“Here you go,” she said. He made room for her on the table and thanked her. “You just passing through?”
“Got in this morning. Took the early bus in from Jericho.”
“Well then, let me be the first to welcome you to Charleston.”
“Thank you!”
She couldn’t help herself. She knew she should leave him alone. He was a paying customer, someone who probably just wanted to mind his own business, but something about him made her want to keep talking to him. It was like she hadn’t been paying attention and now more of the world opened up to her. She hadn’t felt that way about anyone in a long time. But it would be unprofessional of her to bother him. She patted her sides awkwardly and turned to leave, but he stopped her with a question.
“Don’t you want to know if I think your coffee is the best on this side of the Mississippi?”
Her lips curled when he took a long, exaggerated sip, and then his face changed with surprise when he realized it was actuallyreallygood.
Aurora laughed and winked. “Told you.”
“No kidding! The receptionist at the hostel said this place had some of the best art in town, butwow. You’re an artist yourself. I may have to start believing everything you say because you’re certainly not wrong about coffee.”
“I won’t let it go to my head.”
She let him be for a while as she attended to more customers coming into the café. The lunch rush was almost over, and Aurora had a lot to do. Cakes and sandwiches and bagels and coffee went flying, and still Aurora managed to have time to glance over at the charming young man sitting at the table. He had put away his map and he was sketching in a leather-bound notebook. She came over and refilled his coffee even though he didn’t ask her to.
He tried to wave her off. “I’m sorry, I don’t have enough money for another cup.”
“No problem. This one’s on me. Everyone needs a second round of coffee if they had to take the bus.”
“Thank you so much,” he said.
“Are you a student?”
“An artist.” He held up the sketchbook and smiled bashfully. “As you can probably guess, I don’t have a whole lot except this. I don’t expect your boss would take drawings as acceptable forms of payment.”
Aurora chuckled. “She would not, but no judgment here! Are you in town for long?”
“Just for the night, then I’m headed north before checking out the art here.” He pointed to the painting closest to him on the wall, calledDistant Thoughts. It was a gorgeous painting composed of vivid colors, depicting a faceless woman with dark, blue-black skin in a gold dress with puffy sleeves and a green scarf with orange polka dots wrapped around her sunhat, sitting on the beach watching bright white clouds over a deep blue ocean. Was she thinking of the past? Or was she looking toward the future? It was also one of Aurora’s favorites. She had imagined herself as that woman so many times.
“Well, I’m glad we could be the first stop on your very short visit,” she said.
“Worth it, for sure,” he said. His eyes were sparkling and so blue, they reminded Aurora of the ocean in that painting.
“You stay as long as you like. If you need anything, holler.”
“I will...” He waited for her to say her name.
“Aurora.”
“Thanks, Aurora. I’m Stephen. Stephen Chase,” he said.
He held out his hand. She shook it. His fingers were nimble and thin, but firm. Definitely the hands of an artist. She couldn’t stop thinking about how his eyes were so unlike Aldrich’s. She didn’t know blues could be that different.
Stephen was lean and lithe, wiry, as if ready to spring at every opportunity. He looked like a spirit free to do the things that he really wanted to do, and it made her a little envious. To be where he was now, faceless in a new town,able to start over without the burden of baggage, wasn’t that the dream?
“Nice to meet you,” she said.
“Same. I can’t believe this place isn’t totally packed with customers. It’s like I’ve discovered a secret and now I can’t tell anyone else about it. Otherwise, I’ll never be able to set foot inside here, it’ll be so crowded.”
Once she got smiling, she couldn’t stop. “Don’t take that as an excuse to stay away, then.” She couldn’t believe she had said that. She was coming on too strong. She flushed, but then so did he.
“S-sure,” he stuttered. His smile was boyish and wholesome. How could someone who had so little give so much with only a smile? “I think I can find a few reasons to stick around. Who knows what might happen?”
