Cup of Joe

by Teri Wilson

  “Yes.” Goldie nodded and helped him regain his balance. “Eve’s got Bliss, and I’m headed over to the walk-through right now.”

  “OK.” He smiled, but it was a bit strained. Particularly for someone who had just collected a rather large first place ribbon in front of a cheering crowd. “I’ll be waiting for you when you’re finished.”

  A lump lodged in Goldie’s throat. He was so sincere and obviously still dreadfully concerned about her. She desperately hoped she wouldn’t let him down. She still hadn’t found Harold. Maybe he wasn’t even there. Maybe everything really would be just fine.

  Maybe.

  Not trusting herself to speak with any sort of confidence, Goldie gave Joe a quick peck on the cheek and headed for the ring. While she followed the other beginning exhibitors from cone to cone, she tried to concentrate on the task at hand. But everything around her seemed to move in a blur of motion. She put one foot in front of the other with careful exactness, but everyone else in the ring zipped around her, until it felt as though she was standing still. Even the barking of the dogs sounded short, clipped. Frantic.

  “Goldie. Goldie!” Somehow, through Goldie’s brief swirl of panic, Eve’s voice broke through.

  Goldie looked up and saw her standing ringside, clutching Bliss and looking rather panicked herself.

  No wonder. When Goldie looked around, she realized the walk-through was over and she was the only person left standing in the ring. Besides the judge, that is, who was gathering papers together on his clipboard and hadn’t seemed to notice Goldie lingering so far behind the others.

  Thank Y ou, Lord.

  Goldie scurried to the other side of the lattice ring gates where Eve pounced on her and thrust Bliss into her arms.

  “It’s time,” Eve whispered. Actually, it was more a hiss than a whisper. “And you and Bliss are first.”

  “We’re first?” Goldie gripped Bliss’s leash until her knuckles turned white as stone.

  “Yes. Joe said the smaller dogs usually go first in each class.”

  That’s right. Goldie knew that. Smallest to biggest. “Where is Joe?”

  “He’s right over there.” Eve gestured toward the opposite side of the ring, near the exit gates. “He wanted to be there, waiting for you. And the rest of us are headed over there, too. Are you all right?”

  Before Goldie could answer, the ring steward called her number.

  “That’s me.” She waved her hand toward the steward. Good. At least she was able to move. That was a step in the right direction.

  She looked back to say something, anything, to Eve. But she was gone.

  “Exhibitor, take your place in the ring, please.” The judge’s rather business-like tone did nothing to calm her nerves.

  Goldie took a deep breath and followed the judge’s instructions, leading Bliss through the white lattice entrance. She paused beside the first cone with the laminated Start sign, just as Harold had taught her to do at class.

  “Are you ready?” The judge stood looking at her from behind his clipboard, his bifocals perched on the very tip of his nose. Clearly, he was waiting for an answer.

  Am I ready?

  Goldie looked down at Bliss, and the spaniel peered up at her.

  My dog is ready. But what about me? Am I ready?

  Unsure exactly why, she glanced toward the exit gate. Perhaps she was looking for an answer to her question in the faces of her friends waiting for her ringside. But what she saw there caused her breath to skid to a halt.

  Joe, Peggy, Eve, Cinnamon.

  And Harold.

  He stood sandwiched between Joe and Peggy. One of his puffy black poodles lounged at his feet and Harold himself was looking at Peggy like a dog eyeing a bone. Goldie would have laughed aloud at that look if she hadn’t been so preoccupied trying to assess her feelings.

  She waited for the terror balled up at the bottom of her stomach to rise up and strangle her, as it had done at class last week. But, by God’s grace, it never happened. As Goldie let her gaze travel over Harold, she no longer saw a ghostly vision of her grandfather. She saw a friend. And when she looked at him together with Joe, Peggy, Eve and Cinnamon, she saw something beautiful. She saw a family. Not the family she had known all her life—but a family just the same. One God had stitched together while she’d been too busy grieving to realize what was happening around her.

  “Ahem.” The judge cleared his throat, dragging Goldie’s attention back to the center of the ring. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes.” This time she knew the answer before the question left the judge’s mouth. “Yes. I’m ready.”

  Cup of Joe

  Inspirational romance, Christian romance, Christian fiction, romance novel, christian romance novel, teri wilson, white rose publishing

  Cup of Joe

  Chapter Seventeen

  Goldie ran her fingers over the silky strips of blue ribbon dangling from her large first place rosette. Correction—Bliss’s first place rosette. She could hardly believe how perfect the petite Cavalier King Charles Spaniel had performed. Even at the one sign when Goldie had hesitated before giving Bliss her command, the little orange and white dog had waited patiently for her instructions. At most of the Halt signs, Bliss had plopped into an automatic sit without Goldie having to say a word. When they exited the ring to the burst of cheers from Joe and the others, she’d known they had done well. Still, she never imagined their first place ranking would hold steady for the rest of the afternoon. One by one, the other novice dogs went through the course. Several of them, two low-slung Basset Hounds in particular, pressed their noses to the ground and refused to so much as bat an eye at their handlers. But plenty of the beginner dogs performed very well.

