by Jinty James
“Mrrow.” Trixie preened at Luke, blinking girlishly at him.
“She definitely likes you,” Suzanne observed as she handed him his change.
“No health balls?” He looked disappointed for a second.
“Come by this afternoon,” Suzanne told him.
“Here you go.” Maddie set the cardboard cup in front of him, an exciting shiver racing up her spine as his fingers grazed hers.
“Thanks.” He smiled at her, and she was lost.
“Ahem.” Suzanne cleared her throat.
“Oh – yeah.” Luke picked up his mocha. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, Maddie.”
She nodded, watching him walk across the green lawn to the other side of the square.
“What’s on tomorrow night?” Suzanne peered at her.
“We’re having dinner.” Maddie smiled.
“And you didn’t tell me?” Suzanne mock-pouted.
“I was going to but then the full moon happened and—”
“I get it.” Suzanne said understandingly, then grinned. “You can tell me all about it on Thursday.”
Maddie nodded, knowing there might be some details she’d want to keep to herself, like the way she felt when Luke’s hand brushed hers. But she’d certainly tell Suzanne as much as she could.
“I’ve got to make some health balls.” Suzanne looked guiltily at the empty platter on the counter. “I could have sold Luke two.”
“I can hold the fort if you want to buy the ingredients now.” Maddie nodded towards the small grocery store on the other side of the square.
“Good idea.” Suzanne cheered up and got out her phone to type out a shopping list. “Last week I came up with a new idea, but with the competition and ... everything else, I forgot to tell you.” She paused. “Cacao Orange health balls.”
“That sounds interesting.”
“Wait ‘til you try them.” Suzanne grinned. “We can be the guinea pigs – and it’s my own recipe.”
“Go for it,” Maddie encouraged.
“I’ll see you in a bit. You too, Trixie.”
“Mrrow.”
Luckily it wasn’t too busy while Suzanne was gone. Maddie handled the orders and took the money while Trixie meowed a greeting at her favorite customers.
When Suzanne returned, she was raring to make the health balls.
“If I make them now, they’ll be ready in a couple of hours.”
Maddie and Trixie watched her process the ingredients, roll them into small balls, then place the cookie tray into the small refrigerator in the truck.
“We can have them for dessert.” Suzanne grinned.
Two hours later, when the last of the lunchtime customers had departed, Maddie and Suzanne were ready to try the Cacao Orange balls.
Suzanne popped a ball into her mouth and chewed. Pleasure creased her face.
“Even better than I hoped!”
Trixie watched with wide eyes as Maddie took a tentative bite of hers.
“You’re right.” She turned to Trixie. “They really are good, Trix – but it would make you sick if you had one.”
“Broomf.” Trixie looked disappointed.
“Sorry, Trix.” Suzanne looked apologetic.
“I can definitely taste the orange zest,” Maddie said.
“I know!” Suzanne set the remaining balls on the platter and put a plastic dome over them. “Now all we have to do is sell them ASAP.”
And they did. By the time they closed the truck at four o’clock, only two balls were left. Luke had stopped by again, Suzanne making him pay for two, while Maddie blushed in his presence.
“We might as well finish them off.” Suzanne offered a Cacao Orange to Maddie, popping the last one in her mouth.
After savoring the treat, Maddie jumped into the driver’s seat. She was supposed to practice making mochas when she got home, but right now, all she wanted to do was look forward to her date tomorrow night with Luke.
CHAPTER 6
AFTER MADDIE ARRIVED home, she practiced making mochas for an hour in the truck parked in her driveway, made dinner for herself and Trixie, and spent the evening alternatively reading a chick-lit novel and daydreaming about Luke.
When she finally went to bed, Trixie at her side, she knew she would probably dream about Luke that night, too.
The next morning, she and Trixie parked the truck in the town square, Suzanne already waiting for them, her face downcast.
“What’s wrong?” Maddie asked as she got out of the truck.
“Have you realized that we haven’t spoken to any suspects yet?”
