A Fresh Brew

by Verena DeLuca

  "Then what?" Aubrey asked, pulling me out of my daydream.

  "Oh right. You lock it in the machine," I demonstrated how the cup slid into the espresso machine and quarter turn locked it in place. "Press this button for a single, and this button for a double."

  I pressed the double and we watched the machine work its magic.

  "Try this," I handed her the cup, eager to judge her reaction.

  She scrunched her nose up at the black coffee, "No sugar and milk?" And then gave a glance around the room and whispered, "Is this a barista prank?"

  Wow, way to suck the excitement out of that moment. I deadpanned her and said, "You're such a wet tea leaf. Try it plain, just this once, then add if you still want to."

  She hesitated, but took a small sip of the coffee. "Oh my. It's. . ."

  "Fruity?"

  "Yeah. Almost like a kiwi?" she laughed at herself. "Is that silly?"

  "Not at all. It's a fresh batch of Arabica from Nicaragua. They're known for the fruity notes."

  She gave me a look, and I stopped myself. She knew all too well how long I could ramble on about the finer notes of coffee.

  Coffee had more complexity in flavor than wines. Some of the local vintners bought their beans directly from us, and I loved to banter about whether wine or coffee had more flavor.

  The bells above the front door jingled, and a new to me customer walked in. He was alone, in his mid-thirties, and looked lost. Tourist.

  "Do you have a tea menu?" He asked, looking at the Poison of the Week drink: Oleander Spice. Aunt Tona's favorite specialty coffee.

  I gestured behind me to the section of the menu labeled Tea.

  TEA

  Turn around, exit cafe. Turn to your left and walk one block, at the intersection turn left and walk one block. Turn left at the intersection and walk one block. Cross the intersection and you've arrived at the tea house.

  "How do you not sell tea?"

  "Did you know cafe is French for coffee?" I said, recalling my aunt's views on his requested vile concoction. "Tea is made from a dying plant, and I'd rather experience life. So, we drink and serve coffee. No tea allowed."

  Aubrey choked on her laugh, and turned away—her face starting to turn red.

  The man puffed up his chest and began to protest, but I pointed to the sign again, "I can serve you coffee, or you can go to the tea shop."

  "I'm going to leave you a negative review."

  "Oh no, please don't. It might hurt business."

  His smile let me know that my sarcastic tone had gone over his head. Tea fanatics were too much.

  "Serves you right."

  "Can't wait to read it, I'm already heartbroken just at the thought," I smiled and winked at him to help drive home the level of care I had for his demands.

  Aunt Tona never set up a website, and saw no reason to care about reviews online. As far as she was concerned, the only people looking at those were tourists, and Aconite Cafe was a local's establishment. We were happy to serve tourists looking for the best cup of coffee in Texas, but we weren't about to become some watered-down version of ourselves to appeal to their big city way of life.

  The man shook his head the whole way out.

  "Oh my gosh Hailey," Aubrey said. "I just realized those directions won't lead him to Sereni-tea Tea House. He'll end up on the wrong side of downtown ... in a field?"

  "I know." I smiled and took a sip of espresso.

  "But that's so ... all this time, I just assumed. That's so mean."

  "Sam Wilcox is a vile old man, and ew. People should thank me for helping them reconsider poor life choices!"

  I forced myself to take a deep breath.

  "Sorry, almost had a soapbox moment," I said. "You know all too well that Aunt Tona and Sam were enemies for as long as I can recall. There was nothing but bad blood between them, and if a little sign costs him some business then so be it. I don't think a single person has ever come in here from their recommendation.

  "Besides. Did you hear, he'll leave a review. I'm going to print it out and frame it."

  She rolled her eyes, but was trying hard not to laugh.

  "I'm just saying, if he feels that strongly about it, maybe he should take up a collection of charitable ducks and do tea about it."

  I laughed at my own dark humor. Yet another thing I owed to my aunt. The memories of our cynical jokes brought tears to my eyes and I was forced to duck under the counter, pretending to check on supplies, to clear them away.

