No Place Like Home - Love in Seattle

by Christina Butrum

  “Not yet,” Janelle said, looking at the empty stand that stood next to the bottom of stairs. “I haven’t had time to do much of anything aside from the coffee shop.”

  After a long minute of dreaded silence, she said, “I flipped through applications today and called the ones I think are exceptional for the job.”

  “Will you be following up with interviews and discussing each interview with your father and me?”

  “That was the plan.”

  She couldn’t help but feel irritated with her mother. This whole situation was wedging tension between them and she didn’t like it. If she had been smart, she would’ve passed this favor on to someone else.

  “There’s a stack of applications somewhere in the office, on the desk,” her mother said. “Is that the stack you found and chose from?”

  Deciding to take the tension down a notch before a heated argument ensued, Janelle spoke in a softer tone, as she explained, “I found ten applications buried in a tray and picked the ones I thought were the best choices for the business.”

  “Who’d you pick, dear?” She heard her father ask in the background, confirming they were on speakerphone.

  Pulling the paper with the names from her folder, she read the list to her parents. She took the time to read the notes by each name, explaining why she chose who she did. So far, so good. Her parents seemed to be thrilled with her choices.

  “They sound wonderful, Elle,” her father said. “When are you planning on interviewing them?”

  “As soon as they call me back, I’ll set something up.”

  “Can you let us know? I’d like to be on speakerphone through the interview so we can choose who’s best for the job, as we will only be hiring one,” her mother said, the tension nearly gone from her tone of voice.

  Janelle felt irked when her mother mentioned only hiring one of the few she had read off. The coffee shop needed more than one more, it needed at least two or three more employees to help fill the schedule, and to allow for days off.

  “We’re in the process of something wonderful down here, Janelle,” her mother informed her. She could hear the excitement in her mother’s voice. “We can’t tell you much right now, but we’re planning to fill you in within the next month or so.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “We aren’t going to tell you right now, dear. It’d ruin our surprise.”

  She didn’t like surprises—especially surprises coming from her parents. Who really knew what her parents were up to? She’d be the last one to find out, too.

  “You can’t give me a hint?”

  “I’ll tell you what, call us when you get the interviews lined up and we’ll let you know a tiny part of our news,” her mother said, snickering as she talked. “We’ll look forward to hearing from you soon, dear.”

  The conversation was ended without so much as a “love you” or “goodbye.” Janelle still had the phone pressed to her ear when she heard the click, followed by a dial tone. Her mother had talked to her like a business partner instead of like a daughter. Nice.

  She clicked on the television and grabbed the quilt from the back of the couch. She had been hungry before arriving home, but she had lost her appetite due to nerves while on the phone. She would have to make something to eat after a while, when her appetite returned.

  Covering up with the quilt, she made herself comfortable as she watched her favorite show—Grey’s Anatomy. Most everyone back home in Cincinnati laughed at her, and were shocked that her favorite show was a medical drama instead of a baking show, like the new Holiday Baking Championship, or the Cupcake Wars. She had always promised that she would check into them, but ever since coming back to Seattle, her downtimes were few and far between. Maybe tonight, after Grey’s, she would flip through the channels and check out what Food Network had to offer.

  Flipping through the channel an hour later, she found Food Network and was not impressed with what it had to offer at night. She clicked the television off and decided it was the perfect time to venture into the kitchen on a mission for supper. She carried her notebook to the table and flopped it down on the placemat.

  Rummaging through the cupboards, she decided on the broke-college-kid-diet, as she pulled out a package of Ramen noodles. Even though they weren’t a healthy option, she enjoyed them once in a while—more often now than before. While they cooked, she pulled open the fruit drawer in the fridge and grabbed an apple. She had been trying hard the last few months to get back on track with her nutrition. Working out would have to wait until she had more time—or at least her daily routine memorized. So far, she was struggling with adjusting to the time change and the early mornings—something she would never quite get used to. Once she got used to being here, she’d definitely have to look into a nearby fitness center.

  The ding of the microwave announced her food was done. She pulled the steaming hot bowl out with oven mitts and set it on the counter for a few minutes to cool down. She sat at the table and opened her notebook. She wanted to read back through her notes and think about her options. The thought of owning her own bakery had always been on her mind since the day she left Seattle, but the chance of doing so was slim to none.

  Flipping through her notes, she realized that she was far from reality with some of the things she had written down at the beginning of the week here. The ideas, or goals per say, were farfetched and not achievable on her own. That’s when the thought of Colin made an appearance, and she quickly dismissed it by grabbing her food from the counter.

  Only, the thought of Colin wouldn’t leave her alone as she ate. She jotted down a few other thoughts—a couple of questions to ask Colin tomorrow, if he came into the café. She wondered how well he understood the aspect of business, but soon remembered that he was her parents’ right hand, who had offered her parents advice and help with promoting and advertising Harper’s Café. He was business smart and she would be a fool to think otherwise. She made a note to talk to him about what he actually did for her parents, too, because she was quite curious to find out what he had to offer them that she couldn’t.