“No.” Maddie frowned.
“Mrrow.” Trixie seemed to agree with Maddie.
“We have been busy, though,” Maddie pointed out.
“I know.” Suzanne nodded. “But it’s Wednesday already and we have to go back to Seattle on Saturday. What if the killer attends the final round of the competition?”
“I thought we were going to let the Seattle police do their job,” Maddie replied as she and Trixie hopped into the back of the truck. The Persian settled on her stool, while Maddie started getting everything ready.
“And we were going to keep our eyes and ears open, remember?” Suzanne scrutinized the espresso machine over Maddie’s shoulder. She snapped her fingers, the sound close to Maddie’s ear. “I know! You could do a Coffee Vision spell – maybe that will tell us what we should do today.”
“Before or after serving our customers?” Maddie asked drily.
“In between.” Suzanne waved a hand in the air. “We managed to run the truck and talk to suspects last month, didn’t we?”
“Yes.” And they’d had to close the truck while doing so.
“So why don’t we do that again?” Suzanne looked excited. “But first, cast the Coffee Vision spell.”
“You’re bossy this morning,” Maddie muttered, looking out through the serving hatch. No customers in sight. “Okay,” she acquiesced when Suzanne continued to look at her in expectation.
Maddie pulled an espresso shot, deciding she might as well make a mocha for extra practice. When she’d finished, she peered into the microfoam. She focused her mind, the presence of Suzanne and Trixie receding to the background.
“Show me,” she whispered.
The foam swirled, then cleared. An image of Diana Swift appeared in the cup.
“Well?” Suzanne asked impatiently.
“All I see is Diana Swift.”
“Ooh. Maybe that means we should go visit her and ask her some questions.”
“I don’t think driving all the way to Seattle today is a good idea.” Maddie put her foot down. Sometimes Suzanne’s enthusiasms had a tendency to run away with her.
Before Suzanne could answer, a twenty-something guy dressed in a smart business suit ordered a large hazelnut latte.
After that, they barely had a chance to speak until the morning rush was over.
Trixie snoozed through most of it, only seeming to wake up when one of her favorite customers appeared at the window. How did she do it? Maddie wondered. It was like she had some inbuilt telepathy.
But was it really surprising? If the cat was Maddie’s familiar, why wouldn’t Trixie have some powers of her own? After all, she and Trixie had seemed to communicate telepathically last Saturday.
Maddie made herself a cappuccino and sat down on a stool. She’d offered to make Suzanne one as well, but her friend took a large gulp of bottled water instead.
“I still think we should go and visit Diana,” Suzanne continued to argue now that there was a temporary lull.
“I don’t think “keeping our eyes and ears open” includes driving one hundred miles to Seattle to ask a suspect questions,” Maddie pointed out.
“Semantics,” Suzanne said airily. “You agree with me, don’t you, Trixie?”
Trixie stared at Suzanne for a moment, then closed her eyes and settled down for another snooze.
Maddie stifled a giggle.
“It looks like
I’ll have to try another way to convince you,” Suzanne continued. Her face brightened. “We can have lunch in Seattle – my treat.”
For a second Maddie was tempted. It would be fun to go out and have lunch in the city, instead of eating their sandwiches in the coffee truck as usual. But before she could formulate an answer, a smartly dressed woman stepped up to the window.
Diana Swift.
Maddie’s eyes widened. The coffee vision had come true already!
“Hi, Diana.” Suzanne stepped to the window with a big smile on her face, somehow managing to hide the fact they’d just been talking about her.
“Hi, Diana,” Maddie greeted the posh woman in a more subdued tone.
“Hello, Maddie and Suzanne.” Diana smiled. “Oh, is that a Persian?” She gazed at Trixie snoozing on the stool.
As if she heard her name being mentioned, Trixie slowly opened her eyes and blinked.
“Mrrow?” she said questioningly.
“This is Trixie,” Maddie said.
“What a sweet little thing,” Diana complimented. “She is just darling.”