  "You know that makes no sense."

  "Same amount of sense as walking into a coffee shop expecting tea."

  When I dusted myself off, and stood, I saw it was after 3:00 PM. Aubrey's children were out of school.

  "You have to go," I said.

  "What?" she asked, confused.

  "It's already three, your kids are probably standing outside wondering where you are."

  "Oh, nonsense," she said. "We all have to line up around the block and pick up our children one by one. Worst case scenario I'll be the last in line."

  "Don't you usually pick them up first thing?"

  "Yeah. I was getting there thirty minutes before they got out and reading a book in the car. They can wait on me for a change, it won't kill them."

  We laughed, she gave me a hug and pet Azure as she passed him on the armchair before leaving. It had not escaped my notice that she finished the espresso without adding anything to it. Win!

  Her children were lucky to have such a devoted mother, and I always thought William took her for granted a little. Not that he was mean or abusive in any way, just that he left her to manage the family by herself most of the time. But I guess being a Sheriff was a 24/7 job.

  "Special delivery," Victoria called out as she came in.

  I was in the back looking in the fridge as she entered.

  "You're a lifesaver," I said as I walked out to lift the counter closest to the bathrooms for her.

  She carried six trays stacked atop of one another. With each one holding in the realm of one to two dozen depending on the treat it was impressive to watch her maneuver it all.

  Tori was in her mid forties—a little over ten years my senior—and I often wondered what the secret to her stamina was. Her appearance had always come off as a facade to me. With thick makeup lines, and hair dyed the color of a pomegranate, she was the only baker I knew that wore what I called business club attire at all times.

  I led her to the fridge and opened it so she could slide in the assorted pastries. Breakfast was going to be delicious, fake vibe aside, she could make a mean maple pecan cinnamon roll.

  "Thank you so much. They've been flying off the shelves. At least three mothers I didn't recognize came in to buy a dozen each. I think they're trying to show their support and grief at Tona's passing."

  "She certainly was beloved by all," Tori said with a tone that did not match the smile plastered on her face.

  Azure rubbed up against her leg, "See. I told you she didn't like Tona." he transmitted to me.

  "Alright, you win," I transmitted. "I'm starting to get the picture."

  "Hello Azure," Tori said in a formal tone. "How are you holding up?"

  She looked around to see if the guests were watching us. They weren't. And bent down to offer him a small treat from inside her pocket.

  Where everyone else saw a fluffy black cat, with a potbelly, we saw the truth. A sapphire dragon, with a potbelly, who loved his snacks.

  "Butter adores these," she fed him from her palm and scratched the fluff between his cat ears.

  A low purr rose from the floor as he leaned into her hand. For a dragon that insisted he was not a cat, Azure sure oversold the act.

  "Well, sorry to drop and dash, but I have three more deliveries to make tonight." She grabbed a bag of beans I had prepared for her bakery drip machine as she left the serving area.

  "No worries. Thank you again." It was a struggle not to throw her valley girl chipperness back at her.

  "Of c
ourse, anything for you hon," she called over her shoulder. Polite, yet fake, typical Tori doublespeak. "See you Thursday."

  "See you then." Her fake demeanor could totally be a mask of resentment for us. How was I just now realizing this?

  I had forgotten about the meeting I was supposed to host. With all the commotion of the day, and training Aubrey, it had been pushed completely out of my mind.

  "Do you believe me now?" Azure asked.

  "Just because she's fake and possibly a tad resentful, doesn't prove that she killed Aunt Tona, but I will admit that I'm curious."

  "Good," he slinked away. "It's time for my first evening nap."

  Only Azure would try to make a nap sound like some sort of royal appointment. Not a cat, ha, who was he kidding.

  "Does the kitty need his beauty sleep?" I teased.

  His returning transmission was less than polite.

  "We are going to be working on that attitude Mr."