  Finishing the dishes after she ate, she decided to give the Food Network another chance to prove her wrong. She flipped the television on, curled up under the heavy quilt in the oversized chair she deemed as hers, and prepared to watch whatever was on until she was too tired to keep her eyes open.

  Chapter Ten

  The next few days at the café went by quickly. She told Kelsie what her mother had wanted her to tell her. Kelsie hadn’t been too happy, but she had agreed to stay working there as long as there was more help. Janelle wouldn’t tell her parents how disappointed Kelsie had been, or how much she had to persuade her to actually stay working there. She had told Kelsie of a possibility of promotion if, and only if, her parents ever came to the realization of how hard Kelsie worked, and how much of an asset she was to the business. Janelle highly doubted that would ever happen, but she wasn’t going to tell Kelsie something she already knew.

  It hadn’t taken long for Colin to stop in, but he had only made an appearance the day before. He had mentioned being swamped at work and unable to take breaks for a while, like he had been the week prior.

  Janelle made it a point to ask him to divulge how he planned to help her. Aside from what she already had in mind that he was going to say, he offered her a night out to discuss it over dinner. When she looked at him like he had lost his mind, he guaranteed that it wasn’t a date, and there was nothing to commit to if she didn’t want to. It was an informal “business” meeting to discuss the future of her dreams coming true.

  “I’d definitely go out with him,” Kelsie said, encouraging Janelle to take the offer and run with it. “Who knows, he might be the man of your dreams, after all.”

  “Get out of here,” Janelle said, lightly pushing Kelsie away from her. “There’s no man of my dreams lurking in Seattle, or anywhere for that matter. I’m too busy to find love, and I certainly am not going to fall in love
with Colin.”

  Shrugging, Kelsie returned to work on the mixing and pouring of mochas and cappuccinos to the incoming crowd. “You never know.”

  Giving her a deadly staredown, Janelle shook her head. “Not even close. There’s absolutely no way I’d ever find myself swooning over him.”

  Even as she said the words, she knew she was lying. The way she had been from the day she saw him until now, she called her own bluff. She was as interested in him as he was in helping her achieve her business goals. No matter how many times she tried to talk herself out of the thoughts, the daydreams, she still found herself in mid-distraction thinking about him. She couldn’t help it. There was something about him that had caught her attention since she had seen him on her first day back in Seattle.

  “If you ask me, fate brought you back here to Seattle,” Kelsie said, smiling a know-it-all smile.

  Shaking her head, not believing for a minute about coincidence or fate, Janelle said, “My parents brought me back here to help at this damned café until they come back from their vacation. Once they come back, I’m outta here.”

  Kelsie’s smile turned into a frown. “Don’t look at me like that,” Janelle said, pointing a warning finger at Kelsie. “I’ve already told you, there’s nothing to keep me here. My life is now in Cincinnati, and that’s where it’s going to stay.”

  “But what about your bakery?”

  Rolling her eyes, Janelle looked around sarcastically with her arms out and asked, “What bakery? Where’s my bakery?”

  Kelsie laughed, tossed a broken lid into the trash can and said, “If you allow Colin to help you like he wants, you’ll have a bakery and so much more than what you’re willing to bargain for.”

  Confused by what Kelsie was implying, Janelle asked, “What’s that supposed to mean? More than I’m willing to bargain for?”

  Shuffling around behind the counter, Kelsie shrugged. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

  Janelle had no idea what Kelsie was referring to. She didn’t believe in coincidences, fate or fairy tales. She also didn’t believe that Colin Davis was going to offer her something worth bargaining her life back in Cincinnati for. It didn’t matter to her how often he caused her stomach to flip-flop with butterflies, or how often her heart skipped beats when the bell above the door chimed and she saw him walk in. None of this mattered once her parents returned to Seattle. The day after their flight landed, she would be boarding her flight back home.

  She made a mental note to mark off the days she had been here and create a countdown until the day she’d finally get to leave. Her thoughts were immediately interrupted by the rumble of thunder that caused the windows of the café to rattle. At once, as though someone above tipped a five gallon bucket of water, a gush of rain hammered down, causing visibility outside to be blanketed by a sheet of heavy rain.

  Janelle and Kelsie watched as people scurried under canopies and business awnings along the sidewalk. Others with umbrellas held tight, to prevent them from blowing away. Seattle was known for rain. Most of the time, the tourists of Seattle had been warned prior to their vacations about the amount of rain to expect. Janelle loved the rain. It hadn’t been a forced love either. She hadn’t been forced to tolerate it, but instead, she’d enjoyed it since the day she realized it rained too much for normal, sunshine-loving people. She liked sunshine, but loved the rain so much more.

  The bell above the door chimed as a couple entered the cafe, stomping through a puddle on their way through the door. Grabbing a towel from behind the counter, Janelle offered it to them. The couple gladly accepted and dried off the best they could. The young couple smiled as they thanked her. “It’s a little wet out there,” the young man said, laughing at his own joke.

  “Can we get you something to drink?” Kelsie asked, calling out from her spot behind the counter.