“Thanks.” Maddie relaxed. When the health inspector had visited them when they’d first opened for business, Trixie’s presence had seemed to go unnoticed by the worker. Maddie had always wondered if Trixie had something to do with that, in a magical way. And her customers didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with Trixie being in the truck.
“What can we do for you, Diana?” Suzanne asked, her expression curious.
Diana laughed. “I would love to try your coffee, Maddie.”
“Of course.” Maddie smiled. She gestured to the small menu board in front of the counter. “What would you like?”
“How about a regular latte?”
“Coming right up.” Maddie busied herself at the machine, determined that the elegant woman wouldn’t be disappointed.
“It was such a shock about Margot Wheeler, wasn’t it?” Diana mused as Maddie steamed the milk.
“Definitely.” Suzanne nodded.
It was on the tip of Maddie’s tongue to ask her fellow competitor if she had known the judge previously, but she didn’t want to distract herself while making the latte. And, she had to admit, she was a little hesitant in asking such a question.
“Here you go.” Maddie placed the cardboard cup on the counter. “On the house.” She cast a sideways glance at Suzanne, who nodded discreetly.
“Oh, no, I couldn’t.” Diana fished in her fawn designer purse for a matching wallet, handing them the correct money.
Suzanne reluctantly took the cash and put it in the register.
Maddie waited while Diana took her first sip.
A smile crossed her face as she tasted and swallowed. After a few more sips, she finally spoke.
“That is wonderful, Maddie.” She nodded. “I made the right decision coming here today.
Maddie and Suzanne exchanged a look of curiosity.
“As you know, I’m opening a chain of coffee shops, and the flagship store will be in Seattle. I would like you to be my head barista, Maddie.”
Maddie’s mouth parted, but she couldn’t speak.
“What?” Suzanne squeaked.
“You’re ahead of me in the competition so far,” Diana said, as if she didn’t quite like that fact. “And I need top level baristas to work in my cafes, so I can make my mark in the Seattle coffee scene. I think you’re wasted here.” Diana cast a look around the empty town square. “Where are your customers?”
“We had our usual morning crowd today,” Suzanne spoke up.
“That’s right.” Maddie nodded. “We both make a living from doing this.”
“But I can offer you something more.” Diana took another sip of her latte and closed her eyes for a moment, as if savoring the taste. “I’ll pay you forty-five thousand dollars per year, plus benefits.”
“How much?” Suzanne asked in a choked whisper.
Maddie blinked. She turned to look at Trixie, who also looked surprised at the offer.
“What do you think?” Diana asked when Maddie didn’t say anything.
“I think it’s very generous of you,” Maddie replied slowly, her thoughts in a whirl.
“You’ll be earning your salary,” Diana told her. “I’d expect you to train the other baristas so they’d be just as good as you – if you or any of them had a sick day, the others would be able to pick up the slack seamlessly – and my customers would know that it didn’t matter who made their coffee – it would be a wonderful sensory experience every time.”
She continued, “You’d also be responsible for choosing and roasting the beans and trying out new combinations – oh, and coming up with fancy ideas for our monthly speciality drink.”
“That sounds amazing,” Suzanne admitted.
“It will be.” Diana nodded.
Maddie gripped the counter. Some of what Diana offered seemed like a dream come true, apart from training the other baristas to pull an espresso shot just like she did. She didn’t know if she would be able to instruct anyone to make it exactly like she did – it was something more than learning the technique – she always thought it was an innate ability as well.
Suzanne could make a decent coffee, but she’d always told Maddie that no matter how much she practiced, she would never be able to make espressos as well as Maddie.
And the thought of interchangeable baristas – an image of a line of robots flashed through her mind.
“I’d have to commute to Seattle,” Maddie said.
“I’m afraid so,” Diana replied. “Unless you decide to move to the city.”
Maddie didn’t know if she wanted to move to Seattle, even for a great job opportunity. She knew driving two hours in the morning and again in the afternoon would eventually stress her out. And she wouldn’t be able to bring Trixie to work, she was sure of that. How could she leave Trixie alone all day long?
