the floor to soak up the wet spots, she managed to get ready and head downstairs in record time—beating her personal record of thirty minutes, she was in the kitchen within twenty-eight point five.

  By the time she was able to cook breakfast, she had less than thirty minutes to eat and leave. Frying bacon had turned as disastrous as day three had been at the coffee shop. Splatters of grease were sporadically outlined across the front of her shirt. She had never disliked bacon so much in her life as she did today. Cutting breakfast short and taking what was already cooked, she scarfed what she was able to within five minutes and headed out the door. She had less than ten minutes to get to the coffee shop before she was behind the eight ball—something she refused to let happen today.

  Unlocking the door, she dropped her umbrella and gave it a few good shakes. Of course, it had poured rain on her walk over. Why wouldn’t everything else go wrong?

  “You look like crap,” Kelsie said, as she sprinted up to the door behind Janelle, unsuccessfully dodging the heavy raindrops.

  Soaking wet, they both tracked into the building. “I’ll grab some towels!” Kelsie said as her shoes squawked against the once-clean floor.

  “And a mop!” Janelle called after her.

  Coming back with an arm full of towels and scooting the mop bucket with the handle of the mop, Kelsie offered one to Janelle. She loved the rain, but not when it drenched her before she realized what was happening. She’d had less than two seconds to open her umbrella before the rain had completely soaked her. She had failed miserably so far, with this day, and her only wish would be to be able to go back to bed.