  “Not as good as you did, huh, girl?” Goldie scooped Bliss into her arms and nuzzled her soft orange ears against her cheek. Bliss yawned with dramatic flair and her copper eyelids fluttered shut. “Poor thing. You’re exhausted after your big day.”

  Goldie settled Bliss on the new dog bed Peggy had given her as a congratulatory gift after the dog show. She had crocheted it herself, with a soft collection of pale pink yarns. Goldie smiled at Bliss as she burrowed in the cotton candy puff of a bed. The phone rang and the spaniel reacted with nothing more than a snore.

  Goldie laughed and hurried to the phone, the delicate tulle of her dress swishing around her legs as she went. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Bashful. Have you stopped looking at your first place ribbon yet?”

  “Maybe.” Goldie turned her back to the rosette, her cheeks prickling with heat. “Then again, maybe not.”

  Joe’s laugh traveled through the phone line and caused her heart to beat a little faster. “I don’t blame you. You and Bliss were amazing today.”

  Goldie glanced at Bliss, still burrowed into her new hand-crafted bed. “Well, we were pretty good. But you and Java brought the house down. I wish I hadn’t been so nervous, that way I could have enjoyed your performance without my teeth chattering.”

  “Don’t you worry.” His voice softened. “There will be plenty of other times.”

  “Yes, I hope so.”

  “There will be. Consider that a promise.” Something in Joe’s tone told her he was serious, and a warm glow spread from the center of Goldie’s chest to the tips of her fingers.

  “I can’t wait to bring her rosette to the library on Monday. The kids will be thrilled.” Goldie had chosen a special book to read called Blue Ribbon Mutt, although she’d never imagined Bliss would win an actual blue ribbon to go along with the lesson.

  “I think Eve took an entire roll of film, too. You should have plenty of pictures to share.”

  “All this reminiscing is nice, but do you know what would be even better?” Goldie twirled the phone cord around her fingers and thought she’d never been so ready for a date in all her life.

  “I think I do.” She could practically hear Joe grinning on the other end. “Why don’t we finish this conversation in person?”

>   “That’s exactly what I had in mind.” She glanced at the clock and realized Joe should have been on the way to her house already. “Are you running late?”

  “I’ve had a bit of trouble at the coffee shop.” He cleared his throat. “Um, would you mind terribly meeting me here? Maybe I can get everything straightened out by the time you get here, and we’ll still be able to get to our dinner reservations on time.”

  Goldie wondered what could have gone wrong. She hoped it wasn’t something too serious. “That’s fine. But, are you sure everything’s OK? Do we need to postpone?”

  “Absolutely not. This coffee shop could burn down around me, and I would still take you to dinner tonight.”

  She detected a note of humor in his voice, so she felt safe that the building wasn’t actually in flames. “In that case, I’ll be right over.”

  “Great. I’ll see you shortly.”

  Once she hung up and gave Bliss a final pat, she checked her reflection in the mirror one last time. Joe was being charmingly secretive about their big date and wouldn’t even tell her where they were having dinner. But she knew he’d made reservations, so that narrowed down the possibilities quite a bit in a town as small as Turtle Beach. In the end, she’d chosen her favorite cocktail dress from the back recesses of her closet. She’d purchased it a while ago on a shopping trip with Eve and never even had the chance to wear it before Grandpa had gotten sick. So, the tags had still dangled from the hanger when she removed it from the plastic garment bag. Thank goodness it still fit. The dress had spaghetti straps and a tight crimson velvet bodice leading to a full ballerina skirt of miles and miles of fine ruby silk tulle. The full effect was quite striking and perfect for a romantic first date. Eve had been so blown away by the sight of Goldie in that dress that she had forced her to buy it, even though she had no place to wear such a treasure at the time.

  My, how things have changed.

  Goldie smiled to herself and thought how silly it seemed that this was their first official date. Joe was such a part of her life now, it hardly seemed possible. She thought about this as she walked the short distance to his coffee shop in the cool autumn night.

  How many people could say with utter certainty they were in love as they were on their way to a first date? Goldie shook her head. Not many, that’s for sure. But Goldie was in love with Joe. She’d never been so sure of anything in her life. She knew it as sure as she knew the sun would rise in the morning and spill its radiance over the pale moonlight that glowed all around her while she walked to Joe’s Coffee Shop.

  She looked up at the stars twinkling overhead as if they were winking at her, and remembered a Bible verse that described God’s love in a very similar way.

  Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken.

  The holy words resonated in Goldie’s soul and filled her with understanding. She had lived them in recent weeks. When she thought everything was over, God’s love for her had never failed. And in the midst of her pain, He had given her the most unexpected, marvelous gift of all—Joe. She sighed with contentment and rounded the corner, expecting to get a glimpse of him through the windows of the coffee shop. But she couldn’t see him. In fact, she couldn’t see anything. The shop was pitch black. Not a sliver of light escaped from the closed blinds.

