Layla set the gift on the table again. “You have a nice holiday. I’ll see you soon.”
She walked Sheila to the front of the store and turned the sign around as soon as the woman left. Layla let out a long, loud sigh.
The last few days she’d worked well past closing time stocking the store. It was as if Christmas had come early and everyone was shopping in Copper Creek Home like hers was the last store left in Minnesota. Her shelf of candles was only half stocked even after she’d refilled them. The embellished placemats and table runners were gone as soon as she brought out more from the back room. It was everyone preparing for Thanksgiving, she bet. And the rag rugs she’d found on a trip to Door County, Wisconsin, last winter were suddenly sellouts. If business was this brisk after Thanksgiving, she’d have to close for lack of merchandise. It was a lovely problem to have, but she couldn’t figure out why all of a sudden Copper Creek Home seemed to be the place to shop. But there would be more time to wonder about her shop’s popularity as she soaked in the tub, something she’d looked forward to all day. That and a little TV binge with another hot tea too.
As she turned on the bath water upstairs, she remembered Kyle’s texts and missed call. While the tub filled, she called him back. He answered on the third ring. “Hello, Layla.”
“Hi, Kyle. How have you been?”
It’d been a few days since she’d talked to him. Come to think of it, they’d last talked on Saturday when he helped her at the shop. While they’d only been dating a few weeks, it was an unusually long stretch of silence. Before then, Kyle texted her throughout the day, every day. Truthfully, it got to be a little much. Layla began to not respond to every message, sometimes waiting after she received three or four before she replied. So she hadn’t thought twice about the break. Maybe she even welcomed it.
He gave an exaggerated groan. “Busy, but doing well. You?”
“I’ve been so busy too. I can’t even keep my to-do lists straight, so if it’s not written down, it’s gone!”
“Right. Listen, I was wondering if we could meet for coffee after work?”
His dismissive tone struck her immediately. And the idea of a coffee date too. She’d dated enough to know that dates usually didn’t progress from lunch to snowshoeing then back to coffee. Especially at the end of a workday midweek.
“What’s up?”
He hesitated. “Not much. Just wanted to talk.”
“Is everything all right?” She turned off the water.
“Oh, sure, sure. Nothing earth-shattering,” he said, and Layla noted the awkwardness of his laugh. What was so funny about that?
She dreaded going out in the cold, especially with a steaming bath tempting her. But Kyle sounded like he needed her. Maybe he’d decided after all to cancel his trip and spend Thanksgiving with her after all. Or maybe he’d finally decided to get rid of the family homestead. She knew it weighed on him, even though it seemed not to hold any sentimental value.
“I can meet in an hour. The Daily Grind?”
“That would be wonderful,” he said hurriedly.
“Or did you want to meet halfway? You don’t have to come all the way to town in the middle of the work week.”
“No, that’s fine. I can check in on Auntie after our meeting,” he said.
Now Layla knew something was up. It was ameeting, not a date. And he sounded so…formal. Something had happened, or didn’t happen, that changed things. She checked her phone. Why didn’t she ask to meet sooner? Now she wouldn’t get anything done in the next fifty-nine minutes.
After opting for a quick bath and not the long, leisurely soak she craved, she walked the block to the Daily Grind. It was not yet five o’clock, but it was dark enough that the streetlamps were on. Inside the coffee shop it was surprisingly busy for the dinner hour. Meals weren’t an option at the Daily Grind unless you settled for a bagel with cream cheese or a chocolate chip scone. Smoothies, tea, and every coffee concoction under the sun, yes. And the place had a charming vibe, all local art on the walls and a funky selection of mugs hanging from a giant pegboard. Picking a mug to suit her mood was one of the quirky advantages of visiting the coffee shop instead of taking a cup to go. She found one of her favorites, a pear-shaped one with a teal heart, and took it to Jen to fill.
No sooner had she sat down than Kyle walked through the front door, bypassing the counter to order, and came straight to her when she waved.
“Hey,” he said, a little out of breath.
She watched him pull out the chair and sit without taking off his coat.
“Are you going to order something?”
He looked at the counter. There were two people in line. He frowned.
“Nah. I won’t…well…” He shook his head as if dismissing a thought. “How are you?”
Okay, so he wasn’t planning on sticking around long. She sensed what he was going to say even before he said the words. She might have known that before today. Still, it stung. This wasn’t the conversation she wanted to have, sitting in her favorite coffee shop, at the end of a long day. Scratch that—a longweek.
“I’m good. So what’s going on with you?” No sense in beating around the bush. She’d never been good at playing games to save face.
“I’ve been thinking. About us.” He picked at his thumbnail.
