She waited until he cleared the kitchen before dissolving into a fit of giggles. Now shereallycouldn’t wait to talk to Joan. Life was full of surprises these days.
EPILOGUE
One month later
Joan opened her car door and stepped over a small puddle, not wanting to get her hot-pink sneakers wet. Or dirty. It’d been a risk wearing them with rain in the forecast (natural rain, not Villain-created rain). Taking little chances like this were helping her get more comfortable with being visible.
She locked her doors and took in Hampton Street. Knollwood Village really did have Sadie’s vibe. The funky shops and art galleries. Older buildings mixed with carefully renovated structures. There was even a ramen place a few blocks down they couldn’t wait to try.
She moved to the sidewalk, switching the hand holding the white paper bag filled with Mexican pastries. The ones Spark had acquired that morning because she was essentially always on call, ready to help whoever was in need. That was still taking getting used to. Hell, everything was in her new occupation.
The For Lease sign was gone from inside the window at Future Sadie’s Café. Joan had only seen the space from the outside. With the sale finalized and the lease as good as done, Sadie now had possession.
Joan spotted her standing in the middle of the empty space, hands on the hips of a short, flowy purple dress. The overhead lighting highlighted her excitement but also her nerves.
She knocked on the glass door, waving when Sadie looked over.
Sadie skipped across the laminate flooring and unlocked the door. “Welcome to Sadie’s Café,” she said, then immediately started leaking happy tears.
Joan scooped her into her arms. “Congratulations, sweetheart.”
Sadie tugged her inside. “Come look at your investment. I can’t stop staring at everything.”
She took in the exposed brick and all Sadie had been talking about over the past few weeks. Sketches and craft projects and Perry’s paperwork were strewn about their home office, but that was okay. Not like Joan was using it anymore.
“A celebratory treat?” Sadie said, pointing at the pastry bag.
“Yep. Spark and Catch stopped a water main break from flooding a panadería. We sort of soldered the pipe back together. I didn’t know I could do stuff like that. Non-destructive stuff.”
“That’s great, babe.”
“Darlene suggested it.” Joan made a face that caused Sadie to snicker. Darlene was her assigned babysitter that week. Neither would ever,everadmit to it, but they were learning handy tips and tricks from one another. “The staff was cool and wanted to thank us.”
Sadie took the bag, then squeezed Joan’s hand. “Was that hard for you? Getting free stuff?”
“I insisted I would pay for them. Then they admitted they were day-old pastries that would probably just get thrown out.” Joan laughed. “They were honest about how people don’t always give Supers the best stuff.”
It’d felt good to help out a family-owned business and be able to talk openly with them. Spark and Ice were making it known they were not in it for handouts.
“Ooh, conchas.” Sadie closed the bag and held it to her chest. “Do I get first dibs since this is my special day?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you, my love. Look around. Tell me if you think a couch and coffee table can fit in that nook back there. I need to get to measuring.”
Joan wandered over to the far corner. A wistful tug pulled at her heart. They’d been this psyched when they bought the food truck. It seemed like ages ago, but had only been months. So much had happened since then.
Sadie and Per had done the lion’s share of tying everything up for Hot and Cold. Still a total bummer to go out like that.
With the coffeehouse, they had a perfect misdirection. On the food truck’s social media, it now said that the owners “have decided to focus on a brick-and-mortar café.” They’d changed the account names to the café and not ruled out the possibility of having signature sandwiches available in the future. Anything was possible.
Such as the owners becoming Superheroes.
“Let’s take a selfie for my parents,” Sadie said as she walked over. “They want lots of pictures.”
Joan leaned into her and obliged. “Are we still telling them I started a restaurant investment group with Mark and Perry?”
“Yes, and this is your first venture.”