  Janelle was more than impressed by Kelsie’s customer service. She had not even thought about offering them something to drink. They were lucky enough to get a towel from her, but here was Kelsie, offering the best customer service this side of Seattle had to offer. Janelle smiled and acknowledged Kelsie’s offer with a thumbs up which received a slight shrug and giddy smile from Kelsie in return.

  “I’ll take a hot chocolate,” the young woman said, rubbing her hands together in an attempt to warm them. Janelle watched as the young woman looked at the man and asked him something and told Kelsie, “Make that two to go, please.”

  The friendly couple had been the only customers they had for the night. They waited out the storm and ventured out again once the café closed for the night. They said thanks to Janelle and Kelsie for entertaining them while they drank plenty of hot chocolate. Janelle had learned that it was the couple’s first time in Seattle, and they had been offered a free trip from the young woman’s rich uncle—an offer they couldn’t refuse, they had said.

  “That’s the kind of love I want someday,” Kelsie said, locking the door behind them on the way out.

  “A rich uncle? Me, too,” Janelle joked, opening her umbrella as soon as she was underneath the awning out front of the café.

  “Come on, Janelle, you can’t be serious,” Kelsie said, shaking her head in disbelief. “I meant their relationship. Their love...”

  “I know what you meant,” Janelle said, interrupting Kelsie’s description of a love of fairy tale endings, with happily ever afters.

  “You’re like the Grinch, but instead of Christmas, you’re against love,” Kelsie said, scrunching her nose in disapproval of Janelle’s lack of interest.

  “Am not,” Janelle said. “Like I’ve said, I believe in love, but I don’t believe in fairy tales and happily ever afters.”

  “Only because you haven’t experienced it yet,” Kelsie pointed out.

  “And you have?”

  Shaking her head, Kelsie said, “Not yet, but that doesn’t mean I don’t believe it’ll happen. I have hope that my one true love will swoop in and carry me away into the sunset.”

  Janelle couldn’t take any more of the nonsense. Gently shoving Kelsie out from under the awning, Janelle said, “Get out of here before you pass that crap on to me. I don’t need to catch any of that nonsense.”

  Laughing, Kelsie hurried off to her car. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she called out over her shoulder. Janelle waved in return, smiling as she watched the young girl get into her car and drive away, oblivious that true love didn’t exist.

  Chapter Eleven

  The message she received from Colin caught her off guard. She had just arrived at the front steps of her parents’ house when her phone vibrated and dinged in unison. She unlocked the door and dropped her things near the entryway, before pulling her phone out of her bag.

  Seeing a number she did not recognize on the screen caused uncertainty to overcome her. She had never responded to messages or calls from numbers she did not know, until now. Sending a friendly text back, asking who the person was, she waited impatiently for the person to reply to her. Only when she read his name, did her heart actually pick up a few extra beats.

  Instead of messaging him back, she hit the call button and waited for him to answer as she counted the rings. Her breath caught in her throat when she heard his voice on the other end. She hadn’t thought this out prior to hitting that button. Now, she was holding her breath in an attempt to calm herself down, but it did the opposite.

  “Hello, are you there?”

  Holding a hand over her phone, she held it away from her mouth as she caught her breath and slowed her breathing. With a hand covering her chest in an attempt to calm her heart from the pitter-patters, she said, “Yes, I’m here.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Not much. I just got home,” Janelle said, still trying to get control over her breathing, her thoughts, her words, pretty much everything at the moment.

  “You sound nervous,” Colin replied. “Are you nervous?”

  Slapping a hand against her forehead, she answered, “
No... no, I’m not nervous. Why do you think I’m nervous?”

  The sound of his laugh echoed through the phone, causing her to relax. If he was calm about this, there was no reason why she couldn’t be. She was letting whatever was going on with her, get the best of her.

  “You’re rambling.”

  Of course she was rambling. She couldn’t help it. It was obviously her coping mechanism when it came to having a conversation over the phone with Colin Davis—if you would actually call this a conversation.

  “You ramble when you’re nervous,” he said.

  “Okay,” she said. She had nothing to say, no other words would form, and if they did, they fell silent when she opened her mouth to talk.

  “Okay,” he said.

  Saying okay had been something she realized they had picked up on recently. Whether or not it meant anything, it was something she had noticed and thought it was cute—not that she thought things were cute or that he was...

  “The reason I called,” he said, trailing off, like he had to think of what he wanted to say next. “I want you to have supper with me tomorrow night.”

  There it was, yet again. The same offer he had given her just a few days ago, but this time he put a date on it. Tomorrow night... she pulled her planner from her bag and flipped to the calendar, searching for something to all l ow her to decline his offer, but her calendar was blank. It had been silly of her to think that her calendar would be full. Maybe she could make up a lame excuse to get out of dinner with him.

  “I’d love to, but I have so much work to get caught up on,” she said, realizing how hideous she sounded. She wouldn’t even believe herself, if she had been on the receiving end of that excuse. And saying she’d love to? Way to let him know how she truly felt. Love to? Bleh.

  “Well, in that case, how about the following night?”

  “I have things to do that night, too,” she said, sounding even more ridiculous than before.

  “Okay,” he said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.