  CHAPTER SIX

  Tuesday, February 18th

  My feet were killing me, and I had about enough of the cafe for one day. After Aubrey had left, the entire thing became too much. I had never seen so many customers. The clock showed 5:00 PM—an hour before normal closing time—but I did not feel like staying open.

  The front window held a simple turn sign, I flipped it over to close, and walked back behind the counter. In a small town like this, the sign would be enough to let the regulars know I closed up early.

  I could probably count on my hand the number of times Tona had closed early, but I pushed that out of my mind. She would understand.

  Only two customers were left, Nikki, a freshman at Central Texas Community College working on a paper, and Ty—the town flirt. The man had to be old enough to be my grandfather, but that had never stopped him from trying to butter me up.

  Ty grew up in a different time, and developed habits that had not aged well, but for the most part he was harmless. It was not as if he had ever tried to grab my butt, like they did in the movies. Mostly, he just invited me out to seniors night at Partners from time to time. I have always told him that I could never keep up with him though.

  "Anything else?" I asked Ty as he walked to the counter.

  "No sweetie pie," he gave me his widest smile. "I'll be off. Got myself a date to keep."

  "Have fun, but not too much, I don't want any late night calls from the Sheriff about bailing you out."

  "Scout's honor," he held up three fingers, and the door jingled as he walked out.

  It was just me and Nikki. The cafe was silent except for her laptop keys that she furiously clicked away at. I could recall the late nights spent at cafes in Austin trying to finish a paper due the next day. Though, no cafe in the city could replace this one.

  I started my nightly cleaning, doing my best to keep the noise down, but I doubted Nikki would have noticed if I had brought out a trumpet and played.

  Before I shut down the espresso machine, I poured her a to go Americano with extra sugar. How the girl stayed so skinny I had no idea.

  But as Aunt Tona always said, "It's not our job to judge the way they take their coffee. The best we can do is offer them the finest quality of bean."

  It was a quarter till six when Nikki packed away her laptop. I had already finished my cleaning and was reading the local magazine in an armchair.

  "I'm sorry," she said. "Did I keep you late?"

  "Not at all. It's not yet six. I decided to close up early and get a head start on my cleaning."

  "Next time just interrupt me."

  "Nonsense. You get your paper done?"

  "Was I that obvious?" Nikki asked.

  "Only to someone who's done time. Some nights I still wake up in a panic thinking I have a paper due."

  We laughed together.

  "Thank you for letting me stay. Professor Lloyd would never forgive me if I turned it in late."

  "Any time," I held out the to-go cup. "I made you an extra coffee just in case."

  She reached into her purse.

  "None of that. It's on the house for closing early."

  "Thank you," she took the cup from me.

  "Your welcome. You pay me back by getting an A on your paper."

  "I hope," she giggled nervously.

  "I'm sure you'll do just fine."

  I followed her to the door, "Have a good night."

  "Bye."

  I locked the door behind her and climbed the stairs, doing my best to ignore the burning in my feet.

  All I wanted was to eat and lay down, instead I found Azure on the kitchen tile, puke all around him.

  "What the tea?! Like I didn't do enough cleaning downstairs? I thought dragons didn't get hairballs?" I transmitted.

  "We don't, you tea-wit," he transmitted back. "I've been poisoned."

  "What do you mean?" I always thought cats were dramatic creatures, but they had nothing on dragons.

  "Pooissonneeddd. You know, dying. I must be cursed. My last moments and I'm doomed to spend them with an idiot."

  I kicked him in the side. "That's not what I meant and you know it!"

  "Ouch! Why me?" He started dry heaving again as I rolled my eyes. How did Tona live with this drama queen?

  "If you were dying you wouldn't have noticed," I crossed my arms. "Let's get you some water. I'm sure you're dehydrated."

  I picked up his water bowl, rinsed it out, filled it halfway and added in three ice cubes. When I placed it on the ground, he lapped it up in a hurry.

  "Slow down," I transmitted. "If you keep that up, you'll end up making yourself sick again."