And what about Suzanne? They ran Brewed from the Bean as partners. How could she leave her best friend in the lurch?
As if discerning her thoughts, Trixie looked at her with an enquiring expression on her furry face.
She glanced at Suzanne, who was chewing a fingernail, as if waiting for Maddie’s decision.
“Thanks, Diana,” Maddie finally replied, “but I’m happy here, with Suzanne and Trixie.”
“Are you sure?” Diana’s brow crinkled, as if she wasn’t used to hearing the word no.
“Yes, I’m sure.” Maddie smiled.
Suzanne threw her arms around Maddie. “Phew!” Then she drew back as if she realized what she’d just said, an “Oops” look on her face. “But it’s totally okay if you want to go for it, Mads,” she said sincerely. “I’ll understand. Seattle deserves to drink your coffee.”
“Maybe one day we can do that – together,” Maddie replied, returning her friend’s hug, and appreciating her support.
“Together – I love that.” Suzanne beamed at her.
Diana cleared her throat.
“Let me know if you change your mind, Maddie.” She pulled out a white and silver business card from her purse and handed it to her.
Maddie nodded, glancing down at the impressive-looking card. Perhaps she and Suzanne should get some business cards made after all, if they were going to expand one day.
“What about Ellie?” Maddie asked, trying to think how she could help Diana in her search for a barista. “She’s coming first in the competition.”
“Yes, I might ask her,” Diana replied. “As well as Connor. But you were my first choice, Maddie. You seem very down to earth and reliable.”
Maddie wondered if that translated to wearing ordinary clothes (no fairy earrings like Ellie) and not sporting any visible tattoos.
“You know, Maddie, if you really want to make a career for yourself, then you need to network. I belong to a wonderful women’s business club in Seattle, and new memberships will be opening soon. I would be happy to propose your name to the group – whether you t
ake up my job offer or not.”
“Thank you,” Maddie replied, a little surprised at the offer. She and Suzanne had dreams of owning more than one coffee truck, but she didn’t think she was a go-getter businesswoman like Diana – or the unfortunate Margot.
Before she could formulate her question, Suzanne jumped in, as if knowing exactly what Maddie was about to ask.
“Was Margot part of this business club?” she asked.
“Why ... yes,” Diana admitted.
“So you knew her before the competition last weekend,” Suzanne persisted.
Diana flushed under her discreet makeup. “Not really,” she finally said. “We weren’t best friends or anything like that. We saw each other socially on occasion, and of course in club meetings, but other than that I really didn’t know her.”
“But you told the detective in Seattle that you didn’t know her at all,” Maddie pointed out gently.
“That was a mistake,” Diana admitted, fidgeting with the strap of her purse. “I should have told the police the truth. But I’ve never come across a dead body before – and I didn’t know what to do for the best, apart from getting help. And I didn’t want the police to think I was a suspect.”
“That’s understandable,” Maddie sympathized, her mind flashing back to the time when one of their customers was murdered.
“But I really think you should tell the detective about your previous relationship with Margot,” Suzanne put in.
“Was that why Margot marked you higher than everyone else?” Maddie asked curiously.
“I think so.” Diana Swift flushed a deeper shade of scarlet. “She didn’t say anything to me about it, and I didn’t even realize she was one of the judges until that morning, when she walked into the ballroom.”
“That must be some business club,” Suzanne murmured.
“This is why it’s important to make contacts, Maddie,” Diana stated.
“So you can get an unfair advantage over other competitors?” Suzanne said wryly.
Diana shrugged. “If Margot had proposed that she give me higher marks I would have refused, of course. But,” she paused, as if marshaling her thoughts, “I thought it bad form to go up to her after the round one scores were posted and ask her why she gave me better marks than anyone else. Perhaps she preferred my coffee to the other competitors. Perhaps she did judge me with a little favorable bias. But that sort of thing happens in the business world all the time. You either find a way to work with it, or you don’t.”