  She paused for a moment and looked at the sign on the front door flipped over to the closed side. Of course, the shop was closed—she expected that—but why was it so dark? Her stomach sank as she realized the problem must have something to do with the electricity. The situation must be more serious than Joe had let on.

  Goldie pushed open the door and poked her head inside. At once, the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee invaded her senses. “Joe? Are you here?”

  “Come on in, Goldie. Be careful.” His voice came from deep inside the shop.

  Goldie slipped through the door, stepping very carefully in her stiletto heels in the dark. “Is there something wrong with the elect…” Her voice trailed off as she heard a clicking sound.

  All at once, the inside of the coffee shop sparkled with thousands of tiny twinkle lights. Goldie was so stunned, for a moment, she stood disoriented in the middle of the room trying to get her bearings. She barely noticed Joe until he stood right in front of her and cupped her face in his hands.

  “You take my breath away, Goldie.” Joe’s whisper was husky as his gaze swept over her. His fingers grazed the slender straps of her dress, sending a riot of shivers up and down her spine. “I’ve dreamed of this moment for a long time, and you’re even more beautiful than in my imagination.”

  Goldie tried to tame the sudden racing of her heart, but when Joe took her lips with his own, it was no use. She lost herself in his kiss and forgot all about the blood pulsing with fury through her veins and the pounding of her heartbeat echoing in her ears. When he pulled back to take in her elegant scarlet dress, she noticed for the first time how debonair he looked himself. He wore a creamy ivory dinner jacket over a pair of tuxedo slacks and a smooth bowtie. She’d never seen him in formal dress, and it did strange things to her insides.

  “You look pretty amazing yourself.” She gestured to the room full of tiny glimmering lights. “And what is all this?”

  “Just a little surprise.” Even in the dim light, she could see the mischief flickering in his loving, cocoa eyes.

  She was beginning to catch on. “There’s no emergency is there? Everything’s fine here, isn’t it?”

  “Oh, it’s more than fine. Wouldn’t you agree?” He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

  When his lips nibbled against her collar bone, she nearly lost the ability to form a coherent sentence. “No arguments here.” She buried her fingers in the smooth ivory fabric of his dinner jacket so her knees wouldn’t buckle right underneath her.

  Joe’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. As usual, he was quite pleased with her reaction. “I have a little something for you.”

  Goldie blinked and tried to concentrate. But it was so hard when he made her dizzy like this. “Do you really? For me?”

  “Yes, for you.” He took her hand and tugged. “Follow me.”

  She followed him to the counter, where she saw a lone cup of coffee in the dim light. Even though they were right there in the coffee shop, it was a paper travel cup with a protective sleeve wrapped around it. The sight of it flooded Goldie with sweet memories. The cup looked identical to all the ones he’d left on her porch in the beginning.

  “Coffee?” She let her gaze linger on the familiar paper cup with his name on the side. Joe’s Coffee Shop, Turtle Beach, North Carolina. “Is it a Goldie’s Latte Macchiato?”

  “No.” He grinned. “As a matter of fact, it’s not. This is something entirely new.”

  She reached for the cup. When her hand trembled, Joe said, “Allow me.”

  He picked up the cup of coffee and brought it to her lips. Her gaze locked with his as he tilted the cup ever so slightly and the warm liquid reached the tip of her tongue. The taste was rich, sweet and wonderful. A hint of coffee mixed with something creamy, delectable and perfect.

  “Mmm.” Goldie licked her lips. “Is that white chocolate I taste?”

  “Yes, it sure is. Do you like it?” Joe’s gaze penetrated her to her soul, and she realized her answer to this question was much more important than merely her opinion of a simple cup of coffee.

  “I love it.” Just as she loved him. “What is it?”

  Joe reached beside him and flicked a switch next to the counter. More light filled the room, this time from above Goldie’s head. She looked at him, her eyes full of questions, and he pointed toward the ceiling.

  Goldie’s heart slammed into overdrive and she dragged her gaze from Joe’s earnest face to the chalkboard menu hanging above her head. Glittering lights surrounded the board and the three solitary words printed on the menu in Joe’s neat handwriting.

  Marr
y Me Mocha.

  Goldie gasped and clutched at her throat. She blinked at the words again and again, scarcely believing they were there. Peggy’s insistence that Joe wanted to marry her had prepared her in no way for this moment. She couldn’t have imagined feeling so overwhelmed with love and bliss. When at last she dared to look away from the board, she found Joe kneeling before her with a diamond ring resting in the palm of his hand. The sparkling lights bounced off the square diamond, sending a kaleidoscope of color dancing across the white canvas of Joe’s tuxedo jacket.

  “Goldie, I’ve loved you since the moment I met you.” The determined set of his jaw told her every word was true. “And now God has blessed me more than I could have ever dreamed possible by bringing us together. Won’t you be my wife?”

  A sudden peacefulness flooded her heart and she was able to answer him with perfect clarity. “I’d love nothing more than to be your wife, Joe Montgomery.”