  He slowed his drinking, but by the time it took me to mop the kitchen he had finished nearly the entire bowl. Thank goodness he had the sense to keep it away from the boxes.

  "Thank you," he transmitted and rubbed his head against my leg.

  "You're welcome. Next time, why don't we try asking nicely, rather than name calling."

  He said nothing, instead walked to the couch in the living room and took up his position after shaking his wings out.

  I sat next to him and scratched behind his left horn.

  "Now, instead of acting like a crazed lunatic, let's work through what you ate today. Do dragons eat out of the trash?"

  "Rosemary," he transmitted, and his tone made it sound like a swear.

  "Avoiding the question. Good to know, might invest in some of those locking lids just in case. Why rosemary?"

  "Is it possible for you to not be sarcastic for even one moment of your pitiful life? It's a major allergy for all dragons."

  "Wow. Rude! I am being completely serious right now. Who—"

  "Victoria!" he transmitted over me. "Now do you see? She resented your aunt's position, and now she's tried to kill me. If I died, you'd lose your position as the head. But she's an idiot. Her and Butter would never take my place. The tribe wouldn't accept them."

  "That's messed up. I should get a new dragon if you die, who made these rules?" I reached for the phone. "She is in for a rude awakening if she thinks for a seco—."

  "No," Azure transmitted and nudged his head into my arm. "This is a tribal matter. We'll address it at the meeting. Besides, I have to think of the right punishment for her and Butter."

  "Oh, really?"

  "Welcome to leadership."

  "So drama for the puking, but no drama for the culprit. Makes sense."

  * * *

  "Tori and Tona fought constantly. If it hadn't been for the tribe trade agreement, they would have never spoken to each other outside of meetings. No one will miss their passive aggressive behavior. If I were a betting dragon, I'd point the talon at Tori," Azure transmitted while laying his head in my lap. "Given where your aunt's body was found it would make sense they got into another argument and it turned physical. Tona was too graceful to ever trip and fall into the roaster."

  I missed the cat, but even I had to admit that a dragon was not all bad. It was comforting to run my fingers over his scales.

  "I
get what you're saying," I transmitted back, "and I agree she seems the most likely suspect. Especially after intentionally poisoning you. But my gut tells me if it were an actual murder, Sam Wilcox is my bet. They hated each other for years."

  "Since childhood," Azure transmitted as a slip.

  "Go on?"

  "No. That's your aunt's secret. It's not mine to share."

  He hopped off the couch and walked toward her old room, "I've made up my mind. Go ahead and call Victoria. I know you're dying too."

  "Darn straight. She needs to know. And Butter—"

  "I'll deal with Butter!"

  "Yes, sir." I saluted the door.

  I was not about to put myself in dragon business and end up on the wrong side of that tone. In my entire time of knowing him, I had never seen him so agitated. The fluff ball I knew was lazy and uninterested. Reminded me a lot of Garfield, aside from his black fur, all I ever witnessed him do was eat and sleep. Turns out he was talking to my aunt nonstop.

  I picked up the phone again and dialed Tori's personal number and relaxed into the sofa while it rang. I only thought I had left the drama in high school.

  "Hello? Tori speaking."

  "Tori, it's Hailey."

  "Oh, don't tell me you ran out of pastries already."

  "No way. I just wanted to let you know that I will not partake in the games that you and Tona were playing."

  "What?"

  Call me dumb, but I believed her for a second. She sounded genuinely innocent. That, or I was not ready to bring myself to believe she killed my aunt. Tori and Tona had known each other for years. I assumed they were friends, and that was one of the key reasons I never voiced my personal distaste for Tori. It would be like Aubrey killing me. Unthinkable.

  "You poisoned Azure."

  "I did not."

  "Oh okay, I must have given him a rosemary latte today, silly me."

  She stayed silent on the line, so I continued.

  "Wait, I couldn't have done that, we don't keep rosemary in the cafe, why would we? Coffee doesn't pair well with it."