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The next few weeks were super busy at work. The story was flowing and I wrote whenever I had a chance, usually during my lunch break and at night before bedtime. When I wrote at night, I would write to the early morning hours. I wasn’t a morning person so the late nights didn’t help. I stopped by Southern Delights Cafe mainly in the morning to grab a cup of coffee and some breakfast quiche. Aunt Linda served bacon and cheese or sausage and cheese quiches to the morning crowd.
My aunt amazed me with the amount of baking she did. She was always in the kitchen Monday through Friday. Since her business was located downtown and pretty busy throughout the week, she kept the cafe closed on the weekends. The baking didn’t stop though.
One particular Saturday, my aunt was preparing desserts for an afternoon program at Victory Gospel Church. My family has been a part of this congregation since I was a child. Now as an adult out on my own, I still attended with my mom each Sunday. I was the youngest of three, but my older sister and brother both moved away after graduating high school. Even though I was the only sibling who remained near my mother in Charlotte, I had my own place. My dad had passed away about five years ago from a heart attack, and my aunt Linda moved in with my mom and took over my old room.
When Aunt Linda required some help baking, she could always count on her older sister to help. Usually, between the two women, I would get roped into helping too. That was how I found myself armed with my laptop on my mom’s couch trying to add to my word count before I was held hostage in the kitchen.
My mom walked through and kissed me on my head. “You getting some writing done today?”
“Yes, I have to get this book finished.”
Mom smiled at me, “You can do it. I know you can.”
Aunt Linda came through the living room, dressed with an apron that was already covered in flour. “Are you two going to leave me hanging today?”
Mom narrowed her eyes at her younger sister, “Linda, let Nia work on her book. We can handle the baking today.”
Linda looked over at me. “Oh, I forgot. Speaking of your book, you missed your man yesterday.”
I blurted, “What? When?”
My mom swung her head back and forth between me and my aunt. “What man?”
Linda grinned and slapped her hand on her apron, sending flour dust into the air. “A few weeks ago, this handsome young man came to Southern Delights and took your daughter’s breath away. He is gorgeous, the kind that makes a girl trip over herself. Also quite the gentleman.”
I eyed my aunt. “I didn’t trip.”
Linda waved her finger, “No ... but you definitely got his attention. He asked about you.”
She had my attention. I swiveled on the couch to stare at her, my laptop forgotten. “What do you mean?”
My aunt rubbed her hands together as if she had something really good to tell me. Her grin reminded me of Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. “He asked if I knew the woman that was sitting with the laptop that day. I told him you were my niece.”
I jumped up from the couch. “No, you didn’t. What else did you do?”
Linda rolled her eyes. “Well, I didn’t give him your number if that’s what you’re worried about. He’s a regular; I see him all the time. In fact, I believe his first name is Brendan...” She placed her hand under her chin, deep in thought. “No, maybe it’s Brandon ... something like that. So many people come through the café, and we try to write their names on their coffee cups, but the names start to blend together...”
I cut off my aunt’s rambling. “Okay, so that’s all you know about him? Does he work nearby?”
My mom frowned at me. “Why are you asking her? What are you planning to do?”
I sighed, “Nothing. Look, Mom, I learned my lesson the last time. You said don’t go chasing after a man.”
“That’s right.” Mom exclaimed, “It says in Proverbs, ‘He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.’ Mom placed her hands on her hip and stared at me.
Mom knew how much my last boyfriend had upset me. She warned me then not to go chasing after the business executive who liked to travel. I decided to chase after him, surprise him while he was away, and showed up at his Atlanta hotel I learned the hard way that he often had a woman for company during his travels.
The surprise was on me.
Aunt Linda swatted at my mom, “Your daughter is just curious about the man. Their connection was really obvious even in that short time. He’s obviously been thinking about her.” My aunt narrowed her eyes. “If I’m not mistaken, you must have been thinking about him too.”
I wasn’t about to admit to my mom and aunt that every single time I worked on my manuscript, and even when I wasn’t writing, I thought about Mr. Cafe Americano. I sighed, “He was just a gentleman. You don’t see that these days.”
My aunt winked at me, “No, you don’t. Not in young men like him. I will see what else I can dig up on him. I can tell you he usually comes into the cafe mid-afternoon. Not every day, but at least once or twice a week.”
I grinned at my aunt. “Is this your way of encouraging me to be there when he shows up?”
With a raised eyebrow, her grin conspiratorial, “It wouldn’t hurt.”
The problem with my aunt’s idea is I worked a few miles from Southern Delights. It wouldn’t be easy for me to swing by her cafe and then get back to work on a lunch hour. The days I swung by to grab coffee and breakfast, I was almost always late getting into the office. I would have to figure out if I could take a day off, but when that would be, I didn’t know since we had some big projects launching this month.
Would I ever meet Mr. Cafe Americano again in person? Or would I have to settle with the version my imagination had cooked up for my novel?
